Center for Media and Democracy#SourceWatch

CMD was founded in 1993 by progressive writer John Stauber in Madison, Wisconsin. Lisa Graves is the former president of CMD.{{cite web | url = https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/04/exposing-alec-how-conservative-backed-state-laws-are-all-connected/255869/| title = Exposing ALEC: How Conservative-Backed State Laws Are All Connected| work=The Atlantic | date = April 14, 2012|access-date= June 26, 2012 }} Author Sheldon Rampton was formerly an editor of PR Watch, once a website that was one of CMD’s main outputs, but now run only as an archive, replaced by exposedbycmd.org.

In a report released on April 6, 2006, CMD listed information on 77 television stations that had broadcast video news releases (VNRs) in the prior 10 months. CMD said that in each case the television station actively disguised the VNR content to make it appear to be its own reporting, and that in more than one-third of the cases, the stations aired the pre-packaged VNR in its entirety. In August 2006, the Federal Communications Commission mailed formal letters to the owners of the 77 television stations, asking for information regarding agreements between the stations and the creators of VNRs, and asking whether there was any "consideration" given to the stations in return for airing the material.{{cite news | title = TV Stations' 'Fake News' Scrutinized | url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tv-stations-fake-news-scrutinized/ | agency = Associated Press | work=CBS News |date = August 16, 2006 | access-date = August 17, 2006 }}{{cite news |title=U.S. FCC Probes Local TV Stations Airing Ads as News (Update3) |first=Neil |last=Roland |date=May 25, 2006 |publisher=Bloomberg News |access-date=February 25, 2015 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aIeR2Prf88nE}}{{cite news |title=Fake out: FCC warns stations about airing video news releases |publisher=Mediaweek |date=August 21, 2006 |last=Shields |first=Todd |author-link=Todd Shields}}{{cite news |last1=Farsetta |first1=Diane |first2=Daniel |last2=Price |title=Fake TV news: Widespread and undisclosed |publisher=Center for Media and Democracy |date=April 6, 2006 |access-date=October 22, 2015 |url=http://documents.routledge-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/9780415517713/STUDENTS/chapter2/iw/dig_deeper/Fake_TV_News.pdf |archive-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202192808/http://documents.routledge-interactive.s3.amazonaws.com/9780415517713/STUDENTS/chapter2/iw/dig_deeper/Fake_TV_News.pdf |url-status=dead }}

In 2014, CMD merged with The Progressive, a progressive monthly magazine, but separated after six months.{{cite news |title=Pulling Together, Saying Goodbye |last=Conniff |first=Ruth | author-link =Ruth Conniff |date=November 2014 |volume=78 |issue=11 |page=5 |work=The Progressive}}

CMD has investigated and reported on donor-advised funds, referring to such donations as a form of "dark money". According to the Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin, CMD is a recipient of donor-advised funds via the Schwab Charitable Fund.{{cite news|last1=Craver|first1=Jack|title=Progressive watchdog group gets two big anonymous donations|url=http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/jack_craver/progressive-watchdog-group-gets-two-big-anonymous-donations/article_fd110a62-5ea5-11e3-90ad-001a4bcf887a.html|access-date=March 24, 2015|work=Capital Times|date=December 7, 2013}}

The New York Times referred to CMD as a watchdog organization.{{cite news |title=Now on YouTube: The Latest News From Al Jazeera, in English |last=Ivry |first=Sara |work=The New York Times|date=April 16, 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/business/media/16jazeera.html |access-date=February 25, 2015 |quote=..the Center for Media and Democracy, a watchdog organization...}}{{cite news |title=Striking Back At the Food Police |last=Warner |first=Melanie |work=The New York Times|date=June 12, 2005 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/12/business/yourmoney/12food.html |access-date=February 25, 2015 |quote=A watchdog group ... .}}{{cite news |title=Corrections |work=The New York Times|date=June 19, 2005 |quote=the headquarters ... of the Center for Media and Democracy ... is Madison WI.}} The Washington Post described CMD as "a liberal organization that tracks the use of public relations by corporations and politicians."{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053003121.html| title = McCain Campaign Calls; a Nonprofit Steps In| access-date = July 17, 2010| last = O'Harrow| first = Robert| date = May 31, 2008| newspaper = The Washington Post}} A May 2012 article in Isthmus, an alternative weekly newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin, referred to CMD as an "activist group".{{cite web | url = http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=36715 | title = Exposing ALEC: The Center for Media and Democracy goes after the right-wing powerhouse | publisher = Isthmus | date = May 10, 2012 | access-date = June 26, 2012 | archive-date = July 22, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120722224645/http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=36715 | url-status = dead }} A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political columnist referred to CMD as "left-wing" and "liberal".{{cite news|title=Liberal organization links Wisconsin bills to Koch-funded group|url=http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/125510523.html|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal|date=July 13, 2011|access-date=June 26, 2012}} CMD was referred to as "uber-liberal" by the conservative news website Watchdog.org. CMD has been referred to as a "liberal advocacy group" by The Des Moines Register, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Wisconsin State Journal, and the La Crosse Tribune.

CMD disputes the characterization of "liberal" and describes itself as an "investigative watchdog".{{cite web | url = https://www.exposedbycmd.org/about-cmd/ | title = About Us | publisher = Center for Media and Democracy | access-date = February 3, 2022 }}{{cite web | url = https://www.exposedbycmd.org/about-cmd/ | title = Center for Media and Democracy About | publisher = Center for Media and Democracy | access-date = February 3, 2022}}

ExposedbyCMD is CMD's investigative reporting website.

CMD hosts the ALEC Exposed website, which is a wiki focusing on the American Legislative Exchange Council and the political activities of the Koch brothers.{{cite web|url=http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed|title=ALEC Exposed|work=alecexposed.org}}{{cite news|last1=Graves|first1=Lisa|title=ALEC Exposed: The Koch Connection|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/alec-exposed-koch-connection/|access-date=October 23, 2015|publisher=The Nation|date=July 12, 2011}} The "ALEC Exposed" project was featured in the 2012 Bill Moyers documentary film, United States of ALEC.{{cite news |first=Bill |last=Moyers |author-link=Bill Moyers |title=United States of ALEC |publisher=Public Affairs Television |work=Moyers & Company |url=http://billmoyers.com/segment/united-states-of-alec/ |date=September 28, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2015}}{{cite news |title=The United States of ALEC: Bill Moyers on the Secretive Corporate-Legislative Body Writing Our Laws |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2012/9/27/the_united_states_of_alec_bill |date=September 27, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2015 |publisher=Democracy Now!}}

CMD hosts the wiki SourceWatch, which was established in 2003.{{cite web | url = https://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Purpose | title = SourceWatch:Purpose | publisher =CMD| access-date = February 4, 2018 }} According to the project's website, it "aims to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interest groups."[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SourceWatch:Editorial_policy "Editorial Policy,"] SourceWatch, last updated July 31, 2014, accessed February 4, 2018. CMD sets the editorial and security policies under which SourceWatch operates.For further information about editing and security policies, see also: [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Help:How_to_fix_or_report_an_error "SourceWatch: How to fix or report an error"], SourceWatch: "Errors and Complaints", and [https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Editorial_policy#Security "Security"], both accessed February 4, 2018. Unlike Wikipedia, SourceWatch does not require a "neutral point of view."{{cite news|last1=Donnelly|first1=Katie|title=10 Projects that Help Citizens Become Government Watchdogs|url=http://mediashift.org/2009/11/10-projects-that-help-citizens-become-government-watchdogs307/|access-date=August 7, 2015|publisher=MediaShift|date=November 3, 2009}}

From 2006 to 2009, SourceWatch hosted Congresspedia, a wiki that was funded by the Sunlight Foundation and intended to document the activities of the United States Congress.{{cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Ellen|title=Two Great Sites That Go Well Together|url=http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2008/03/28/two-great-sites-that-go-well-together/|publisher=Sunlight Foundation|access-date=July 2, 2014}}

CMD states that it accepts donations from "individuals and philanthropic foundations through gifts and grants", but "no funding from for-profit corporations or grants from government agencies." It maintains a partial list of supporters on its website.

In a column for Fox News, Dan Gainor wrote that CMD received $200,000 from the Open Society Institute (OSI), a grantmaking network founded by George Soros.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/left-obama-escalate-war-on-banks-into-dangerous-territory/#ixzz1gWfrRwHS|title=Left, Obama Escalate War on Banks Into Dangerous Territory|publisher=Fox News|date=December 11, 2011|access-date=July 25, 2012}} CMD stated that it received a grant from OSI "to continue work on national security issues".

Fox News reported that in 2011 CMD received $865,000 in donations—$520,000, or 60% of 2011's total revenue—was received from the Schwab Charitable Fund, a donor advised fund which preserves the anonymity of donors by not disclosing individual donor names.{{cite news|last=Richards|first=Tori|title=Liberal 'media' group gets $520G dark money donation for war on right|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/04/liberal-media-group-gets-520g-dark-money-donation-for-war-on-right/?intcmp=latestnews|access-date=December 6, 2013|newspaper=Fox News|date=December 4, 2013}}

According to the conservative news website Watchdog.org, the Tides Foundation, a foundation known to donate almost exclusively to left-wing organizations,{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} reported giving CMD $160,000 in 2011, but that money did not appear on CMD's tax form 990. When asked why CMD heavily criticizes conservative organizations for not revealing their donors while refusing to name all of CMD's funders, CMD's president Lisa Graves said, "The question of conservative funders versus liberal funders, I think, is a matter of false equivalency.{{cite news|last=Richards|first=Tori|title=Shadowy funders build liberal war chest to unseat governor|url=http://watchdog.org/121286/liberal-war-chest/|access-date=March 23, 2014|newspaper=Watchdog.org|date=January 2, 2014|archive-date=February 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225085544/http://watchdog.org/121286/liberal-war-chest/|url-status=dead}} Quite frankly a number of these (corporate donors) like Koch Industries…they’re advancing not just an ideological agenda but an agenda that helps advance the bottom line of their corporate interests. That’s quite a distinct difference from some of the funders in the progressive universe."{{cite web|last1=Kittle|first1=M.D.|title=Center for Media and Democracy: Liberals are morally superior|url=https://www.watchdog.org/wisconsin/center-for-media-and-democracy-liberals-are-morally-superior/article_9038a38e-7146-57a8-829b-ae18f317dcef.html|website=WisconsinWatchdog.org|access-date=January 9, 2018}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In June 2014, Politico reported that the Center for Media and Democracy was a recipient of funding through the Democracy Alliance, a network of left-wing donors.{{cite news|last1=Vogel|first1=Kenneth|title=Inside the vast liberal conspiracy|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/inside-the-vast-liberal-conspiracy-108171.html|access-date=June 24, 2014|publisher=Politico|date=June 23, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Spring 2014 Democracy Alliance Investment Recommendations|url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1202744-da-portfolio2012-2014-042714.html#document/p1|publisher=Democracy Alliance|access-date=June 24, 2014}}

CMD and progressive magazine The Nation shared a September 2011 Sidney Award, an award given by The Sidney Hillman Foundation in recognition of "socially-conscious journalism", for "ALEC Exposed".{{cite news|last1=Sedlis |first1=Julie |title=The Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation Win September Sidney for "ALEC:Exposed," A Look Into the Secretive Collaboration Between Corporations and Politicians on State Legislation |url=http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/sidneys/the-center-for-media-and-democracy-and-the-nation-win-september-sidney |access-date=October 25, 2014 |publisher=The Sidney Hillman Foundation |date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502125413/http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/sidneys/The-Center-for-Media-and-Democracy-and-The-Nation-Win-September-Sidney |archive-date=May 2, 2014 }}

In 2012, CMD received an Izzy Award, given by the Roy H. Park School of Communications of Ithaca College for special achievement in independent media, and a Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award, given by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, for the "ALEC Exposed" project.{{cite web |title=2012 Izzy Awards |url=http://www.wskg.org/episode/2012-izzy-awards |access-date=February 24, 2015 |date=April 10, 2015 |publisher=WSKG |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150224223129/http://www.wskg.org/episode/2012-izzy-awards |archive-date=February 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}{{cite web |title=Izzy Award winners: Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Center for Media and Democracy |first=Catherine |last=Michael |date=March 27, 2012 |url=http://connect.ala.org/node/172976 |publisher=American Library Association |work=ALA Connect |access-date=February 24, 2015}}{{cite news |title=Center for Media and Democracy Selected for 2012 PF&R Award |first=Madeleine |last=Esch |date=Spring 2012 |access-date=February 24, 2015 |url=http://aejmc.net/ccs/CCSSpring2012.pdf |work=Cultural and Critical Studies |publisher=Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115101233/http://aejmc.net/ccs/CCSSpring2012.pdf |archive-date=January 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{official website|https://www.exposedbycmd.org}}
• [https://www.sourcewatch.org SourceWatch]
• {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|391777402}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Center For Media And Democracy}}

Category:Media analysis organizations and websites

Category:Political advocacy groups in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1993

Category:Watchdog journalism

Category:Organizations based in Madison, Wisconsin

Category:Works about public relations

Category:Progressive organizations in the United States

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Wisconsin

Category:Democracy promotion