Science journalism funding drops as U.S. aid cuts take effect

Grant funding for science journalism is collapsing

In June 2025, an investigation exposed an illegal timber trade smuggling wood from the Congolese rainforest into Burundi. The story was produced by Burundian journalist Arthur Bizimana and Congolese collaborator Martin Leku, who risked their safety to report from the world's second-largest rainforest.

Their work was financially supported by grants from the journalism network InfoNile and the data platform Global Forest Watch. This kind of in-depth, cross-border reporting often exceeds the budgets of research publications like Nature and attracts little interest from large media organizations.

Such investigative science journalism is now under severe threat. As philanthropic donors and government agencies tighten their budgets, the grants that make this work possible are drying up.

Holding power to account is getting harder

"The funding threats to science journalism are a disaster," says Marius Dragomir, director of the Media and Journalism Research Center. He argues that balanced science coverage is critical, especially given the current geopolitical climate, but "a lot of that coverage is disappearing" exactly when it's needed most.

The impact is immediate and practical. "It is affecting our efforts to hold organizations accountable," says InfoNile co-founder Fredrick Mugira. His network used to fund journalists to report from deep within rainforests on stories of biodiversity loss and illegal logging.

"Now we have no money," Mugira states. The direct consequence, he warns, is that "you don't get stories about logging, about who is cutting the trees."

How the grant ecosystem works

Grant-supported work is a cornerstone of the science-journalism ecosystem. Freelance journalists and news organizations rely on funding from a variety of sources to report on complex, expensive stories.

Key grant-making organizations include:

• InfoNile, which focuses on cross-border investigations in the Nile Basin.
• The Pulitzer Center in Washington DC.
• The European Journalism Centre in Maastricht, Netherlands.

News outlets also apply for grants to supplement their newsrooms or fund their entire operations. In the United States, a 2021 Harvard study found that around one-quarter of mainstream news outlets operate on a non-profit basis.

The perfect storm for a funding crisis

The current crisis stems from a confluence of factors pulling funding away from international journalism. Philanthropic donors are tightening their purse strings in response to broader economic pressures.

This trend is exacerbated by US-led cuts to international development and health budgets, which have traditionally flowed through agencies like USAID. These cuts have a ripple effect, reducing the pool of money available for the data platforms and journalism networks that support reporters in the field.

The investigation by Bizimana and Leku is a prime example of this endangered model. Their work was supported by:

• InfoNile, a journalism network.
• Global Forest Watch, a data platform itself funded by UNEP and USAID.

As these funding streams contract, the ability of journalists to conduct vital, on-the-ground accountability reporting diminishes. The stories that reveal environmental degradation, corruption, and threats to global carbon sinks simply go untold.