RESTON, VA — Media Research Center (MRC) Vice President of Business Dan Gainor issued the following statement announcing the launch of Buying Bias, a new website that exposes the web of funding behind billionaire foundations and nonprofit journalism outlets, which have insinuated themselves into traditional media outlets.
With journalism rapidly changing in the last decade, news outlets have begun outsourcing coverage and reporting to privately funded nonprofit outlets. As a result, there has been a sharp uptake in advocacy journalism, which has crept its way into mainstream news coverage.
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Media Research Center Vice President of Business Dan Gainor:
“In the last decade, traditional news outlets have shrunk newsrooms and laid off 40 percent of nation’s journalists, paving the way for the rise of advocacy journalism under the guise of nonprofit journalism. We’ve seen liberal, biased outlets, like InsideClimate News, funded by billionaire families and foundations integrated into traditional outlets, without any stipulation or concern for bias.
“The news media have for far too long ignored the growing problem of bias in nonprofit outlets and the impact this has on coverage. It’s no secret that traditional media are struggling to find a profitable business model; we find it troubling, however, that journalistic integrity is being stripped away. Media used to serve as society’s watchdogs, but now our watchdogs are in need of a watchdog.”
