Mike Ciandella is a research analyst for the MRC's News Analysis Division. Before that, he was a senior analyst for MRC Business where he managed The Soros Project, the MRC's ongoing research effort into the influence of liberal donors.

Latest from Mike Ciandella
‘End Coal’ Billionaire Steyer Made Money Off Coal in June 2014
July 15, 2014, 4:43 PM EDT

“Green billionaire” Tom Steyer has gone “clean.” He’s apparently kicked his coal habit – for all of 15 days. Up until June 30, 2014, Steyer was still making money off of fossil fuel investments through Farallon Capital Management (which he founded).

Yet, to the media Steyer “has become the environmental hero he set out to be.” ABC World News with Diane Sawyer on April 3 portrayed Steyer as the left’s answer to the “secretive” libertarian Koch brothers. While Andrea Mitchell on NBC “Nightly News” on Jan. 31 let Steyer’s criticisms of the Keystone Pipeline stand uncontested. The Washington Post dubbed him a hero, the left’s “own billionaire donor to counter the powerful Koch brothers on the right.” Tom Steyer had pledged $100 million to Democratic candidates this election cycle, to ensure that the Keystone Pipeline doesn’t get approved.

MRC VP Dan Gainor on 'Varney & Co.' Discusses BBC Censoring Climate Change Skeptics
July 9, 2014, 1:52 PM EDT

Media Research Center VP for Business and Culture, Dan Gainor, appeared on Fox Business' "Varney & Co." to discuss the BBC's decision to censor climate change skeptics.

On July 5, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced it was training journalists to ignore skeptical views on man-made climate change. Rather than condemn the BBC, American media outlets like The Huffington Post, Salon and even the Washington Post have praised the BBC for this censorship.

(video after break)

DHS Flunks Citizenship Test Question: '15 Stars and Stripes' on U.S. Flag
June 27, 2014, 1:17 PM EDT

Government press release on naturalization ceremony flubs basic fact.

Leaked Lib Megadonor Doc: 'Fundamentally Change Our Current Political System'
June 25, 2014, 5:35 PM EDT

62-page briefing book details $374 million in spending during midterm election cycle.

MSNBC Host: ‘I Feel Some Gratitude to David Koch’
June 25, 2014, 11:39 AM EDT

It’s a day that both conservatives and liberals never thought would happen. An MSNBC host on June 23 actually took time out of his program to thank one of that network’s favorite bogeymen: David Koch.

Although he softened the blow by insisting that he still held to Sen. Harry Reid’s criticism of David Koch and his brother Charles (Harry Reid called the two “un-American,” and accused them of leading a “cult”), Lawrence O’Donnell, host of MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” had to admit that he was thankful for how much the conservative donor has given to hospitals.

(video after break)

IRS Promises Soros-funded Group It Will Further Regulate Nonprofits
June 18, 2014, 5:16 PM EDT

Proposed new rules would disproportionately affect conservative groups.

Jack Bauer: 'The United States Does Not Negotiate With Terrorists
June 18, 2014, 10:26 AM EDT

On this Monday's episode, Jack Bauer delivered a stern reminder to fictional President Heller that "as a matter of national policy, the United States does not negotiate with terrorists."

Mark Levin: Warren Buffett a 'Stupid Billionaire'
May 14, 2014, 5:16 PM EDT

Talk radio host Mark Levin discussed CMI's report on Warren Buffett's funding of the abortion industry.

Levin noted that "this guy is held up as this great public figure, even though he's a private, corporate titan. Tens of billions of dollars. $1.2 billion dollars, one man? And he's this great guy, he knows all about the economy -- he doesn't know anything. He's just another stupid billionaire."

(audio after break)

CMI's Warren Buffett Report Discussed on 'The Five'
May 14, 2014, 9:14 AM EDT

CMI's special report which revealed that Warren Buffett had donated more than $1.2 billion to pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood, was discussed on Fox News' "The Five."

A partial transcript of the interview follows:

(video after break)

Warren Buffett: The Billion-Dollar King of Abortion
May 13, 2014, 8:27 AM EDT

‘Oracle of Omaha’ gave $1.2 billion to support pro-abortion groups.

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: It’s ‘Dangerous’ to Want 'Big Government' to Disappear
April 24, 2014, 10:16 AM EDT

"Politics so often felt dirty to me – all the lobbyists and the cozy dealings and the special favors for those who could buy access. But as I stood in the lobby outside Ted Kennedy's office, I felt as if I'd been washed clean," media favorite Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in her book.

That quote sums up the message of Warren’s new book “A Fighting Chance.”

Published by Metropolitan Books, Warren’s autobiography “A Fighting Chance” was released on April 22. In it, she tells of her struggles as a child and young adult – and attacks conservatives, conservative media and anyone wealthy along the way. It also documents her planning political moves with the AFL-CIO, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and a Who’s Who of the left.

CBS, Bloomberg and Vox Attack Turbo Tax Owner
April 18, 2014, 11:52 AM EDT

Despite a flurry of scandals surrounding the IRS, the media still trust the government, and liberal groups, more than corporations.

Media outlets, including CBS Moneywatch, Bloomberg View and Ezra Klein’s new Comcast-sponsored startup Vox, targeted Intuit Inc. for allegedly stonewalling the IRS’s attempts to streamline the tax filing system.

Incest: NBC Shows Its Love for Parent Comcast’s Merger Plan
April 16, 2014, 4:53 PM EDT

When its parent company’s planned merger made national news, NBC News turned into little more than the PR branch of Comcast.

Comcast-owned NBC has been almost eerily silent about opposition to the deal, since news broke that Comcast had plans to merge with Time Warner Cable. NBC’s four segments on the merger were mainly positive. Two of NBC’s four stories failed to mention any controversy about the mega-merger, and NBC disclosed that Comcast owned NBCUniversal in just two stories.

CNBC, Bloomberg Businessweek, WaPo Claim Too Many Jobs is Bad for Economy
April 8, 2014, 11:08 AM EDT

There were 192,000 jobs created in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released April 4. Some media outlets presented the idea that it was good the numbers weren’t lower than they were. But others including Bloomberg Businessweek latched on to the idea that many more jobs would have been bad for the economy.

Bloomberg Businessweek, The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, and a guest on CNBC all claimed that the jobs report was “not too hot, not too cold.” This is called the “Goldilocks effect,” after the classic childhood story. The argument was that if the jobs report is too good, the Federal Reserve will speed up the taper, which would “trigger a sell off in bonds,” according to the Bloomberg Businessweek article.

USA Today Echoes Occupy Wall Street
April 4, 2014, 2:57 PM EDT

No need for the “share the wealth” crowd to worry. USA Today is ready to step into the void and stoke class division in the absence of Occupy Wall Street.

On April 4, USA Today profiled “The $100 Million Club,” a group of wealthy corporate CEOs, and contrasted their pay with the US median wage of $40,872 in 2013. A subhead on the print edition complained: “CEOs get richer, workers get left behind.” 

Soros Son Says, ‘Get Money Out of Politics’ -- But Helped Give $58M to Lefty Causes in 2011
April 2, 2014, 1:21 PM EDT

The son of one of the largest liberal donors of all time campaigning against money in politics might seem a bit strange.

What's even stranger is that, while he was spearheading that campaign, he was simultaneously vice chairman and director of the board of his father's multi-billion-dollar Open Society Foundation. In 2011 alone, while Jonathan Soros was vice chairman and director of the board, OSF gave $58,013,593 to blatantly liberal organizations alone.

Santelli: On Obamacare, Climate Change, Media Too Quick to Accept Facts are 'Settled'
April 2, 2014, 11:35 AM EDT

CNBC contributor Rick Santelli ranted against the media’s tendency to accept certain things as settled fact.

According to Santelli, the media, “whether press, TV or whatever it is,” aren’t focusing enough on presenting hard data. “I don’t care how many people visit a website. I want to know how many people, you know, have lost, how many people have gained, the intersection, how many people have paid, you know, kind of an analytical, quantitative approach.” [See video below.] 

Santelli: On Obamacare, Climate Change, Media too Quick to Accept Facts are ‘Settled’
April 2, 2014, 11:19 AM EDT

‘I don’t care how many people visit a website,’ CNBC contributor says.

Soros' Son Says, ‘Get Money Out of Politics’ - But Helped Give $58M to Lefty Causes in 2011
March 31, 2014, 9:15 AM EDT

Politico profiles Jonathan Soros campaign, ignores involvement in Open Society Foundation.

HuffPo: Humans Deserve to be Squashed By Aliens
March 28, 2014, 1:12 PM EDT

The Huffington Post doesn’t shy away from the far reaches of environmental craziness.

This time they’ve published an animated short film from Steve Cutts that they described as “Everything Wrong With Humanity, In One Short Clip.” The video was posted on March 27, but the writer noted that Cutts’ video, actually called “Man,” is from 2012. In the environmental propaganda animation, the entire history of mankind is portrayed as wanton destruction of the environment and every living thing.