Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
“Who Funds the Federalist?” Isn’t About Transparency; It’s About Intimidation
A funny thing happens if you work or write for The Federalist: You have several to several hundred replies to every tweet asking a seemingly simple question: “Who funds the Federalist?”
They just want to know for transparency, you see; because there’s a nefarious Russian plot to take over America and they are certain that The Federalist, a conservative online magazine known to publish some pretty unpopular pieces, is involved.
Several years ago, when rumors similar to those swirling about The Federalist and Russia were making their way around media circles about Breitbart and Donald Trump, BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins got four Breitbart-affiliated sources to confirm they believed Trump was in some way funding the site and that it had affected the coverage.
Despite the questions circulating about The Federalist, there has not been a single report of a similar nature. Does that mean there isn’t shady money backing the project? No; I have no idea if there is or not. But it does mean that nobody professionally associated with the site thinks that their coverage has been swayed or compromised by those paying the bills, unlike at Breitbart.
In my years at the site I was never discouraged from writing something because of a donor concern; something that did happen at other sites over the years with publications more public about their funding than The Federalist.
So why won’t those at the helm of The Federalist just open the books and answer the question, “Who funds the Federalist?”
That’s because the campaign isn’t about transparency; it’s about intimidation. Finding out who funds The Federalist is just step one; step two will be convincing those funders to stop. Exposing their donors and funders does exactly one thing: open those individuals and/or foundations to a boycott and harassment campaign.
That step one campaign has been underway for Federalist employees and writers for some time; and it’s now extended to the wife of publisher and co-founder Ben Domenech, cohost of “The View,” Meghan McCain. She too is constantly asked “Who funds the Federalist?” So much so that the Huffington Post’s Yashar Ali commented:
What’s with this obsession with asking @MeghanMcCain who funds the Federalist? Why does she have to answer questions about her husband’s company..one he started long before they got married.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 19, 2018
In this era of #MeToo, the same folks leading the movement and carrying the flag of women’s rights and liberation are asking a woman to answer for her husband’s business dealings, which began long before they exchanged their first text message. The whole idea of #MeToo activism in journalism is that women should feel safe to do their jobs at work, and so, naturally, The View’s cohosts, producers, and social media accounts are deluged with the accusation that she is somehow responsible for her husband’s publication’s accounting.
Here’s one particularly hot take from Republican consultant and media personality Cheri Jacobus:
her husband's secretly-funded website promotes her and did a gushing piece on her after the Comey segment. The Federalist blocks anyone asking who funds them. She needs to disclose. People think they are getting John Mccain's daughter but they are getting The Federalist
— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) April 19, 2018
Meghan McCain, according to Jacobus, needs to spend more time behaving like a man’s daughter instead of her husband’s wife. Here’s an positively revolutionary idea: What if Meghan McCain is only responsible for … Meghan McCain? Perhaps in 2018 we can admit she is not a parrot for her father’s ideas, nor her husband’s, but instead, just her own. That may be asking too much.
Published in Journalism
Something I would never do, even under pain of death . . .
Cui Bono! (Sonny Bono’s younger brother.)
Confirmed, Stad secretly funds iWe who secretly funds the Federalist.
It’s like, how you say, Russian doll for nesting?
David Reaboi is an excellent analyst.
It’s the same reason YouTube is restricting Prager University videos — they’re persuasive.