Media Matters for America
Encyclopedia
Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a politically progressive
media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist
and author
David Brock
. Eric E. Burns has been MMfA's president since its founding in 2004.
Media Matters analyzes the dominant American news sources including NBC
, ABC
, CBS
, PBS
, CNN
, MSNBC
, CNBC
, and Fox News Channel
. 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.
, CBS' Face the Nation
, and NBC's Meet the Press
from 1997 through 2005. This study examined over 7,000 guests as either Democrat, Republican, conservative, progressive, or neutral. Media Matters stated: "The conclusion is clear: Republicans and conservatives have been offered more opportunities to appear on the Sunday shows - in some cases, dramatically so." The American Spectator
criticized the study's characterization of commentators such as Dan Rather
as "neutral".
A second analysis was released April 4, 2006 examining Sunday news programs from January through March 2006. Media Matters reported: "Republican and conservative dominance continued unabated, as those from the right outnumbered Democrats and their progressive compatriots." Besides the political stance of the guests, "the Sunday shows feature panel discussions comprising conservative journalists and opinion writers "balanced" by reporters for mainstream news outlets—with no progressive journalist."
The third study was released July 20, 2006 concluding "Republicans and conservatives dominated on all three Sunday shows." Media Matters stated that "Republicans and conservatives outnumbered Democrats and progressives in total guest appearances," more particularly Face the Nation "featured nearly twice as many Republicans and conservatives as Democrats and progressives during the second quarter."
John Diaz, editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, said by over-factoring conservative columns in smaller newspapers, Media Matters' study had overestimated how many conservative columns appeared in daily newspapers. Diaz also said Media Matters had obscured the nuanced ideological positions of some columnist classified in the study as conservative.
The recipients of this award have included:
.
In 2004 MMfA received the endorsement of the Democracy Alliance
, a partnership of wealthy and politically active donors. The Alliance itself does not fund its any of its endorsees, but many wealthy Alliance members acted on the endorsement and donated directly to MMfA. Media Matters as a matter of course has a policy of not comprehensively listing donors. Six years after the Alliance endorsed MMfA, financier George Soros
- a founding and continuing member of the Alliance - announced in 2010 that he was donating $1 million to MMfA. Soros said: "Despite repeated assertions to the contrary by various Fox News commentators, I have not to date been a funder of Media Matters." Soros said concern over "recent evidence suggesting that the incendiary rhetoric of Fox News hosts may incite violence" had moved him to donate to MMfA, which thanked Soros for announcing his donation "quickly and transparently."
Former chief of staff to president Bill Clinton John Podesta
provided office space for Media Matters early in its formation at the Center for American Progress
, a Democratic think tank that he had created in 2002. 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.
Media Matters hired numerous political professionals who had worked for Democratic politicians and for other progressive groups. In 2004 article on Media Matters the 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
.
established Media Matters Action Network to track conservative politicians and organizations. Organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group, the organization can lobby and engage in political campaign work. The New York Times reports that it is "set to take on an expanded role in the 2012 elections, including potentially running television ads."
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. Designed to provide talking points for liberal activists and politicians, David Brock set up the Message Matters project. Media Matters runs the website DropFox.com and works to get advertisers to boycott the Fox News Channel
. One target, Orbitz
, initially referred to Media Matters' efforts as a "smear campaign," then on June 9, 2011 agreed to "review the policies and process used to evaluate where advertising is placed." It is also targeting Netflix, Best Western, Priceline, Delta Airlines, Ocean Spray and Southwest Airlines.
of The New York Times
reported on how Media Matters is viewed. David Folkenflik of National Public Radio told him that though Media Matters looked "at every dangling participle, every dependent clause, every semicolon, every quotation" for the benefit of "a cause, a party, a candidate, that they may have some feelings for", they were still a useful source for leads, partly due to the "breadth of their research." Conversely, political analyst and columnist Stuart Rothenberg
told Steinberg that he did not pay attention to them, as he had no confidence in "ideological stuff". In Steinberg's view, Media Matters was a new weapon for the Democratic party employing "rapid-fire, technologically sophisticated means to call out what it considers 'conservative misinformation' on air or in print, then feed it to a Rolodex of reporters, cable channels and bloggers hungry for grist." According to an Economist
blog posting, "because it is dedicated to critiquing distortions by conservatives, its critiques carry no weight with conservatives."
Some news organizations have cited Media Matters reports and credited it for bringing attention to issues including the story of James Guckert
, formerly a reporter for the web-based Talon News
. During George W. Bush's
administration, Guckert gained White House press access using the pseudonym Jeff Gannon and attended 155 White House press briefings. It was revealed that he had also worked as a prostitute soliciting male clientele on the internet with photos of himself fully naked. Liberal op-ed
writers such as Molly Ivins
and Paul Krugman
have cited Media Matters or identified it as a helpful source.
calling the Rutgers University
women's basketball
team members "nappy-headed hoes" and made their discovery known in Media Matters' daily emailing to hundreds of journalist
s. The next day, according to the Wall Street Journal, "top news outlets didn't mention the incident." But objections made to CBS Radio
by the National Association of Black Journalists
lead to an on-the-air apology from Imus. Nonetheless, MSNBC, while calling Imus's comments "racist" and "abhorrent", suspended the Imus's TV 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.
, who had falsely claimed to have been decorated for valor but, in fact, never saw combat. Limbaugh also said he was the victim of a "smear" by Media Matters, which had taken out of context and selectively edited his comments. After Limbaugh published what he said was the entire transcript of phony soldiers discussion, Media Matters noted that over a minute and 30 seconds was omitted without "notation or ellipsis to indicate that there is, in fact, a break in the transcript." Limbaugh told the National Review
that the gap between referring to "phony soldiers" and MacBeth was a delay due to his staff printing out an ABC news story which reported on what it also called "phony soldiers", and that his transcript and audio edits were “for space and relevance reasons, not to hide anything.”
The Associated Press
, CNN
and ABC
reported on the controversy, as political satirist
and fictional pundit Stephen Colbert
lampooned Limbaugh and his defenders saying: "Hey, Media Matters, you want to end offensive speech? Then stop recording it for people who would be offended."
said a Media Matters' headline declaring O'Reilly surprised "there was no difference" between Harlem restaurant and other New York restaurants took out of context comments he made regarding a pleasant dinner with the Rev. Al Sharpton
at a Harlem
restaurant. O'Reilly said Media Matters misleadingly took comments spoken five minutes apart and presented them as one. In an appearance on NBC's Today with Matt Lauer, Media Matters senior fellow Paul Waldman responded that they had included "the full audio, the full transcript, nothing was taken out of context."
, and Motel 6
pulled their advertising, Schlessinger said she would not renew her syndication contract set to expire December 2010. In January 2011 her show resumed on satellite radio.
Schlessinger held Media Matters responsible for the boycott, which she called a typical tactic of the group to fulfill its "sole purpose of silencing people". She also said the boycotts' "threat of attack on my advertisers and stations" had violated her First Amendment free speech rights. Media Matters said that since the boycott was not "government-sanctioned censorship", her First Amendment rights were untouched.
In 2010 David Brock said MMfA would focus its efforts on Fox and select conservative websites in what Brock called an "all-out campaign of 'guerrilla warfare and sabotage'" against FoxNews. Politico reported MMfA's explanation of its "War on Fox":
Alleging that MMfA's War on Fox - as well as its partisan activities - was not primarily educational as MMfA had insisted, but was instead "unlawful conduct", former Fox consultant and George H.W. Bush's White House counsel C. Boyden Gray
sent a letter to the IRS asking that MMfA's tax-exempt status be revoked.
Prior to Gray's IRS petition Politico reported that FoxNews had run "more than 30 segments calling for the nonprofit group to be stripped of its tax-exempt status". In another report Politico said Fox News and Fox Business campaigns held that "the non-profit’s status as an educator is violated by partisan attacks. That sentiment was first laid out by a piece written by Gray for the Washington Times in June." In an interview with Fox News Gray seemed to change his view of MMfA's conduct; he said “It’s not unlawful. It’s just not charitable."
MMfA vice-president Ari Rabin-Havt said “C. Boyden Gray is Koch-affiliated
, former Fox News contributor whose flights of fancy have already been discredited by actual experts in tax law.” Gray denied having been on Fox's payroll while he was a Fox consultant in 2005, though at that time Fox had said Gray was a contributor, adding: "We pay contributors for strong opinions".
Marcus Owens, former head of the IRS non-profit division, said only an IRS audit would reveal if MMfA had indeed used its tax free revenues not for educational purposes, but mostly for political activities, which would result in loss of tax free status. Owens noted that some political activity by a non-profit is legal under the tax code. In regards to the War on Fox, Politico reported:
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
media watchdog group which says it is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Set up as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, MMfA was founded in 2004 by journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
David Brock
David Brock
David Brock is an American journalist and author, the founder of the media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, and a Democratic political operative...
. Eric E. Burns has been MMfA's president since its founding in 2004.
Research work
Media Matters for America defines "conservative misinformation" as "news or commentary presented in the media that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda."Media Matters analyzes the dominant American news sources including NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, and Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. Its techniques include content analysis
Content analysis
Content analysis or textual analysis is a methodology in the social sciences for studying the content of communication. Earl Babbie defines it as "the study of recorded human communications, such as books, websites, paintings and laws."According to Dr...
, fact checking, monitoring, and comparison of quotes or presentations from media figures to primary documents such as Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
or Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
reports.
Analysis of weekend television commentary
On February 14, 2006, the organization released a study of the guest appearances on ABC's This WeekThis Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
, CBS' Face the Nation
Face the Nation
Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer is an American Sunday-morning political interview show which premiered on the CBS television network on November 7, 1954. It is one of the longest-running news programs in the history of television...
, and NBC's Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
from 1997 through 2005. This study examined over 7,000 guests as either Democrat, Republican, conservative, progressive, or neutral. Media Matters stated: "The conclusion is clear: Republicans and conservatives have been offered more opportunities to appear on the Sunday shows - in some cases, dramatically so." The American Spectator
The American Spectator
The American Spectator is a conservative U.S. monthly magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. From its founding in 1967 until the late 1980s, the small-circulation magazine featured the writings of authors...
criticized the study's characterization of commentators such as Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
as "neutral".
A second analysis was released April 4, 2006 examining Sunday news programs from January through March 2006. Media Matters reported: "Republican and conservative dominance continued unabated, as those from the right outnumbered Democrats and their progressive compatriots." Besides the political stance of the guests, "the Sunday shows feature panel discussions comprising conservative journalists and opinion writers "balanced" by reporters for mainstream news outlets—with no progressive journalist."
The third study was released July 20, 2006 concluding "Republicans and conservatives dominated on all three Sunday shows." Media Matters stated that "Republicans and conservatives outnumbered Democrats and progressives in total guest appearances," more particularly Face the Nation "featured nearly twice as many Republicans and conservatives as Democrats and progressives during the second quarter."
Analysis of syndicated editorial columns
On September 12, 2007, Media Matters released its 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."John Diaz, editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, said by over-factoring conservative columns in smaller newspapers, Media Matters' study had overestimated how many conservative columns appeared in daily newspapers. Diaz also said Media Matters had obscured the nuanced ideological positions of some columnist classified in the study as conservative.
Misinformer of the Year
An annual feature on the Media Matters website is the title of "Misinformer of the Year," which is awarded to the journalist, commentator, and/or network which, in the opinion of Media Matters, was responsible for the most numerous and/or grievous factual errors and claims made. They have been awarded almost every year since Media Matters started in 2004.The recipients of this award have included:
- Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
's Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly (commentator)William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
(2004) - MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Chris MatthewsChris MatthewsChristopher John "Chris" Matthews is an American news anchor and political commentator, known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC...
(2005) - American Broadcasting CompanyAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(2006) - Fox News Channel's Sean HannitySean HannitySean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
(2008) - Fox News Channel's Glenn BeckGlenn BeckGlenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
(2009) - Fox News Channel's Sarah PalinSarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
(2010)
Benefactors and staff
MMfA started with the help of $2 million in donations from liberal philanthropists connected to the Democratic party. According to Byron York, additional funding came from MoveOn.org and the New Democrat NetworkNew Democrat Network
The New Democrat Network is an American think tank that promotes progressive Democratic candidates, especially those in a more centrist vein, although this focus has waxed and waned...
.
In 2004 MMfA received the endorsement of the Democracy Alliance
Democracy Alliance
The Democracy Alliance is a partnership of business and philanthropic leaders who commit to making make human and financial donations to organizations the Alliance has endorsed...
, a partnership of wealthy and politically active donors. The Alliance itself does not fund its any of its endorsees, but many wealthy Alliance members acted on the endorsement and donated directly to MMfA. Media Matters as a matter of course has a policy of not comprehensively listing donors. Six years after the Alliance endorsed MMfA, financier George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
- a founding and continuing member of the Alliance - announced in 2010 that he was donating $1 million to MMfA. Soros said: "Despite repeated assertions to the contrary by various Fox News commentators, I have not to date been a funder of Media Matters." Soros said concern over "recent evidence suggesting that the incendiary rhetoric of Fox News hosts may incite violence" had moved him to donate to MMfA, which thanked Soros for announcing his donation "quickly and transparently."
Former chief of staff to president Bill Clinton John Podesta
John Podesta
John David Podesta was the fourth and final White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, from 1998 until 2001. He is the president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., and is also a Visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law...
provided office space for Media Matters early in its formation at the Center for American Progress
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
, a Democratic think tank that he had created in 2002. 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.
Media Matters hired numerous political professionals who had worked for Democratic politicians and for other progressive groups. In 2004 article on Media Matters the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
referred to MMfA staffers who had recently worked on the presidential campaigns of John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
and Wesley Clark
Wesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark, Sr., is a retired general of the United States Army. Graduating as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and later graduated from the...
, for Congressman Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
, and for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. They play a critical role in recruiting candidates, raising funds, and organizing races in districts that are expected to yield...
.
Progressive Talent Initiative
Established to "incubate a new generation of liberal pundits", the Progressive Talent Initiative trains potential pundits in media skills.Media Matters Action Network
David BrockDavid Brock
David Brock is an American journalist and author, the founder of the media watchdog group, Media Matters for America, and a Democratic political operative...
established Media Matters Action Network to track conservative politicians and organizations. Organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group, the organization can lobby and engage in political campaign work. The New York Times reports that it is "set to take on an expanded role in the 2012 elections, including potentially running television ads."
Offshoot websites
In 2009 Media Matters Action Network launched the Conservative Transparency website, aimed at tracking the funding of conservative activist organizations. Media Matters Action Network established the Political Correction project with the goal of holding conservative politicians and advocacy groups accountable.In December 2010 Media Matters Action Network started EqualityMatters.org
Equality Matters
Equality Matters is a media and communications initiative in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality in the United States. The organization is associated with Media Matters for America, a liberal media watchdog group...
, a site "in support of gay equality." At launch the site fully incorporated Media Matters's content on LGBT issues. Designed to provide talking points for liberal activists and politicians, David Brock set up the Message Matters project. Media Matters runs the website DropFox.com and works to get advertisers to boycott the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. One target, Orbitz
Orbitz
Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. is an Internet travel company headquartered in the Citigroup Center in Near West Side, Chicago, Illinois. Through its primary web site Orbitz.com, Orbitz Worldwide enables travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products, facilitating 1.5 million flight...
, initially referred to Media Matters' efforts as a "smear campaign," then on June 9, 2011 agreed to "review the policies and process used to evaluate where advertising is placed." It is also targeting Netflix, Best Western, Priceline, Delta Airlines, Ocean Spray and Southwest Airlines.
General reception
In 2008 Jacques SteinbergJacques Steinberg
Jacques P. Steinberg is an American journalist and author who covers the media, primarily television, for The New York Times cultural news desk....
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported on how Media Matters is viewed. David Folkenflik of National Public Radio told him that though Media Matters looked "at every dangling participle, every dependent clause, every semicolon, every quotation" for the benefit of "a cause, a party, a candidate, that they may have some feelings for", they were still a useful source for leads, partly due to the "breadth of their research." Conversely, political analyst and columnist Stuart Rothenberg
Stuart Rothenberg
Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst best known for his Washington-based, biweekly, self-proclaimed non-partisan political newsletter The Rothenberg Political Report...
told Steinberg that he did not pay attention to them, as he had no confidence in "ideological stuff". In Steinberg's view, Media Matters was a new weapon for the Democratic party employing "rapid-fire, technologically sophisticated means to call out what it considers 'conservative misinformation' on air or in print, then feed it to a Rolodex of reporters, cable channels and bloggers hungry for grist." According to an Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
blog posting, "because it is dedicated to critiquing distortions by conservatives, its critiques carry no weight with conservatives."
Some news organizations have cited Media Matters reports and credited it for bringing attention to issues including the story of James Guckert
Jeff Gannon
James Dale Guckert is a conservative columnist better known by the pseudonym Jeff Gannon. Between 2003 and 2005, he was given credentials as a White House reporter. He was eventually employed by the conservative website Talon News during the latter part of this period...
, formerly a reporter for the web-based Talon News
Talon News
Talon News is an American website which became newsworthy in January 2005 because alleged irregularities in the background of its chief correspondent, known as Jeff Gannon, came to light. Gannon, born James Dale Guckert, resigned from Talon on February 8, 2005...
. During George W. Bush's
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration, Guckert gained White House press access using the pseudonym Jeff Gannon and attended 155 White House press briefings. It was revealed that he had also worked as a prostitute soliciting male clientele on the internet with photos of himself fully naked. Liberal op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
writers such as Molly Ivins
Molly Ivins
Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins was an American newspaper columnist, populist, political commentator, humorist and author.-Early life and education:Ivins was born in Monterey, California, and raised in Houston, Texas...
and Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
have cited Media Matters or identified it as a helpful source.
Don Imus controversy
On April 4, 2007, Media Matters posted a video clip of Don ImusDon Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
calling the Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
women's basketball
Women's basketball
Women's basketball is one of the few women's sports that developed in tandem with its men's counterpart. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast , in large part via women's colleges...
team members "nappy-headed hoes" and made their discovery known in Media Matters' daily emailing to hundreds of journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s. The next day, according to the Wall Street Journal, "top news outlets didn't mention the incident." But objections made to CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
by the National Association of Black Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
lead to an on-the-air apology from Imus. Nonetheless, MSNBC, while calling Imus's comments "racist" and "abhorrent", suspended the Imus's TV 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
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
pulled advertising from all of MSNBC's daytime schedule, and other advertisers, including General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
requested CBS to cancel any upcoming advertising they had bought for "Imus in the Morning", MSNBC and CBS dropped Imus's show.
Rush Limbaugh "Phony soldiers" controversy
Media Matters' reported radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in 2007 saying that Iraq war veterans opposed to the war as "the phony soldiers." Limbaugh later said that he was speaking of only one soldier, Jesse MacBethJesse Macbeth
Jesse Adam Macbeth is an anti-war protester who falsely claimed to be an Army Ranger and veteran of the Iraq War. He lied in alternative media interviews that he and his unit routinely committed war crimes in Iraq. Transcripts of the video were made in English and Arabic.According to the U.S...
, who had falsely claimed to have been decorated for valor but, in fact, never saw combat. Limbaugh also said he was the victim of a "smear" by Media Matters, which had taken out of context and selectively edited his comments. After Limbaugh published what he said was the entire transcript of phony soldiers discussion, Media Matters noted that over a minute and 30 seconds was omitted without "notation or ellipsis to indicate that there is, in fact, a break in the transcript." Limbaugh told the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
that the gap between referring to "phony soldiers" and MacBeth was a delay due to his staff printing out an ABC news story which reported on what it also called "phony soldiers", and that his transcript and audio edits were “for space and relevance reasons, not to hide anything.”
The Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
reported on the controversy, as political satirist
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
and fictional pundit Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert (character)
The Reverend / Sir / Dr. / Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A., brain-child of Google, is the persona of political satirist Stephen Colbert, as portrayed on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Described as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot", the character is a self-obsessed right-wing...
lampooned Limbaugh and his defenders saying: "Hey, Media Matters, you want to end offensive speech? Then stop recording it for people who would be offended."
Bill O'Reilly Harlem restaurant controversy
In October 2007 television and radio host and commentator Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
said a Media Matters' headline declaring O'Reilly surprised "there was no difference" between Harlem restaurant and other New York restaurants took out of context comments he made regarding a pleasant dinner with the Rev. Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
at a Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
restaurant. O'Reilly said Media Matters misleadingly took comments spoken five minutes apart and presented them as one. In an appearance on NBC's Today with Matt Lauer, Media Matters senior fellow Paul Waldman responded that they had included "the full audio, the full transcript, nothing was taken out of context."
Dr. Laura Schlessinger "N-word" controversy
On August 12, 2010 Media Matters reported that radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger said "nigger" eleven times during a discussion with an African-American woman, continuing to say it after the caller took offense at the word. Schlessinger told the woman she was too sensitive, and that a double standard determined who could say the word. Schlessinger also said that those "hypersensitive" about color should not "marry outside of their race." The caller had earlier in the discussion said her husband was white. Schlessinger apologized for the epithet the day after the broadcast. A joint statement of Media Matters and other organizations noted that though Schlessinger "attempted to apologize for using the epithet, the racist diatribe on Tuesday's show extends far beyond the use of a single word" and urged advertisers to boycott Schlessinger's show. After General Motors, OnStarOnStar
OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, hands free calling, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada and China. A similar service is known as ChevyStar in Latin...
, and Motel 6
Motel 6
Motel 6 is a major chain of budget motels with more than 1,000 locations in the United States and Canada, and is the largest owned and operated hotel chain in North America. It is owned and operated by Accor Hotels.-History:...
pulled their advertising, Schlessinger said she would not renew her syndication contract set to expire December 2010. In January 2011 her show resumed on satellite radio.
Schlessinger held Media Matters responsible for the boycott, which she called a typical tactic of the group to fulfill its "sole purpose of silencing people". She also said the boycotts' "threat of attack on my advertisers and stations" had violated her First Amendment free speech rights. Media Matters said that since the boycott was not "government-sanctioned censorship", her First Amendment rights were untouched.
"War on Fox"
In 2010 MMfA declared what it called a "War on Fox". In 2011 Fox ran several news segments questioning MMfA's tax exempt status, and a former Fox contributor complained to the IRS - as a civilian - that MMfA had no right to its tax free standing.In 2010 David Brock said MMfA would focus its efforts on Fox and select conservative websites in what Brock called an "all-out campaign of 'guerrilla warfare and sabotage'" against FoxNews. Politico reported MMfA's explanation of its "War on Fox":
Rabin-Havt [MMfA vice-president] argues that, in fact, the increased focus on Fox is simply an extension of Media Matters’s stated mission of educating the public about the distortions of conservative media.
"Over the past two years, if you look at the totality of our work, yes, absolutely the percentage of our work that has been devoted to Fox has risen and risen substantially," he said. "That’s been a result of Fox being central to the conservative media infrastructure."
Even the organization’s more aggressive stances, like its Drop Fox campaign to get advertisers to stop advertising on the network, he put within the frame of educating businesses about the media outlet they were supporting.
"Our goal is not to shut down Fox News," he said. "Our goal is to change their behavior and to make them into a legitimate media organization."
Alleging that MMfA's War on Fox - as well as its partisan activities - was not primarily educational as MMfA had insisted, but was instead "unlawful conduct", former Fox consultant and George H.W. Bush's White House counsel C. Boyden Gray
C. Boyden Gray
Clayland Boyden Gray is a former American diplomat and public servant. He is a member of the board of directors at the Atlantic Council and at The European Institute....
sent a letter to the IRS asking that MMfA's tax-exempt status be revoked.
Prior to Gray's IRS petition Politico reported that FoxNews had run "more than 30 segments calling for the nonprofit group to be stripped of its tax-exempt status". In another report Politico said Fox News and Fox Business campaigns held that "the non-profit’s status as an educator is violated by partisan attacks. That sentiment was first laid out by a piece written by Gray for the Washington Times in June." In an interview with Fox News Gray seemed to change his view of MMfA's conduct; he said “It’s not unlawful. It’s just not charitable."
MMfA vice-president Ari Rabin-Havt said “C. Boyden Gray is Koch-affiliated
Koch family
The Koch family of industrialists and businessmen is most notable for their control of Koch Industries, the second largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy oil into...
, former Fox News contributor whose flights of fancy have already been discredited by actual experts in tax law.” Gray denied having been on Fox's payroll while he was a Fox consultant in 2005, though at that time Fox had said Gray was a contributor, adding: "We pay contributors for strong opinions".
Marcus Owens, former head of the IRS non-profit division, said only an IRS audit would reveal if MMfA had indeed used its tax free revenues not for educational purposes, but mostly for political activities, which would result in loss of tax free status. Owens noted that some political activity by a non-profit is legal under the tax code. In regards to the War on Fox, Politico reported:
"Owens emphasized that there is nothing in the IRS rules that prohibits tax-exempt educational nonprofits from attacking specific companies or from zeroing in on one company — as long as there is no private benefit to that company’s competitor — so Media Matters’s increasing focus on Fox News over the past few years does not trigger a violation."
See also
- Fairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
- Journalism ethics and standardsJournalism ethics and standardsJournalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by journalists. Historically and currently, this subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional "code of ethics" or the "canons of journalism"...
- Media biasMedia biasMedia bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
- Media bias in the United StatesMedia bias in the United StatesMedia bias in the United States occurs when the media in the United States systematically presents a particular point of view. Claims of media bias in the United States include claims of liberal bias, conservative bias, mainstream bias, and corporate bias...
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