Does anyone know of a guide to the political leanings of think tanks and

[jdj]

other stragetic orgs. like this?

Is there a reference out there that tells whether the "Council on Foreign Relations" for example, leans left or right? I know The Center for American Progress and The Brookings Institute lean left, the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute lean right, but these so many new orgs are coming out of the woodwork so fast that it's hard to know what their partisan interests are...so kind of hard to debunk them off the cuff. I know Rumsfeld invited the Center for Strategic and International Studies to Iraq last year, so I assume they are right-wing,, but they have these jokers on C-span acting all non-partisan, last night a lady from the Council on Foreign Relations was saying there is never anyone killing stories in the media (yeah right)...has anyone noticed it is getting real confusing to tell who is who, because the words in the names are all the same: American, Council, Institute...they are keeping the names in a narrow field to try and confuse people and make folks think these are governmental agencies, like the Council on National Policy, which is the organized branch of the fundie wingnut cult, (but I digress).

Has anyone put out a website or reference to these orgs and what their leanings are and who is funding them? It would be nice to just be able to find out at a glance if they are in the Kool-Aid cult or not before paying them any mind.

[humanriteswritlarge]

1. I would check this site for info

mediamatters.org

[Bridget Burke]

2. That's an interesting idea.

My newspaper often runs editorials from members of various "think tanks." Usually, the stench arising from the paper is a clue.

This appears to be a fairly thorough listing of Think Tanks. It doesn't "classify" them, but the summaries contain a good bit of coded information.

www.vote-smart.org/resource_political_resources.php?category=Think%20Tanks

Links to each group are provided. Wear your protective gear!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. here's one

www.mediatransparency.org

[jdj]

4. yes, this has listings of some of the groups and the donations they

get at this link

http://www.mediatransparency.org/movement.htm

I could devote alot of time to just this one area of politics.

I think it is really unfair for the media to use these organizations that present themselves as non-partisan when they clearly are not for purposes of political commentary. I think they should use elected officials who have declared a party affiliation or print journalists (not "commentators" a la Armstrong Williams) at the very most.

[chomskysright]

5. terrific link: have moved it around