Media Matters ‘watchdog’ quietly reveals its Democratic megadonor funders

A liberal activist group that frames itself as a media “watchdog” appears to have unwittingly published the names of its top donors, documents show.

Media Matters for America, which was founded in 2004 by the influential left-wing political consultant David Brock, is “dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media,” according to its website. The organization is not required as a charity to disclose its contributors, though Media Matters filed 2022 tax forms in New Mexico that show which Democratic megadonors gifted it millions of dollars that year.

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The five contributions to Media Matters, which total $12.3 million, were revealed on a page of its financial disclosures reading “Do Not File” and “Not Open to Public Inspection.” They offer an inside look into how wealthy liberals are helping to keep the lights on for the group, which is facing legal pressure for its operations. Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, filed a defamation lawsuit in November against Media Matters after the group released a report claiming Nazi content ran on the platform next to corporate ads, while GOP state attorneys general, including Ken Paxton of Texas, have opened investigations into Media Matters for allegedly engaging in fraudulent activity due to its targeting of X.

Media Matters notably raked in $4 million in 2022 from Deborah Simon, a philanthropist who has given major donations to Democratic lawmakers and was a 2020 presidential campaign bundler for then-candidate Joe Biden, the Washington Free Beacon reported. Bundlers help collect money to deliver to those running for office.

The Gill Foundation, which is “dedicated to the advancement of equality for all LGBTQ Americans and every Coloradan,” gave $2.97 million to Media Matters, according to the documents. The Denver-based nonprofit group was founded by gay rights activist and Democratic megadonor Tim Gill, who reportedly “pioneered the practice of distributing so-called ‘dark money’ at the state and national level.”

In 2022, Media Matters also received $1.75 million from co-chairman Joshua Bekenstein of the Bain Capital investment firm and his wife, Anita Bekenstein, documents show. The pair are prolific donors to Democratic super PACs, including American Bridge 21st Century, which Brock founded in 2010 and has shared close ties with Media Matters.

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While Media Matters is a fixture of the Democratic-allied sphere, conservatives often criticize left-leaning news outlets for not being transparent about their partisan leanings. RealClearInvestigations, a right-leaning outlet, called Media Matters “an arm” of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and the conservative National Review dubbed it “David Brock’s political operation” in 2007.

“The tactics of Media Matters are generally acknowledged as politically aggressive in a way many see at odds with the organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status, which stipulates nonpartisanship,” longtime conservative writer Mark Hemingway asserted in RealClearInvestigations in 2020.

The 2022 tax filing also shows that Media Matters received $1.9 million from a private foundation associated with businessman and Democratic megadonor Stephen Silberstein, who has long supported American Bridge 21st Century, as well as the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation.

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The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation pushed $1.75 million to Media Matters in 2022, according to tax forms. It was founded by investor Warren Buffet and renamed to honor his wife, Susan Buffett, who died in 2004 of cancer.

Media Matters did not return a request for comment.