Topic: Media Research Center
Conservatives profess to hate it when the federal government runs up deficits. But they -- and the ConWeb in particular -- apparently have no problem accepting money from the federal government when it suits them. According to Small Business Administration loan data, both the Media Research Center and Newsmax have taken money from the Paycheck Protection Program, set up to help small businesses through the coronavirus pandemic with potentially forgivable loans.
The MRC received between $1 million and $2 million, while Newsmax Media received bwtween $2 million and $5 million; both amounts were approved on April 13. As near as we can tell, neither the MRC nor Newsmax have disclosed this information to their readers. By contrast, one MRC NewsBusters post and an article at the MRC's "news" division, CNSNews.com, attacked Planned Parenthood for accepting PPP money while not disclosing that the MRC has taken the money.
Even more curious, though, is how the MRC described itself in its PPP application, stating that it's in the industry of "Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling." That's a far cry from the MRC's usual description of itself as "a research and education organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code" where "contributions are tax-deductible to the maximum extent of the law." It also apparently failed to identify itself as a nonprofit in the application; that is left blank, according to the loan database.
That sounds like a conflict of stated mission. Why does an organization that represents itself to federal officials as a "marketing research and public opinion polling" group need nonprofit status? The MRC might want to explain that one.
(Newsmax Media represented itself as being involved with "Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals," which is what it does.)
Looks like the MRC has some explaining to do -- not just to its readers about why it violated conservative principles in accepting federal money, but also to federal officials regarding what kind of operation it's really running. The fact that it's operating as a de facto arm of the Trump re-election campaign is not helping that case right now.
