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How Right Wing Funders Are Manufacturing News and Influencing Public Policy in Pennsylvania

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How Right Wing Funders Are Manufacturing News and Influencing Public Policy in Pennsylvania Driving the News How right wing funders are manufacturing news and influencing public policy in Pennsylvania A Report by Keystone Progress August, 2013 This report was produced by Keystone Progress. Keystone Progress is Pennsylvania’s largest progressive advocacy organization with over 350,000 subscribers. Keystone Progress embraces a pragmatic and flexible approach to advancing equal opportunity for all, the protection of individual freedoms, and democratic, transparent and people-oriented (rather than corporate) government. We support every worker’s right to organize and earn a living wage, every individual’s right to control their reproductive health options, every child’s right to public education, and every human being’s right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and access adequate health care, food and shelter. [email protected] 610-990-6300 2 Executive Summary There is a disturbing new movement to supplant genuine investigative reporting with pseudo-reporting by right-wing advocacy organizations. These advocacy groups, posing as legitimate news bureaus, are well funded and have become accepted as objective news organizations by many mainstream newspapers, television and radio news operations. In fact, one such network claims that it is already "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."i This insidious infiltration of legitimate news operations is led by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Its local affiliate in Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania Independent. Key Findings . Despite its claims, the Pennsylvania Independent is far from being independent or unbiased. The Pennsylvania Independent is run by the far-right Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, which has close ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Koch brothers, the Tea Party, the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Heritage Foundation and numerous other conservative causes and candidates. The Franklin Center lists dozens of conservative think tanks, many of which are members of the rightwing State Policy Network, as state affiliates. The Commonwealth Foundation is one of those conservative think tanks. The Independent is staffed by conservative ideologues who have been active in conservative causes. Ninety-five percent of the Franklin Center’s known funding comes from the Donors Capital Fund and the related Donors Trust, "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" that receives significant funding from the Koch brothers. Mainstream legitimate news operations are ignoring the clear conservative advocacy intentions of the Pennsylvania Independent and are republishing its “reporting” as legitimate, unbiased news. 3 The Pennsylvania Independent: Right-Wing Group Masquerading as Objective News Organization It is no secret that the news industry is in serious trouble. Traditional print media have seen a readership drop, resulting in cuts to reporting staff, especially in the number of investigative reporters. Electronic news media have had a hard time remaining objective as viewers and listeners choose ideological outlets over genuinely objective media. The Economist, citing the growth of ideological news outlets such as the Fox News Channel, said “impartiality is already the exception rather than the rule.”ii And some of the nation’s remaining daily newspapers have become the target of activist conservative investors like the Koch brothers, who intend to buy major media outlets. While these trends are dangerous to the survival of real journalism, there is an even more ominous threat that is happening under the radar. There is a disturbing new movement to supplant genuine investigative reporting with pseudo-reporting by right-wing advocacy organizations posing as legitimate news bureaus. These advocacy groups are well funded and have become accepted as objective news organizations by many mainstream newspapers, television and radio news operations. In fact, this network of “news” outlets run by the Franklin Center claims that it already "provides 10 percent of all daily reporting from state capitals nationwide."iii This infiltration of legitimate news operations is led by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Its Pennsylvania affiliate is the Pennsylvania Independent. Dubious Claim of Being “Without a Doubt” Nonpartisan The Pennsylvania Independentiv claims to be "without a doubt" nonpartisan, saying, “We don’t care about political parties.” It states that all reporting by any news organization is biased, but that the Independent’s reporting is nonetheless based on "facts."v These claims are hard to back up, especially when one looks at the history, funding and staffing of the Independent. According to its website, the “Pennsylvania Independent is a public interest journalism project dedicated to promoting open, transparent, and accountable state government by reporting on the activities of agencies, bureaucracies, and politicians in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” vi However, its primary “investigative reporter” is a former Republican politician, it is advised by a GOP political consulting firm, and even a cursory glance at its content will reveal its overtly conservative bias. The home page of the Independent includes a 4 litany of conservative issues, with privatization, elimination of consumer protections and anti-union issues being the most commonvii. The Pennsylvania Independent is led by Eric Boehm (Bureau Chief), Melissa Daniels (News Reporter), and Jim Panyard (Investigative Reporter). Boehm and Daniels are recent college graduates, while Panyard has a long history in business, politics, and journalism in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York. A review of the Independent’s website identified no other apparent full-time reporters or other full-time employees. viii In 2006, Panyard was a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor in Pennsylvania.ix Founded by Conservative Advocacy Organization, the Commonwealth Foundation, Now Run by Right-Wing Franklin Center The Independent was founded as a special project of the Commonwealth Foundation, launching full-scale operations in 2010. The Commonwealth Foundation website states that its fundamental mission is to "craft free-market policies, convince Pennsylvanians of their benefits, and counter attacks on liberty."x It is one of the leaders in far-right advocacy in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Foundation is a member of the national far-right State Policy Network (SPN), which was founded at the suggestion of President Ronald Reagan to build “something like the Heritage Foundation in each of the states.” xiFairness and Accuracy in Reportingxii, the national media watch group, called Commonwealth Foundation one of the "Heritage [Foundation] Clones in the Heartland."xiii The daily operations of the Independent were turned over to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity in January 2011.xiv Since then, the Franklin Center has controlled reporters’ salaries, payment of business expenses, and the administration of grants that fund the Pennsylvania Independent.xv 5 The Franklin Center is a national 501(c)(3) organization based in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to a former iteration of the organization's websitexvi, the group's mission involves "networking and training independent investigative reporters, as well as journalists from state based news organizations, public-policy institutions & watchdog groups." The center funds state reporters in more than 40 states. Despite their non-partisan description, these state policy websites have received criticism for their conservative bias, and their funding from some of the luminaries in the far right movement. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, the Sam Adams Alliance, a non- profit organization that promotes Tea Party-style citizen activism, helped launch the Franklin Center in 2009.xvii After the change in ownership, the Independent still maintains substantial links to the Commonwealth Foundation. The two organizations maintain addresses in the same building, apparently on the same floor. As of July 2013, the Independent’s website banner included only one advertisement, a link for the foundation’s “Free My Drink” campaign, an effort backing the privatization of Pennsylvania’s Wine and Spirit Shoppes and attacking labor unions.xviii A common tactic used by the Pennsylvania Independent is to use the Commonwealth Foundation as a source for its reporting. For example, a recent story on Pennsylvania government employee pensions, it cites the Commonwealth Foundation, implying that the Foundation is an independent source without disclosing the ties between the two groups. “One analysis, by the Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank, suggests each household in the state will face additional costs of at least $240 annually for the next four years as Pennsylvania pays down its pension costs.” xix 6 Another recent story on privatizing PA’s Wine and Spirit Shoppes used the same tactic, again without disclosing ties: “Nathan Benefield, research director at the Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank in Harrisburg, said he was disappointed that evidence on the social ills of private alcohol sales were presented without the chance for current retailers or retailers in other states to counter the claims.”xx This tactic has been repeated dozens of times since the “separation” of the Independent from the Commonwealth Foundation. A review of the Pennsylvania Independent website in August 2013
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