Why are they hiding? Wall Street Journal Ignores Our Request for Disclosure by Op-ed Authors with Fossil Fuel Ties

Koch-Funded Americans for Prosperity Directors Also Hang-Up or Don’t Return Calls

Ever since we first asked why 94% of mainstream media outlets quoted “experts” from fossil fuel front groups without explaining the source of their funding, news organizations have taken a more honest approach.

But then there’s the Wall Street Journal, where a recent op-ed by two Americans for Prosperity (AFP) officials runs upstream against the current of accountability and transparency.

At the end of a commentary written by two AFP state directors that was published on July 10, 2015, titled, “States Are Unplugging Their Renewable-Energy Mandates,” the Journal printed these bios:

“Mr. Bryson and Mr. Glendening are, respectively, the North Carolina state director and Kansas state director for Americans for Prosperity.”

Wall Street Journal Inquiry

On July 21, Checks and Balances Project sent a letter to WSJ’s Editorial Features Editor Mark Lasswell and asked:

• Are you aware that Americans for Prosperity is heavily funded by fossil fuel industries groups like American Petroleum Institute and David and Charles Koch?
• Why was that not disclosed as part of their bios?
• Don’t you think the Wall Street Journal has a responsibility to disclose those ties as part of Mr. Bryson and Mr. Glendening’s bios, so readers know who is funding AFP and therefore likely influencing AFP’s publicly stated pro-oil and gas industry positions? And their anti-clean energy  positions?
• Do you support greater transparency on the pages of the Wall Street Journal so readers are informed of the funding that op-ed contributors (and columnists) receive from industries these contributors/columnists champion?
• Despite our letter and calls placed to his office on July 24 and August 4, Mr. Lasswell has chosen not to respond. This is despite a string of responsible news organizations choosing to publish corrections and provide greater transparency, from the New York Times in 2011 to Newsweek in April 2015.

David Koch

Inquiries to Americans for Prosperity

Next, I thought I’d try Donald Bryson in North Carolina. He answered his direct line warily. But when I identified myself, he immediately hung up.

So then I called Jeff Glendening in Kansas. He had no personal voice mail. After trying three times, I finally left a voice mail asking that he call me, explaining why I called. I did the same on the main line, which was also voice mail. No luck.

I tried everyone again on August 4. But they clearly don’t want to talk.

If Lasswell, Glendening, and Bryson are proud of their work and believe in what they are doing, why does transparency frighten them? Why are they hiding their fossil fuel ties?

 

Scott Peterson is executive director of the Checks and Balances Project, a national watchdog blog that seeks to hold government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP comes from pro-clean energy philanthropies and donors.