The embattled Media Matters for America has not responded to a series of reports documenting the organization’s purported unusual tactics, including compiling a de facto enemies list; announcing an all-out campaign of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage” aimed at the Fox News Channel; and reportedly seeking to investigate the personal lives of reporters and news personalities.
The information came amid reports White House staffers held regular meetings and even a weekly conference call with Media Matters.
The progressive media organization is usually rife with attack pieces on WND, Fox News and the Daily Caller. However, it hasn’t made a peep in response to the ongoing controversy being pursued by those news organizations.
A section at Media Matters’ main website titled “Fox Attacks Media Matters” has not been updated since Feb. 8, before the Daily Caller began releasing a series of investigative reports on Media Matters.
The Fox News Channel has since aired numerous segments on Media Matters, yet none were posted on Media Matters website, which has until now been regular practice.
Media Matters also has not responded to a series of investigative pieces produced by WND in recent days, which include these revelations:
- One of the single largest donors to the embattled Media Matters for America is a controversial far-left clearinghouse that funds groups such as MoveOn.org, ACORN and a litany of anti-war organizations, the Tides Foundation. The group is funded in part by billionaire George Soros, himself a prominent Media Matters donor.
- President Obama served eight years on the board of the Joyce Foundation, a charity that is a top donor to Media Matters.
- Obama is also tied to numerous other top Media Matters donors and fundraisers, including a foundation run by the finance chairman of his 2008 presidential campaign, Penny Pritzker. The Pritzker Family Foundation donated a total of $400,000 to the progressive attack group in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
- Another key funding tie for Media Matters is the Center for American Progress, led by John Podesta, who directed Obama’s White House transition team. Media Matters reportedly entered into a fundraising-sharing agreement with the Center for American Progress, whose extensive reports and research reportedly help to inform Obama administration policy.
- A marketing outfit called the Herndon Alliance reportedly received a grant from the lobbying arm of Media Matters for America. Herndon reportedly helped the White House craft and market Obamacare.
- The Media Matters-funded Herndon Alliance recently recommended that Obama make contraception an election issue after conducting polling with a George Soros-funded progressive group.
The end of Media Matters?
The controversy is prompting some to predict the demise of Media Matters, while others are speculating the matter could become a major election issue for Obama, whose aides reportedly met regularly with the anti-Fox News group.
After the Daily Caller revealed Media Matters took money to attack religious broadcasters, Frank Wright , the president of the National Religious Broadcasters, said the progressive media attack group may be damaged beyond repair.
“I think you are seeing the beginning of the end of Media Matters,” Wright told the Christian Post.
Jeffrey Lord, a former Reagan White House political director, speculated the Media Matters controversy could become Obama’s Watergate.
Writing at the American Spectator, Lord compared Watergate to the Media Matters controversy in specific ways:
- The use of private investigators to investigate the private lives of opponents.
- The involvement of White House aides in Media Matters meetings, including Valerie Jarrett and then-White House Communications Director Anita Dunn.
- The money trail from the White House supporters to Media Matters.
Liberal Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz took particular issue with Media Matters coverage of Israel, including rhetoric from Media Matters Action Network senior fellow M.J. Rosenberg, who is known for his extreme anti-Israel views.
Rosenberg has been pushing the phrase “Israel Firster,” implying those who support the Jewish state put Israel’s needs before those of the U.S.
Dershowitz predicted Media Matters could become the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of 2012 for the Obama campaign if the White House and the Democratic Party don’t distance themselves from the organization. He also compared Rosenberg’s writings to rhetoric found on neo-Nazi websites.
Previous stories:
Is Ed Schultz a progressive plant?
Obama finance chief funded Media Matters
Is this Media Matters’ ‘favorite’ Washington Post columnist?
Media Matters tied to MoveOn.org, ACORN
Did Media Matters fund marketing of Obamacare?
