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While the media is reporting on an important political story, WRAL is leaving out key information about its deep connections to the group at the center of the story . The Charlotte Observer posted a story on BlueprintNC, a liberal group responsible for coordinating activities on the left, after a ”confidential” 38 page strategy memo was leaked. Wral picked up on the story and posted the memo on line. But what has WRAL left out of the story?
The WRAL reporter left out the very deep connections WRAL has with BlueprintNC through its owner Jim Goodmon, donations and former employees. The AJ Fletcher Foundation has given $35,000 to BlueprintNC and $380,000 to the NC Justice Center which initially housed BlueprintNC when it was formed (the foundations 990 IRS reports are not current so there may be more) . The Goodmon family which owns WRAL has 4 family members on the board of the Fletcher Foundation including Barbara the President and Jim the chairman of the board. The Executive Director was formerly the head of the NC center for Voter Education, one of the original members of BlueprintNC. In addition Chris Fitzsimon, former WRAL reporter, is head of the liberal NC Policy Watch, the original lead attack group in the Blueprint coalition. Fitzsimon is also provided free airtime on Goodmon owned WRAL-FM from which he launches daily attacks on political opponents. The Fletcher Foundation has been a long time funder of Policy Watch is now housed in the Justice Center.
Wral is also actually doing one of the items in the strategy memo. The memo on page 3 calls for tracking McCrory “Campaign Promises” and “slam him when he contradicts his promise.” WRAL appears to have taken that for action by launching their “Promise Tracker“, complete with cute little ”Skull & Crossbones” symbols.
Civitas has previously written about BlueprintNC including this chart back in January 2010 (this contains a handy list for “legislative leaders” who might be interested in groups wishing to “eviscerate” or “cripple” them) . It played a key coordinating role leading up to the 2008 election and its extensive network became evident while investigating the role of ACORN in North Carolina. We also wrote about its role in the news you are getting.
It should also be noted that the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation which has given $425,000 to Blueprint and $2.7 million to the Justice Center which housed Blueprint, was headed succesively by Tom Ross the current UNC system President and Leslie Winner a former Democratic state senator and UNC VP.
7 Comments on this post
Feb 22 at 12:20
Libs, aka progressives, aka demoniacs think they are so smart, they spew hate and lies, like the children of the devil they are. One day the hate you people spew will have a non effect because people are on to it, then what? You’re over and done with.
Feb 22 at 19:02
The liberal news media is in bed with liberal and subversive forces throughout our society. They have sold their souls to the Devil for a mess of beans. I know first, I was on the inside until the coronation of Obama in 2008. If you still think the news media can be trusted, your are blind to reality. It’s all about money and corruption even more than liberal political ideology. I can bear witness to the fact that even on a local level votes were bought in 2008 not just in 2012.
Feb 22 at 21:20
Boycott all Wral advertisers and that will fix the problem.
Feb 22 at 22:01
The liberal bias of WRAL and the N&O is so apparent and has been for a very long time.
They depend on advertising to exist. Boycott them. Their news is not NEWS but liberal opinions.
Thank you Civitas for exposing them for what they are.
Feb 23 at 02:09
Do you think Friends of Hamas might be behind this.
Feb 23 at 07:15
Give us a list of sponsors so we can boycott.
Mar 02 at 08:10
Why don’t you investigate newspapers and TV stations elsewhere in NC? Begin with the Asheville Citizen-Times who makes no pretense of separating opinion from fact, even on their front page.
17 Trackbacks
Feb 22 at 13:07
[...] According to the conservative think tank, Civitas: [...]
Feb 22 at 14:15
[...] UPDATE: The plot thickens. Via Civitas: [...]
Feb 22 at 19:04
[...] site about the Blueprint NC memo leak. It is void of any link to their own owner, Jim Goodmon. Civitas already has a response up; citing [...]
Feb 23 at 00:24
[...] to Civitas Institute, the Foundation’s executive director is indirectly tied to Blueprint [...]
Feb 23 at 08:16
[...] What WRAL isn’t telling you about BlueprintNC [...]
Feb 23 at 08:58
[...] Reynolds Foundation and the big chunk of money they give Blueprint NC, but makes no mention of the local media mogul and his AJ Fletcher Foundation that has also sent Blueprint NC funding– Jim Goodmon, owner of [...]
Feb 23 at 12:40
[...] Civitas Institute, a conservative organization operating within North Carolina, posted on their blog yesterday that Binker left out key facts in his piece about BluePrint, namely that the A.J. Fletcher [...]
Feb 23 at 12:41
[...] Civitas Institute, a conservative organization operating within North Carolina, posted on their blog yesterday that Binker left out key facts in his piece about BluePrint, namely that the A.J. Fletcher [...]
Feb 23 at 12:51
[...] Civitas Institute, a conservative organization operating within North Carolina, posted on their blog yesterday that Binker left out key facts in his piece about BluePrint, namely that the A.J. Fletcher [...]
Feb 23 at 12:55
[...] Civitas Institute, a conservative organization operating within North Carolina, posted on their blog yesterday that Binker left out key facts in his piece about BluePrint, namely that the A.J. Fletcher [...]
Feb 24 at 01:03
[...] there is more to this. The Civitas Institute (link to complete article here) has looked into the relationship between WRAL and Blueprint NC and here is some of what they [...]
Feb 24 at 01:07
[...] there is more to this. The Civitas Institute (link to complete article here) has looked into the relationship between WRAL and Blueprint NC and here is some of what they [...]
Feb 25 at 16:33
[...] just half, while six other groups finance the other $500k. As for the Fletcher Foundation, None other than WRAL owner Jim Goodmon, through the foundation on which he servers as chairman of the board. [...]
Feb 26 at 12:09
[...] four of its family members being on the board of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation. According to the Civitas Institute, the Foundation has given the progressive group $35,000 in donations, and a former reporter for [...]
Feb 26 at 14:49
[...] to Blueprint and to many of the organizations which comprise the Blueprint NC network. In a quick blog post last week I explained there was a deep and long connection between the Goodmon family-controlled [...]
Feb 27 at 18:18
[...] NC Justice Center is also linked with NC Policy Watch – there is even a menu link to them on the NC Justice Center homepage. As I’ve written before, WRAL has not commented on the clear ties and bias these associations present. To reiterate the point made by Civitas: [...]
May 20 at 13:16
[...] The AJ Fletcher Foundation is the same outfit who claimed they had nothing do to with BluePrint NC’s attack memo citing the ‘evisceration’ and ‘crippling’ of the opposition. Even BluePrint NC tried to dodge ownership. Also recall that the AJ Fletcher Foundation gave over $35,000 to BluePrint NC. Via Civitas: [...]