A leaked list of donors proves that the far-left group Media Matters for America is backed by numerous left-wing megadonors, despite the group claiming to be an independent media watchdog.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, while Media Matters is not required to disclose its donors due to its status as a “charity,” the group may have accidentally revealed its top five biggest donors in a public filing made with the New Mexico Attorney General’s office in November.
The report reveals that the group received $4 million from Debora Simon, an anti-Trump megadonor who made her fortune on an Indiana-based shopping mall company; Simon has donated at least $53 million to Democratic candidates and left-wing groups since 2018. Media Matters also received $1.75 million from Joshua Bekenstein, the co-chairman of Bain Capital, as well as his wife Anita.
The list further mentions the private foundation owned by Tim Gill, a radical gay rights activist who previously worked to bring “dark money” into state-level politics in Colorado back in the mid-2000’s. Media Matters also received donations from the Stephen Silberstein Foundation and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.
Media Matters has frequently been denounced as blatantly left-wing, as it only targets conservatives and often attempts to get conservatives fired from their jobs. It was founded by David Brock, a supporter of Bill Clinton, in 2004; the group was given tax-exempt status by the IRS after claiming that its mission would be to correct “misinformation” from conservative news sources, and to present a “full and fair exposition of the pertinent facts.”
Media Matters then publicly supported Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign in 2016. The group also once shared an address with American Bridge 21st Century, a major Democratic super PAC.
But despite the group’s clear bias in favor of the Left, major media outlets still continue citing it as a source in reporting without mentioning its partisan leanings. As recently as November, both CNBC and Reuters cited Media Matters as a “media watchdog.”
The group raised $16.5 million in 2022. Its president, Angelo Carusone, made an annual salary of $406,000; Brock, after leaving Media Matters in November of 2022 to launch his own pro-Biden dark money network, was given $270,000 in addition to a $189,000 payment as the result of a deferred compensation plan.
Most recently, Media Matters has targeted X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with baseless accusations of racism ever since it was purchased by Elon Musk. The group has actively worked with advertisers to organize an advertising boycott of the platform, with the goal of harming the company financially. In response, Musk and X filed a defamation lawsuit alleging that Media Matters manipulated its own algorithms to falsify its reports of allegedly discriminatory content. The group is facing additional legal action from Republican state attorneys general Ken Paxton (R-Texas) and Andrew Bailey (R-Mo.) for similar accusations of “potential fraudulent activity.”