Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a nonprofit left-leaning[2] watchdog journalism organization.[3] It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center.[4] It seeks to spotlight "conservative misinformation" in the U.S. media; its methods include issuing reports and quick responses.[5][6] Two example initiatives include the "Drop Fox" campaign (2011-2013) that sought to discredit Fox News' "fair and balanced" claims;[7][8][9] and a 2023 report about X (formerly Twitter) that highlighted antisemitism on the platform.
"Media Matters" redirects here. Not to be confused with the 2002–2012 radio program hosted by Robert W. McChesney.Formation
May 3, 2004
501(c)(3) nonprofit
47-0928008
"Comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media"[1]
American Bridge 21st Century Super PAC, Media Matters Action Network (501(c)(4))
$16.6M
$18.8M
Organization overview[edit]
Founding[edit]
Media Matters for America was founded in May 2004 by David Brock,[10] a former conservative journalist. Brock said that a central goal would be to monitor journalists and outlets for misleading conservative claims and then to point them out.[4] Brock argued that existing conservative monitoring groups had been doing this and pushing mainstream journalists, the media, and American politics, to the right as a result.[4] Brock founded the group with help from the Center for American Progress.[4]
Funding[edit]
In 2004, MMfA began with the help of $2 million in donations.[4][5] That year MMfA received the endorsement of the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of wealthy and politically active progressive donors. The Alliance itself does not fund endorsees, but many wealthy Alliance members acted on the endorsement and donated directly to MMfA.[11][12][13] In 2010, George Soros donated $1 million to MMfA citing concerns that the "incendiary rhetoric of Fox News hosts may incite violence."[14][15] During a 2014 CNN interview, David Brock stated that Soros' contributions were "less than 10 percent" of Media Matters' budget.[16][17]
Personnel[edit]
John Podesta, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, provided office space for Media Matters early in its formation at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank which Podesta established in 2002.[18] Hillary Clinton advised Media Matters in its early stages out of a belief that progressives should follow conservatives in forming think tanks and advocacy groups to support their political goals.[18][19] According to The New York Times, Media Matters "helped lay the groundwork" for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[20]
Media Matters has hired several of the best known political professionals who have worked for Democratic politicians and for other progressive groups.[21][22] In 2004, National Review referred to MMfA staffers who had recently worked on the presidential campaigns of John Edwards and Wesley Clark, for Congressman Barney Frank, and for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.[21]
Eric E. Burns served as MMfA's president until 2011.[23] Burns was succeeded by Matt Butler, and then, in 2013, by Bradley Beychok.[24] In late 2016, Angelo Carusone replaced Bradley Beychok as MMfA's president. Under Carusone, the organization's focus has shifted toward focusing on the alt-right, conspiracy theories, and fake news.[25]
In 2014, the staff of Media Matters voted to join the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Initially, Media Matters management had declined to recognize the union through a card check process, instead exercising its right to force a union election which delayed the process until July when the vote went in favor of unionization.[26][27]
Initiatives[edit]
Early research[edit]
Media Matters analyzes American news sources from networks and channels to websites, including NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, OAN, Breitbart and Fox News, as well as conservative talk radios. Its techniques include content analysis, fact checking, monitoring, and comparison of quotes or presentations from media figures to primary documents such as Pentagon or Government Accountability Office reports.
Beginning in 2006, Media Matters for America has released a number of studies which documented that Democrats and progressives are outnumbered by Republicans and conservatives in terms of guest appearances on television news programs.[28]
On September 12, 2007, Media Matters released a comprehensive study of 1,377 U.S. newspapers and the 201 syndicated political columnists the papers carry on a regular basis. Media Matters said "in paper after paper, state after state, and region after region, conservative syndicated columnists get more space than their progressive counterparts."[29] John Diaz, an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, cautioned that the small town columnists leaned significantly to the right, which he felt could explain the rightward slant in columnists even if the trend doesn't hold for papers with the largest readership.[30]
"Misinformer of the Year"[edit]
An annual feature on the Media Matters website is the title of "Misinformer of the Year", which is given to the journalist, commentator, or network that Media Matters contends was responsible for the most factual errors or claims. Past recipients include Rupert Murdoch,[31] Sean Hannity,[31] Glenn Beck,[31] Mark Zuckerberg,[31] and Steve Bannon.[32]
Media Matters Action Network[edit]
David Brock established Media Matters Action Network, a 501(c)(4), to track conservative politicians and organizations.[35]
In 2009, Media Matters Action Network launched the Conservative Transparency website, aimed at tracking the funding of conservative activist organizations.[36] Media Matters Action Network established the Political Correction project with the goal of holding conservative politicians and advocacy groups accountable.[37]
In December 2010, Media Matters Action Network started EqualityMatters.org, a site "in support of gay equality". At launch the site fully incorporated Media Matters's content on LGBT issues.[38] Designed to provide talking points for liberal activists and politicians, Brock set up the Message Matters project.[33] Media Matters runs the website DropFox.com and works to get advertisers to boycott Fox News. One target, Orbitz, initially referred to Media Matters' efforts as a "smear campaign",[39] but agreed, on June 9, 2011, following a three-week effort by prominent LGBT organizations, to "review the policies and process used to evaluate where advertising is placed".[40] In 2015, the formal Equality Matters program was deactivated and merged with the LGBT Program within Media Matters.
American Bridge 21st Century[edit]
Brock established American Bridge 21st Century as a super PAC focused on opposition research.[41]
Don Imus[edit]
On April 4, 2007, Media Matters posted a video clip of Don Imus calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team members "nappy-headed hoes" and made their discovery known in Media Matters' daily e-mailing to hundreds of journalists. According to The Wall Street Journal, top news outlets didn't mention the incident until objections made to CBS Radio by the National Association of Black Journalists led to an on-the-air apology from Imus. MSNBC, calling Imus's comments "racist" and "abhorrent", suspended Imus' show, and within minutes, CBS suspended Imus's radio show. The Wall Street Journal said Imus's apology "seemed to make matters worse, with critics latching on to Mr. Imus's use of the phrase 'you people.'" Included among those dissatisfied with Imus's apology and suspension were the coach of the Rutgers team and a group of MSNBC African-American employees. After Procter & Gamble pulled advertising from all of MSNBC's daytime schedule, and other advertisers, including General Motors and American Express requested CBS to cancel any upcoming advertising they had bought for Imus in the Morning, MSNBC and CBS dropped Imus's show.[42]
Reception[edit]
Columnists and writers such as Paul Krugman and the late Molly Ivins cited Media Matters or identified it as a helpful source.[84][85]
In 2008, columnist Jacques Steinberg of The New York Times quoted David Folkenflik of National Public Radio as telling him that although Media Matters has a partisan slant they were still a useful source for leads, partly due to their broad research. Steinberg said the right already had similar outlets looking for stories and feeding them to reporters, and that Media Matters has effectively filled a void on the left. He notes that some journalists like Stuart Rothenberg prefer non-partisan sources.[5] A 2010 opinion piece by "M. S." on the blog of The Economist magazine argued that it carries no weight with conservatives due to its mostly critiquing conservative outlets.[86]
Some object to the organization focusing its efforts to fact-check conservatives more than liberal commentators [87][88][89] Media Matters also received some criticism as being too supportive of Hillary Clinton before and during her 2016 presidential bid.[90][91][92][93]