Hypocrisy at Capital Research Center [1]
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton [2] on
The Capital Research Center (CRC) is a conservative think tank whose stated mission is to do "opposition research" exposing the funding sources behind consumer, health and environmental groups. It maintains a searchable online database [3] of funders for groups ranging from the Sierra Club to the American Cancer Society, which can be a useful research tool provided you take its pro-tobacco, pro-industry bias with a grain of salt. CRC claims that exposing the funding of environmental groups is important because "sunshine--the glare of public scrutiny--is 'the best of all disinfectants.' " But CRC doesn't seem to think its own hidden agenda should receive public scrutiny. We searched the CRC website in vain for any mention of where it gets its own funding. The organization CultureWatch has written a report [4] on CRC's background, showing that its leadership "reads like a Who's Who of the establishment right."