National media bias groups

On the right, the Media Research Council exists in order to "document, expose and neutralize liberal media bias".

On the left, Media Matters of America is "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media."

The partisan purpose of "non-partisan" media watchdogs

If a federally tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit can do the work of exposing media bias in newspapers, television and radio, all the better for wealthy donors. It means that political campaigns don't have to engage in expensive media watchdog work with after-tax dollars. When an apparently independent group--an allegedly non-partisan non-profit organization--is the organization charged with countering media bias, there's an added layer of credibility, because the rejoinders and corrections are not coming from a political campaign.

Reaching into the states

However, whatever conservative or liberal bias exists in nationally recognized media, many people get their information from local and state-based media.

With that in mind, if you were one of the fabulously wealthy donors to the progressive Democracy Alliance, it might occur to you that one great way to spend your money is on "comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation" at the state level.

Thus, we now have Colorado Media Matters, with its eleven employees.

We also have the Center for Independent Media, which opened the hard-left, staffed up journalism venture Colorado Confidential in 2006, and then in quick succession added three new state-based ventures in 2007:

Michigan Messenger

Iowa Independent

Minnesota Monitor

Each of these groups includes a "media watch" component:

Michigan Messenger's Media Monitor

Colorado Confidential's Media Watch

Iowa Independent Media Watch

Minnesota Monitor Media Criticism

A New Alliance of Democrats Spreads Funding

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