Last night ALEC posted an op-ed trying to smear the Center for Media and Democracy as “fake news.”
The truth? CMD has written hundreds of stories documenting ALEC’s pay-to-play operation–where corporations secretly vote as equals with legislators on “model” bills to change our rights. Our research has helped fuel thousands of stories about ALEC in news outlets across the country and the globe, like the New York Times, the Guardian, the BBC, the Washington Post, PBS, and many more.
Our award-winning investigations also show how the billionaire Koch brothers advance their legislative agenda through ALEC, by limiting the power of We the People to regulate corporations.
Our original research and reporting have also exposed very divisive Trump nominees:
- like Betsy DeVos, who has used ALEC to redirect tax dollars from public schools to private operations, hurting opportunities for American kids in public schools, and
- Rex Tillerson‘s Exxon, which used ALEC to thwart laws limiting damage to our climate,
- and Scott Pruitt, who has used his public office as state Attorney General to pursue ALEC’s agenda to thwart the EPA–to the benefit of corporate donors–and more.
We’re not afraid of ALEC. Or its lies. Or its touted ties to Trump.
We know Trump and his allies are busy trying to label any news organization whose reporting is critical of him or his deceptive and harmful agenda as “fake news.”
Last night’s attack on CMD is more of the same, this time in the Washington Examiner, which is owned by Phil Anschutz. He’s a right-wing billionaire who spent millions to resolve an investigation into a Wall Street stock deal. His fortune has funded ALEC and its agenda.
ALEC’s “fake news” smear is designed to minimize the impact of our investigations.
Don’t let them get away with it.
CMD will continue its work to investigate the corporations and special interests distorting our democracy and to expose the corrosive forces of greed and corruption.
Never before has there been a more critical time to support a strong and independent press and to fund real investigative journalism, like CMD’s.
Thank you for the support from our readers.
Disregard the last comment. I found your address on your home page (where to mail contributions). We can’t donate a lot because we’re donating to a lot of other political causes in WI, and nationally too; but we do feel you work very hard for the causes we believe in. Kudos to you!
I’d love to donate, but have been donating to ACLU and other environmental causes heavily in past three weeks. Let me say this: those who believed in your work before, will not be swayed by BS stories from outside agitators (liars) now. Those who NEED to know the truth couldn’t admit to it if it jumped up and bit them on the behind.
Thank you seems to be poor words to describe gratitude. I have been sick of “news” for many years now, knowing that they are simply playing to their audience. The fourth estate has been gasping its last breath for some time. It is strengthening to know there are journalists and agencies willing to brave the $billions out to stop the truth. We can only formulate strategies on the best and most truthful information you can give us. Truth is the antithesis of the dictators and warlords. So, thank you. What you do is brave and essential to the continued existence of our democracy.
The initial comments to this article were deleted during site maintenance, but here is a restored version with gratitude for our supporters:
Logan: Even though I’m broke, I love what you do.
Theresa: thanks for keeping us informed about the secret deals between the rich and our government that take away the rights and justice and fair pay and destroy Mother Earth for their profit. Once upon a time the media was owned by individual families, not the super rich 1%. During this time there was real investigative journalism. Today all of our media is owned by the 1%, and they use it to brainwash the rest of us with their falsehoods. We need to be vigilant, every single one of us. If we don’t buy their papers, magazines, watch their shows, they will start listening to us.
Stacy: think Dems need to hit back much much harder to reveal Koch Nation’s true agenda which is to install a permanent GOP dictatorship in the US. It wants to destroy democracy and replace it with an epistocracy- an oligarchy controlled by and for their billionaire cronies. The GOP supports this effort, of course. They are against democracy and the federal government because Our political system gets in the way.
Liz: Excellent work, Lisa – as always. You and CMD serve such an important role in our democracy and everything ALEC is all that you are not, they’re uncomfortable- you’re spot on – on to their corruption along with Trump white supremacy and fascism. Their pushback proves your case.