Media Matters’ plight has reached the front page of The New York Times, at least in its digital edition:
Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by President Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns.
The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general.
The group has slashed the size of its staff and scrambled to raise more cash from skittish donors, according to documents and interviews with 11 people familiar with the organization’s fight to survive.
That might not be enough. Media Matters tried to settle with Mr. Musk by offering concessions, but the sides were far apart and talks fizzled. Even when the group has triumphed in court, Mr. Musk has appealed or filed new cases elsewhere. As a last resort, it has considered shuttering, according to interviews and an internal document.
The Times reported that “publicly” Media Matters plans to continue the fight. But in some ways, it has already lost. “The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.”
The ”dialing back of criticism” is particularly distressing to me. As one of the founders of the now-dormant NewsHounds blog (“We watch Fox so you don’t have to”), Media Matters always seemed a fearless juggernaut. Even now, I consider it essential reading.
Even more distressing is the fact that Media Matters has had to hire security thanks to what The Times called “a torrent of threatening messages.”
Just as upsetting is that Musk’s lawsuit was bogus and nothing more than an obvious attempt to use his billionaire’s bank account to hobble Media Matters, or worse.
So why have the donors become “skittish,” as the Times put it? Apparently, it’s because they are obeying in advance. According to The Times, they have “delayed or withheld gifts because they feared retaliation.”
Media Matters’ president Angelo Carusone says shutting down is not being considered. But even if a shutdown can’t be averted, I hope that he and other members of the team can re-form in some other iteration.
We need you, guys!
You can donate to Media Matters here.
