The Media Research Center and more than 40 other conservative leaders warned governors about the left-wing bias of ratings firm NewsGuard.
The joint letter, signed by MRC founder and President Brent Bozell and dozens of other free speech advocates, sounded the alarm both on NewsGuard’s leftist bias and the ratings firm’s dangerous and growing influence in the educational arena. NewsGuard recently partnered with the American Federation of Teachers to bring its online “credibility” ratings and other resources to teachers and school children.
But the MRC consistently found NewsGuard to be biased in favor of leftist news outlets. NewsGuard even rated several Communist Chinese state-run media outlets higher than several American outlets and pro-life U.S. websites. The ratings firm also claims to help identify “misinformation,” but its biases show it isn’t objective.
Below is the full letter to state governors about NewsGuard:
“Dear Governor,
NewsGuard, a so-called online “credibility” arbiter, is threatening the quality and integrity of the education system in your state. And in every state.
NewsGuard has recently partnered with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) to censor points of view they disagree with in the classroom. Specifically, NewsGuard is actively working with the AFT to bring its agenda-driven rating system to classrooms across the country. Why? To stymie students from partaking in an open exploration of news and views from across the political spectrum.
NewsGuard claims to objectively rate the validity and accuracy of websites and news sources. But it does nothing of the sort. In fact, as we have pointed out in a recent study, NewsGuard is yet another one-sided, leftist organization dedicated to silencing conservative voices and other viewpoints it disagrees with. Specifically, in our study we “found that outlets rated ‘left’ or ‘lean left’ by AllSides received an average NewsGuard score of 93/100. Sites considered ‘right’ or ‘lean right’ by AllSides had an average NewsGuard rating of 66/100”.
As we have outlined in our report: “School children depend on the internet for homework help. NewsGuard is now stepping in to ‘filter’ online sources for so-called ‘misinformation.’ The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union is buying NewsGuard licenses for its 1.7 million member teachers, according to an AFT press release. The partnership will make NewsGuard available to tens of millions of students and their families for free. The NewsGuard partnership will foist the company's ‘real-time “traffic light” news ratings and detailed “Nutrition Label” reviews, via a licensed copy of NewsGuard’s browser extension’ on students using news stories for research.``
We are calling on you to stop this ideological assault on education and freedom of speech. There should be no partnership among such ideologically driven outside organizations and state-sponsored educational establishments. Such partnerships are clear conflicts of interest with an open and honest educational system.
If, according to NewsGuard, a website does not meet its biased criteria for accuracy, NewsGuard gives that website a worse rating — on a scale of 1-100. The purpose of NewsGuard’s rating system is clear … to silence voices with which it disagrees. Examples of NewsGuard’s bias include:
- HuffPost, which published an attack piece on then-conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh following his death headlined “Rush Limbaugh, Bigoted King of Talk Radio, Dies at 70,” scored a “87.5” by NewsGuard.
- The Federalist, posted in the “right” AllSides list, was scored the worst with a ridiculous “12.5” on NewsGuard. A predominant reason for the abysmal rating, according to NewsGuard, was that The Federalist questioned the efficacy of mask mandates for COVID-19, even though liberal CNBC (not on the AllSides list, but has a “95” NewsGuard rating) cited a study showing that cloth masks were only 37 percent effective at filtering out virus particles.
- Abortion giant Planned Parenthood, who performed 9 million abortions as of July 2021, recieved a positive 75/100 rating. Yet, NewsGuard gave pro-life LifeNews and Live Action websites negative red “credibility” ratings of 30/100. NewsGuard specifically downgraded Live Action for reportedly exposing corruption in Planned Parenthood. The rating firm gave LifeSiteNews a 17.5/100.
And now NewsGuard is bringing this leftist, censorship agenda to secondary and post-secondary schools throughout the country — through a partnership with a far-left teacher’s union.
This agenda must be stopped dead in its tracks.
As education is a key priority of any state, we are urging you, as your state’s chief executive, to call out NewsGuard for its ideologically driven agenda. We are also asking you to take immediate steps to prevent NewsGuard from inserting itself into the classrooms and schools of your state
As organizations representing millions of Americans all across the country, including your state, we are calling on you to immediately and publicly take a stand and prevent the agenda driven NewsGuard from insinuating itself into the classrooms in your state.
We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President
60 Plus Association
Ted Baehr, Th.D., HHD, J.D.
Chairman
Christian Film and Television Commision
Gary L. Bauer
President
American Values
Ryan Bomberger
Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer
The Radiance Foundation
Dan Bongino
The Dan Bongino Show
Merrilee Boyack
President
Strengthen Utah Families
Floyd Brown
Publisher
The Western Journal
Mrs. Susan Carleson Currer
Chairman and CEO
The Carleson Center for Welfare Reform
Senator Jim DeMint
Chairman
Conservative Partnership Institute
William A. Donohue
President
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
Erick-Woods Erickson
Host of the Erick Erickson Show
Steven Ertelt
Editor
LifeNews.com
Mark J. Fitzgibbons
President of Corporate Affairs
American Target Advertising, Inc.
Lady Brigitte Gabriel
Founder & Chairman
Act for America
Gualberto Garcia Jones
Vice President
LifeSiteNews.com
Paul J. Gessing
President
Rio Grande Foundation
Kristi Hamrick
Chief Media and Policy Strategist and Spokesperson
Students for Life of America/Students for Life Action
Aaron Harison
President
Free Beacon
Kristan Hawkins
President
Students for Life Action/Students for Life of America
Heather R. Higgins
CEO
Independent Women’s Voice
Colleen Holcomb
President
Eagle Forum
Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment
Amy Kremer
Chairwoman
Women for America First
David Kupelian
Vice President and Managing Editor
WND
Jim Lakely
Vice President and Director of Communications
The Heartland Institute
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
Carrie Lukas
President
Independent Women’s Forum
Richard Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government
James L. Martin
Founder and Chairman
60 Plus Association
Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO
The Martin Organization
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Senior Legal Fellow
Conservative Partnership Institute
Phelim McAleer
Ann & Phelim Media
Michael P. McDonald
Communications Director
The Catholic League
Ann McElhinney
Ann & Phelim Media
C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.
Emmanuel Rincon
Editor-at-Large
El American
Austin Ruse
President
Center for Family and Human Rights
Terry Schilling
President
American Principles Project
Jon Schweppe
Director of Policy & Government Affairs
American Principles Project
Craig Shirley
Chairman and CEO
Shirley & McVicker Public Affairs
Sharon Slater
President
Family Watch International
Sean Spicer
Former White House Press Secretary
Mathew D. Staver, Esq., B.C.S.
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Council
Governor Scott Walker
President
Young America’s Foundation
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West (U.S. Army, Retired)
Member, 112th U.S. Congress
Former Chairman, Republican Party of Texas
Aaron Withe
CEO
Freedom Foundation”
