Media Matters for America

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Screenshot from Media Matters for America (Jan 6, 2006)

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Media Matters for America is a leftist non-profit organization founded by former journalist David Brock. Media Matters scrutinizes news reporting and political commentary that it perceives to have a conservative bias. Conservative commentators such as Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, as well as self-described independent Bill O'Reilly are often targets, but reporting from mainstream news outlets and objective news analysts that Media Matters believes to show conservative bias is also scrutinized. Through the group's web site, launched in May 2004, Media Matters describes itself as "a Web-based, not-for-profit progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media." Media Matters defines conservative misinformation as news or commentary presented in the media that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda."

The New York Times reported that Media Matters has received "more than $2 million in donations from wealthy liberals" and "was developed with help from the newly formed Center for American Progress".

Work

Media Matters for America uses a variety of techniques to demonstrate how they believe information is manipulated by right-wing media figures. Employing methods such as 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, MMfA provides daily analysis and more comprehensive overviews to its readers ^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}. Founder David Brock also appears before Congressional committees and forums where matters of these concerns have been under discussion by the body.

Media Matters is credited with being the leading voice of criticism against conservative columnist Ben Domenech within days of being hired for the Washington Post online webblog, criticism which led to the Post firing him less than a week after Media Matters uncovered clear evidence of plagarism by Domenech in multiple instances, and reported that Domenech referred to former civil rights leader Coretta Scott King as a "communist".

Examples

• Guantánamo—"[A]s Media Matters for America documents below, conservative media figures have often attempted to downplay the severity of the alleged abuses at Guantánamo, dismiss every detainee as a terrorist unprotected by international law, and distort criticism of the Bush administration's detention policy."

• Rush Limbaugh—"Limbaugh again falsely accused Democratic US Senator Harkin of 'trying to get my program taken off' American Forces Radio; falsely claimed National Public Radio balances him out."."

• Media Matters also posts video clips. For example, they host clips of Keith Olbermann criticizing Bill O'Reilly in segments from MSNBC's show "Countdown".

See also

• Conservative bias
• Liberal bias
• Journalism ethics and standards
• Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting - a similar progressive media analysis group

References