{"id":565009,"date":"2021-06-15T20:36:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T00:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=565009"},"modified":"2021-06-15T20:36:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T00:36:19","slug":"media-matters-gives-pass-to-major-radio-network-with-overlapping-board-membership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/media-matters-gives-pass-to-major-radio-network-with-overlapping-board-membership\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Matters Gives Pass To Major Radio Network With Overlapping Board Membership"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmedia-matters-gives-pass-to-major-radio-network-with-overlapping-board-membership%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=565009&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>A longtime Media Matters director joined the board of Cumulus Media in 2018, and since then the radio network has been spared from the liberal media watchdog\u2019s advertiser boycotts.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Media Matters mentioned Cumulus at least 160 times before Tom Castro joined the radio network\u2019s board in 2018. Media Matters has mentioned Cumulus just three times since.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Since Castro\u2019s appointment to the Cumulus board, Media Matters published over a dozen stories suggesting that Fox News bears responsibility for comments made by conservative commentators on Cumulus-owned properties.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Media Matters targeted Cumulus as part of a 2012 advertiser boycott against the late Rush Limbaugh.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Media Matters has not targeted Cumulus since Castro\u2019s appointment to the radio network\u2019s board, despite organizing multiple boycott campaigns against Fox News during the same timeframe.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A major radio network that produces shows for prominent conservative hosts appointed a Media Matters director to its own board in 2018. Since then, the network has escaped the ire of the liberal media watchdog group known for its efforts to defund and cancel conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>Investment fund manager Tom Castro, who has served as a Media Matters director since 2013, joined the Cumulus Media board in early 2018. Media Matters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/search?search=cumulus&#038;page=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mentioned<\/a> Cumulus in at least 160 articles prior to Castro joining the radio network\u2019s board; since then, Media Matters has mentioned the word \u201cCumulus\u201d in just three articles, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review.<\/p>\n<p>Cumulus is one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cumulusmedia.com\/\">largest radio companies<\/a> in the nation, boasting that its content reaches over a quarter billion people every month. The company owns 415 stations across the country, and delivers content to nearly 7,300 affiliated stations through its subsidiary Westwood One.<\/p>\n<p>Cumulus produces daily talk shows for prominent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westwoodone.com\/programming\/talk-radio\/daily-talk\/\">conservative commentators<\/a> that are often targeted by Media Matters, including Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino and Michael Knowles.<\/p>\n<p>While Media Matters has covered Westwood One\u2019s conservative talent during Castro\u2019s simultaneous tenure on the two organizations\u2019 boards, the media watchdog group has spared Cumulus from the types of advertiser boycotts it has recently organized against Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>Media Matters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/lachlan-murdoch\/lachlan-murdoch-continues-lie-advertising-industry\">reported<\/a> in May that any advertiser that sponsors Fox News puts their brand \u201cin danger.\u201d A month prior, the watchdog group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/fox-news\/every-fox-news-advertiser-bears-responsibility-tucker-carlsons-bigoted-replacement-theory\">reported<\/a> that \u201cevery Fox News advertiser bears responsibility\u201d for host Tucker Carlson\u2019s \u201cvile rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Media Matters also launched the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dropfox.com\/why-dropfox\/\">Drop Fox<\/a>\u201d campaign in early 2021 explicitly calling on major brands to stop buying ads on the network. The group has also operated the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/unfoxmycablebox.com\/\">UnFox My Cable Box<\/a>\u201d campaign since at least 2019 to pressure television providers to stop paying subscriber fees to Fox News.<\/p>\n<p>While Media Matters did publish a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/mark-levin\/cumulus-media-hosts-continue-spread-election-misinformation-after-being-told-stop\">story<\/a> in January about Cumulus asking their conservative hosts to cease spreading election misinformation, the story contained no insinuation that Cumulus advertisers bear responsibility for the election misinformation spread by Cumulus hosts. In fact, the story did not make any mention of Cumulus advertisers whatsoever.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7215275\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"37\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7215275\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7215275 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-620x413-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-768x512-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-1536x1024-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-2048x1365-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7215275\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Media Matters Fox Studios Mobile Billboard Activation at Darryl Zanuck Theater at FOX Studios on November 14, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. (Tommaso Boddi\/Getty Images for Media Matters for America)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As part of its extensive coverage of Fox News, Media Matters often frames comments made on Cumulus-produced radio shows as being the responsibility of the television network.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Media Matters has published at least 15 stories since late 2019 covering comments \u201cFox host\u201d Mark Levin made on his radio show produced by Cumulus subsidiary Westwood One, a review of the Media Matters website shows.<\/p>\n<p>While the Media Matters stories about Levin do disclose that his comments came from his radio show and not his Sunday evening Fox News show, the headline, framing and featured image of the stories often give the impression that Fox News bears responsibility for the comments.<\/p>\n<p>Since Castro joined the Cumulus board, Media Matters stories covering the radio network and its Westwood One subsidiary haven\u2019t used threatening language against Cumulus advertisers that the watchdog group often includes in its coverage of Fox News, despite leveraging comments made on Cumulus properties as part of its anti-Fox crusade.<\/p>\n<p>That wasn\u2019t always the case, however. In 2012, Media Matters organized an advertiser <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/join-fight-stop-rush\">boycott campaign<\/a> against the late radio host Rush Limbaugh that targeted a number of radio networks including Cumulus, which carried Limbaugh on around 40 of its 570 stations at the time. In a story promoting the campaign, Media Matters said that advertisers and radio executives \u201care realizing that associating with Rush Limbaugh is bad for business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Media Matters mentioned the financial consequence Cumulus faced as a result of the Limbaugh boycott campaign in at least eight stories in 2012. In one story calling Cumulus a \u201cLimbaugh affiliate,\u201d Media Matters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediamatters.org\/rush-limbaugh\/limbaugh-affiliate-cumulus-media-reports-millions-lost-revenue\">reported<\/a> that the boycott cost the radio network millions in lost revenue.<\/p>\n<p>Media Matters spokeswoman Laura Keiter told the DCNF in an email that the group has \u201cwritten more, not less, content critical of Cumulus\/Westwood One hosts in the 4 years following 2018 than the 3 years prior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you think we\u2019re in the tank for Cumulus, go ask Mark Levin or Dan Bongino whether they think the researchers assigned to listen to their shows are going easy on them. The last time Media Matters wrote about Cumulus, the article\u2019s headline was \u2018Cumulus Media hosts continue to spread election misinformation after being told to stop.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Keiter did not respond to a follow-up email asking why Media Matters hasn\u2019t targeted Cumulus or Westwood One with advertiser boycotts similar to those it has launched against Fox News during Castro\u2019s dual tenure on the Media Matters and Cumulus boards.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear if Castro\u2019s position on the Media Matters board was a factor in his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.insideradio.com\/new-cumulus-board-comes-with-heavy-media-finance-experience\/article_10f7753e-2c06-11e8-af08-077624bf2568.html\">appointment<\/a> to the Cumulus board of directors in early 2018. Cumulus did not return a request for comment. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2019\/03\/12\/angelo-carusone-rules-dont-apply\/\">(RELATED: Media Matters President Wrote Blog Posts About \u2018Japs,\u2019 \u2018Jewry\u2019 And \u2018Trannies\u2019)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Castro, a Democrat, <a href=\"https:\/\/thealumnisociety.com\/tom-castro\/\">bought<\/a> several radio stations in California and Oregon in the early 1980s during his mid-20s. One of the radio companies he founded ended up growing into one of the largest privately-owned radio companies in the U.S. He now serves as the founder and CEO of the Houston-based investment firm El Dorado Capital.<\/p>\n<p>Cumulus is not upfront about Castro\u2019s involvement with <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn2.hubspot.net\/hubfs\/4476451\/5.%20Research\/2013_HACR_Corporate%20Goverance%20Study.pdf?utm_campaign=2018%20Research%20%26%20Publications&#038;utm_source=HACR%20Website&#038;utm_medium=Latinos%20in%20Corporate%20Boards%20webpage%20&#038;utm_term=2013%20Corporate%20Governance%20Study&#038;utm_content=2013%20Corporate%20Governance%20Study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Media Matters.<\/a> The radio network states on its<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cumulusmedia.com\/about-us\/board-of-directors\/tom-castro\/\"> website<\/a> that Castro \u201chas been active in civic affairs nationally\u201d and that he \u201cserves on numerous boards,\u201d but does not identify his affiliation with Media Matters.<\/p>\n<p>Castro was first identified as a Media Matters director in the group\u2019s 2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.nmag.gov\/coros\/Documents\/47-0928008\/IRSTaxForm2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Form 990<\/a> filed with the IRS and was listed as a director in every subsequent filing through <a href=\"https:\/\/secure.nmag.gov\/coros\/Documents\/47-0928008\/IRSTaxForm2019-FYE20191231.pdf\">2019<\/a>, the latest available Media Matters Form 990.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A longtime Media Matters director joined the board of Cumulus Media in 2018, and since then the radio network has been spared from the liberal media watchdog\u2019s advertiser boycotts. Media &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2280392,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Media Matters Gives Pass To Major Radio Network With Overlapping Board Membership","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/unfox-cable-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Media Matters Gives Pass To Major Radio Network With Overlapping Board Membership","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2280392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}