Unexpected funding, strikes and cancelled mergers

US: RSF welcomes USAGM funding bill

UPDATE: 18 February 2026

Radio Free Asia services have returned to Chinese audiences its CEO announced, after the US President signed into law the funding bill which restored much, though not all, of USAGM’s funding. “We are proud to have resumed broadcasting to audiences in China in Mandarin, Tibetan, and Uyghur, providing some of the world’s only independent reporting on these regions in the local languages,” CEO and President of RFA, Bay Fang, said in a post on LinkedIn. She said the Chinese service joins RFA Burmese and Korean which resumed broadcasting in December.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has welcomed a bipartisan funding bill which would see the partial restoration of funding for US international public media services. The press freedom organisation joined journalists in launching legal action against the Trump administration last year, after the international services were effectively defunded and employees placed on administrative leave. 

However, in January 2026, lawmakers from both sides approved a $653 million financial package for USAGM and its subsidiaries, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). While this is still $200 million less than USAGM received previously, RSF heralded the funding as “a rare, strong, and bipartisan message that access to reliable information matters.” 

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France: Public media merger off the cards

The longstanding plan to combine French public media into one company now appears to have been defeated once and for all. Pushed by the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, the plan was to create a holding company under which Radio France and France Télévisions as well as the Institut national de l’audiovisuel (INA) would sit. 

The reforms had been met with continuous opposition from many public media workers, but this didn’t stop Dati from progressing with the proposals. However, according to France Inter, the bill is “no longer a priority”, with Dati now standing in the Paris mayoral election in March. 

While the holding company was initially due to be created on 1 January 2026, it never passed the legislative hurdles, particularly difficult given the political turbulence which saw five prime ministers in the space of two years. It would need to be put back to the National Assembly and Senate by this summer to stand a chance of being approved before the presidential election next year, but with the mayoral elections in March, it seems unlikely to go ahead. 

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Italy: Rai Sport journalists will strike after “disastrous” Olympic Ceremony coverage 

Rai Sport journalists are considering striking after a “disastrous” and “inadequate” performance by the station’s director who was commentating on the Olympics Opening Ceremony. During nearly three hours of broadcasting, Paul Petrecca made a series of gaffes and was also accused of deliberately censoring the performance of an Italian-Tunisian artist known for his support of Palestine. 

At Rai Sport, however, the controversial performance was no surprise. The commentator originally scheduled to appear was sanctioned 72 hours before the live broadcast and replaced by Petrecca. The editorial team tried to dissuade him from this decision but to no avail. The journalists of Rai Sport said they would stage a three-day protest when the Games are over, if no sanctioning measures are taken against Petrecca, and also withheld their bylines for one day to denounce the damage Petrecca’s blunders brought to the public broadcaster and the work of its editorial teams. 

There are also claims the incident points to censorship and pro-government bias. The journalist union USiGRai issued a statement announcing the strike. But the statement wasn’t relayed by the public broadcaster, which the union later said was “a worrying sign of censorship, as well as an inability to engage in dialogue and manage dissent”. Rfi added that the Petrecca case “not only weakens public broadcasting and discredits serious journalists working for this media giant” but that it also “reflects a persistent reality: in the governance of Italian public service, loyalty takes precedence over professionalism”.  The political opposition also jumped on the controversy, accusing it of being the latest example of alleged rightwing bias at Rai. 

Petrecca will not host the closing ceremony of the Games, but will be replaced by Rai Sport’s deputy director Auro Bulbarelli. 

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Mexico: Workers demand a decent budget for Radio Educación 

The future of Radio Educación is being discussed between its director, union representatives and authorities after employees started a protest calling for better working conditions and an adequate budget for the public broadcaster. 

The financial problems of the cultural radio station became particularly apparent when everything went dark because the power was cut off at their headquarters due to the non-payment of electricity bills earlier this year. A station official explained that this was because their budget allocation from the Ministry of Culture was denied. 

However, there are much broader funding challenges. Employees denounced the insufficient budget to cover not only their salaries but also other services such as security and cleaning. The workers also question the “permanent absence” of the public broadcaster’s director, Fernanda Tapia, and her decisions to make cuts in contracts and programming due to lack of funding. According to Excelsior, the resources Radio Educación were meant to receive to fund the purchase of new technical equipment and the coverage of cultural events were never distributed. The prolonged discontent led to a demonstration in front of the Mexican Ministry of Culture. 

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