Center for Media and Public Affairs

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The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) is a self-described nonpartisan research and educational organization. The CMPA conducts scientific studies of the news and entertainment media and performs, among other things, a continuing analysis and tabulation of late night political jokes, as well as a content analysis of the nightly news on the three major networks and CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. CMPA also engages in health communication research and investigates the way in which scientific issues are conveyed in the media.

Some liberal watchdog groups such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) have challenged CMPA's ostensible non-partisan perspective by arguing that its funding comes mainly from conservative sources. Private foundation financial reports show that, in its early years, CMPA relied on funding from conservative foundations such as the Sarah Scaife and John M Olin foundations. In recent years, however, its funding base has diversified to include more liberally-oriented foundations such as the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, Ford Foundation, Pew Foundation, and Kaiser Family Foundation.

CMPA was founded in 1985 by Dr. S. Robert Lichter and his now ex-wife Dr. Linda Lichter. It publishes a bi-monthly newsletter called "Media Monitor."