How big money super PACs influence the news media


A memo published by Wikileaks outlines the success that Hillary Clinton super PAC Correct The Record has had in getting its campaign narratives across in the news media.

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The memo sent to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta boasts that, as of the end of 2015, Correct The Record had conducted “over 900 on-the-record and off-the-record media interviews” and “identified 372 surrogates including influential and frequent pundits on broadcast and cable news…[providing them]…80 sets of talking points, background materials and briefings on topical issues” to defend Clinton and her record.

Campaign Cash: I track the big money donors behind both Clinton and Trump

Correct The Record says it placed 21 “strategic memos” with the media that “led to stories in a number of news outlets including National Journal, Politico, USA Today, MSNBC and The Hill.” It sent “media advisories” and “talking points” to “960 members of the national media and 10,756 regional reporters in 28 states” including key swing states, and to “369 televisions producers and bookers.” It “engaged trusted names” to write and place 132 opinion editorials, including in Politico, Times Union, Huffington Post, CNN, Washington Blade, and New Jersey’s Bergen Record.

Read: Newsgate 2016

And, the Correct The Record memo notes, “because media relations isn’t just going on the record, some of our team’s most important work is killing bad stories before they ever get written.”[hr]

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3 thoughts on “How big money super PACs influence the news media”

  1. Dear Sharyl Attkisson,

    This is for you alone, not for public consumption (unless you deem it helpful/necessary).

    I wanted to draw your attention to an investigation being done on reddit, by someone looking into the Clinton Foundation.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/5bbira/a_simple_guide_to_the_clinton_foundation/

    There is also a similar investigation being done on the podesta emails at 4chan.

    During one of the threads back in July (during the Comey investigation) , a 4chan poster purporting to be from the FBI answered users’ questions about the investigation. He (I presume) kept returning to the importance of the Clinton Foundation donors and the favors they received (favors which included *people*) in exchange for their money, and encouraged users to dig into those connections. He said that in some ways agents hands were tied because the network is far reaching and includes the Dept of Justice, and thus he was relying on the people to push for investigation through all media.

    I am including a link to the work being done at 4chan, but I caution you it is disturbing, particularly the artwork. Based on what I have learned from former FBI translator Sybel Edmunds as well as former HUD asst secretary Catherine Fitts, what the posters are piecing together seems not only possible but plausible. Certainly you must be aware of the rumors about Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton. It remains to be seen what the investigation of Anthony Weiner’s computer will reveal.

    Obviously if there is truth to this, it is important for our country– and for all countries touched by this– and most especially for the powerless children whose lives are so deeply affected, that this information come to light, and that those responsible be held accountable. This cannot happen without a free and courageous press.

    Most sincerely,
    Shannon

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