Conservative leader Amy Ridenour, the chairwoman of the National Center for Public Policy Research, passed away over the weekend after a long battle with cancer. Ridenour, who also contributed to NewsBusters, founded the National Center in 1982 as a “communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions.”
As a way to directly battle liberal excess, the National Center regularly confronted left-wing CEOs at shareholder meetings. For instance, in 2013, NewsBusters documented how the National Center’s Justin Danhof bluntly told Disney CEO Bob Iger, “Liberal bias pervades Disney's media outlets.... It's time to stop denying this bias and start doing something about it.”
In March of 2017, the National Center and Danhof attended a Starbucks shareholder meeting. Danhof quizzed CEO Howard Schultz about the coffee company's plans to hire 10,000 refugees, demanding, “How much will Starbucks investors have to spend so that the company can properly vet refugees that the federal government admits it can’t afford to vet?”
On the subject of global warming, Ridenour in 2014 pointed out that liberal journalists complain about using anecdotal evidence to disprove global warming, but they turn around and use anecdotal evidence to prove global warming.
On Facebook, longtime Ridenour friend and conservative activist Nancy Almasi remembered, “I shall miss your keen political insights, your stalwart devotion to your family, and our shared love of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cancer is a cruel disease, but you handled it with a bravery that I will never forget. RIP.”
Ridenour is survived by her husband David Ridenour (the President of the National Center), as well as her children, Jonathan, Chris and Kate. The condolences of those of us at the Media Research Center go out to Amy’s family and friends.
