WATCH: DARK MONEY - Jane Mayer Interviews

[Oscar]

WATCH: Dark Money: Jane Mayer on How the Koch Bros. & Billionaire Allies Funded the Rise of the Far Right

[ http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/20/d ... yer_on_how ]

January 20, 2016

Jane Mayer - staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the new book, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. She is also author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals.

Democrats and Republicans are expected to spend about $1 billion getting their 2016 nominee elected. There’s a third group that will spend almost as much. It’s not a political party, and it doesn’t have any candidates. It’s the right-wing political network backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, expected to spend nearly $900 million in 2016. The Kochs’ 2016 plans come as part of an effort to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to conservative candidates and causes over the last four decades. The story of the Koch brothers and an allied group of billionaire donors is told in a new book by New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer, "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right." Mayer traces how the Kochs and other billionaires have leveraged their business empires to shape the political system in the mold of their right-wing agenda.

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LISTEN: Journalist Jane Mayer target of reprisals for investigation of Koch brothers - 23 min.

[ http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent ]

Investigative journalist Jane Mayer followed a money trail through some of the most powerful corporations in America. And as she learned more, one corporation began to follow her. Jane Mayer joins The Current to talk about the billionaires behind the rise of the radical right. Investigative reporter for the New Yorker, Jane Mayer, tracks the hidden history of billionaires and the radical right in her new book, Dark Money.

[Oscar]

New Book Exposes Koch Brothers' Guide to Infiltrating the Media

[ http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/3 ... -the-media ]

Saturday, 27 February 2016 00:00 By Denise Robbins, Media Matters for America | Book Review

A new book by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer lays out how the oil billionaire Koch brothers rose to the powerful position they are in today, where they wield unquestionable political influence and have shaped public opinion in drastic ways. Titled Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, the book brings to light many tactics that the Koch brothers and others in their network of like-minded millionaires and billionaires have used over the years to push their agenda while hiding the true motivations behind it.

The book examines the influence of several of the country's wealthiest conservative donors, but it pays particular attention to the activities of Charles and David Koch, who have organized their network and spearheaded the group's political efforts. "Few had waged a more relentless or more effective assault on Americans' belief in government," Mayer wrote of the Kochs.

A key element of the Koch brothers' strategy is influencing the media. Through media, they have advanced their political and ideological goals and attacked those who stand in their way. The Koch brothers and their network have paid conservative media figures to promote their message, bankrolled front groups that run aggressive anti-environmental media campaigns, and even created their own right-wing "news" outlets. Meanwhile, they've garnered some favorable mainstream media coverage by tightly controlling reporter access to their summits and other events, while attacking and otherwise intimidating journalists who dare to shine a light on their activities.

Here is how the Koch brothers and their network have infiltrated the media:

Buying A Conservative Media Echo Chamber
[ http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/17 ... chochamber ]

Creating Their Own Media Outlets
[ http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/17 ... 12#outlets ]

Funding Front Groups That Run Deceptive Media Campaigns
[ http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/17 ... rontgroups ]

Tightly Controlling Reporter Access to Their Events and Activities
[ http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/17 ... 612#access ]

Intimidating Journalists Who Seek to Uncover Their True Agenda
[ http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/02/17 ... timidation ]

"Instead of earning the media, they were paying for it."

MORE:

[ http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/3 ... -the-media ]