SourceWatch

We Track Corporations and PR Spin The Center for Media and Democracy publishes SourceWatch to track corporations. We provide well-documented information about corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups, people who "front" corporate campaigns, and PR operations. Please visit SourceWatch's sister websites EXPOSEDbyCMD, to find our investigations and original documents we release, PRWatch, to read our original reporting, and ALECexposed, to see our award-winning investigation of a corporate front group where corporate lobbyists actually vote as equals with elected legislators on "model" legislation to change our rights. Also, please check out the in-depth research from around the world by our partner projects within SourceWatch: Coal Swarm, and FrackSwarm.

Praise for SourceWatch! "As a journalist frequently on the receiving end of various PR campaigns, some of them based on disinformation, others front groups for undisclosed interests, [CMD's SourceWatch] is an invaluable resource." —Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire "Thanks for all your help. There's no way I could have done my piece on big PR and global warming without CMD [the Center for Media and Democracy] and your fabulous websites." —Zoe Cormier, journalist, Canada "The troublemakers at the Center for Media and Democracy, for example, point to dozens of examples of "greenwashing," which they defined as the "unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government or even a non-government organization to sell a product, a policy" or rehabilitate an image. In the center's view, many enterprises labeled green don't deserve the name. —Jack Shafer, "Green Is the New Yellow: On the excesses of 'green' journalism," Slate. "The dearth of information on the [U.S.] government [lobbying] disclosure forms about the other business-backed coalitions comes in stark contrast to the data about them culled from media reports, websites, press releases and Internal Revenue Service documents and posted by SourceWatch, a website that tracks advocacy groups." —Jeanne Cummings, 'New disclosure reports lack clarity," Politico. "The folks at the Center for Media and Democracy have done incredible work documenting fake grassroots ("astroturf") groups. Here, they're helping protect the rights of all Americans to exercise their right to vote. They are completely non-partisan. These guys are the real deal." —Craig Newmark, craigslist

Featured Work Trump Ally Sinclair Moves to Consolidate TV Empire News rooms across the country are waiting anxiously to hear whether or not their takeover by Sinclair Broadcast Group will be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Sinclair has until October 5th to respond to the latest FCC request for information about its pending $3.9 billion merger with Tribune Media Company, owner of 42 broadcast stations. Sinclair is controversial for its size — it's often been compared to the radio conglomerate Clear Channel — its unabashedly right-wing politics (which it pushes in the "must run" segments it forces all its stations to air) — and its close connections to the Trump White House. Read the rest of this item here. Consumer Product Safety Commission Cracks Down on Flame Retardants Linked to Health Problems The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the independent federal commission charged with product safety, voted on September 20, 2017 to take steps toward protecting consumers and firefighters from the hazards posed by the organohalogen class of flame retardants. "The vote is a rare victory for health groups and a rare setback for industry groups during the first months of President Donald Trump's administration," writes the Chicago Tribune. The organohalogen class of flame retardants has been shown to leach from the products, or "migrate widely," resulting in human exposure. This class of chemicals have been found in the bodies of 97% of Americans says the Center for Disease Control. They have been linkedto cancer, neurological deficits, hormone disruption, and other health problems. Read the rest of this item here. Voter ID Suppressed the Vote Exactly as Wisconsin Republicans Predicted Image: Michael Fleshman - CC BY SA 2.0 A new study of registered voters in Dane and Milwaukee Counties who did not vote in the 2016 presidential election found that approximately 17,000-23,000 eligible voters in those counties were prevented or deterred from voting by Wisconsin's voter ID law. Due to financial constraints, the social scientists were only able to do a study of two of Wisconsin's 72 counties, but the authors say that extrapolating statewide as many as 45,000 people stayed home because of the law. Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin by only 22,000 votes, the first GOP presidential victory in the state since Ronald Regan in 1984. The shocking upset garnered national attention and helped deliver the electoral college to Trump as the popular vote went to Clinton. The study provides definitive evidence that the controversial voter ID bill, made it more difficult for targeted voters to cast their ballots. Read the rest of this item here. After Massive Giveaways to Industry, Mining Executives Will Spend Big at Trump's D.C. Hotel The chief executives of some of the largest coal and mining companies in the country have chosen the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for a private conference next month, according to documents obtained by The Intercept. The hotel is a natural venue for such an event. The host of the conference, the National Mining Association, an industry lobby group, has won a string of policy victories and carve-outs from the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress. The NMA board of directors meeting, which takes place October 3-4, is yet the latest example of a special interest group spending thousands of dollars on a property owned directly by the Trump family. The Trump International charges over $800 a night for the days the mining event is scheduled. Read the rest of this item here. SCOTUS Prepares to Hear Case that Could Put an End to Hyper-Partisan Gerrymandering and One Party Rule A case challenging the partisan gerrymandering of Wisconsin legislative districts will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on October 3. The court has a historic opportunity to curb the high-tech, gerrymandering that locks in one party control for at least a decade. Briefs have been filed on both sides, including one from the Center for Media and Democracy, and now a new poll shows that 71 percent of voters want to remove partisan bias from redistricting even if it means their party may not win as many seats. The voters have it right. They know that sophisticated, computer-aided gerrymandering, which can be undertaken by either party, strikes a mortal blow to democracy and competitive elections. Read the rest of this item here. Recent Articles from PRWatch.org Bradley Foundation Funnels Millions to State Policy Network Groups Earlier this summer, CMD exposed the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, a $800 million tax-exempt "charitable" organization pursuing a highly partisan game plan: funding an "infrastructure" on the right that benefits the Republican Party, while at the same time attempting to defund labor unions, "a principal funding pillar of the left" and a key supporter of the Democratic Party. Bradley effectuates this agenda by funding the $8.9 million American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its sister organization, the $80 million State Policy Network (SPN). The two groups have been linked since the beginning. SPN's predecessor, the Madison Group, was launched by ALEC in the 1980s at the Heritage Foundation, where ALEC was also housed. Read the rest of this item here. State Policy Network Attacks Public Sector Workers as Waters Rise in Texas The remnants of Hurricane Harvey generated devastating floods in South Texas and Louisiana. While the Texas State Association of Firefighters and the Houston Police Officers Union and countless other public workers were working night and day on search and rescue -- and a fleet of union nurses started to arrive from around the country -- a little know ally of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) met in rain-soaked San Antonio to plan an attack on public sector workers nationwide. The $80 million network of state "think tanks" and other right-wing organizations known collectively as the State Policy Network (SPN) held its annual meeting in San Antonio with Koch operatives, corporate donors, and ALEC staff to coordinate an assault on American unions. SPN is bankrolled by many of the same companies as ALEC and receives funds from the Charles G. Koch Foundation. What else is SPN planning to do while the impacts of this historic and catastrophic flood is still being felt? Why roll back renewable energy and promote the interests of their fossil fuel funders, of course. Read the rest of this item here. Tough Trade Talk Fades as Trump and Pence Toe the Koch Line When he was running for president, Donald Trump had very harsh words for deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the then-pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He called NAFTA "the worst trade deal in the world" and "a total disaster." He said it had caused "carnage," lumping it in with other "terrible" trade deals like the TPP, which he also called a "disaster." Trump withdrew America from the pending agreement upon taking office. But his administration is now resurrecting much of that deal's most troublesome provisions. Read the rest of this item here.

New/Updated SourceWatch Articles SourceWatch's home page is the top landing page on this website. Here are some recently published or updated pages: The Daily Caller Illinois Policy Institute Liberty Justice Center Koch candidates, 2018 National Right to Work Committee Contributions of the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation Richard Uihlein SPN Members The Free Telegraph The California Republican Featured SourceWatch Article SourceWatch.org is an interactive wiki website that depends on readers like you to improve content. If you want to help us grow SourceWatch with well documented research and become a volunteer editor, click here for more information. Excerpts from longer SourceWatch article: Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation (LHBF), formerly known as the Allen-Bradley Foundation, was established in 1942, describing itself as "a private, independent grantmaking organization based in Milwaukee." According to the foundation's 1998 Annual Report and a 2011 report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation gives away more than $30 million per year. In November 2013, One Wisconsin Now and the Center for Media and Democracy reported that the Bradley Foundation had given over $500 million to conservative "public-policy experiments" since 2000. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "from 2001 to 2009, it [Bradley] doled out nearly as much money as the seven Koch and Scaife foundations combined." Read the entire SourceWatch page on the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. References Editors' Pick Government Watchdogs Urge Support of Bills to Prevent Firing of Special Counsel Mueller Special Counsel Robert Mueller Image: Kit Fox/Medill - CC BY 2.0 The Center for Media and Democracy signed onto a letter yesterday with 22 other government watchdog groups and ethics experts calling on senators to support two bipartisan bills designed to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller in May to serve as special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee the investigation into any Russian interference in the 2016 elections, including possible collusion with Trump's campaign. The letter notes that Trump has already "interfered with this investigation and the administration of justice" on multiple occasions, including firing FBI Director James Comey, asking top intelligence officials to intervene, and exploring whether he can pardon himself and his children. Read the rest of this item here. Featured Video Days After Pruitt Becomes EPA Head, Newly Released Emails Show His Ties to Koch Bros. & Energy Firms Days After Pruitt Becomes EPA Head, Newly Released Emails Show His Ties to Koch Bros. & Energy Firms February 23, 2017 - Democracy Now! Thousands of pages of newly released emails reveal how EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt closely collaborated with oil, coal and gas companies backed by the Koch brothers to roll back environmental regulations during his time as Oklahoma attorney general. The documents were released just days after Pruitt was sworn in as the new head of the EPA, the agency tasked with curtailing pollution and safeguarding public health. Last week, Senate Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to postpone Pruitt’s final confirmation until the emails were released, but Republicans pressed forward and confirmed him in a 52-46 vote, largely along party lines. As Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA 14 times. The trove of new documents shows how energy companies drafted language for Pruitt’s Attorney General’s Office to use to sue the EPA over environmental regulations. We speak to Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, which successfully sued for the emails to be released.

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