When GlaxoSmithKline, maker of popular drugs like Nicorette and Zantac, funds a secret lobbying effort that contributes to bad laws across the country, Republic Report is here to call them out.
Companies often evade accountability for lobbying efforts by hiding behind undisclosed front groups. But the Travyon Martin shooting may turn out to be a tipping point. Gun manufacturers helped pass a law in Florida, known as Stand Your Ground, that could help Martin’s killer escape any real prosecution. A secretive group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has worked with industry to ensure this same gun industry-supported law has been passed in some 25 states.
ALEC allows dozens of corporations to help anonymously pass many laws that are clearly not in the public interest — everything from discriminatory Voter ID laws to laws that allow cable companies to monopolize the market to efforts to reduce the minimum wage.
First Campus Progress and then Color of Change called out the businesses that fund ALEC, asking them to publicly disassociate from and stop funding the group over state Voter ID laws, which make it harder for young people, low-income people, people of color, and disabled, and others to vote. In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting, Republic Report, joined by Color of Change, Rebuild the Dream, and Center for Media and Democracy, again asked these companies to withdraw from ALEC. (See our letter to ALEC’s corporate board members here.)
Yesterday, Coca-Cola was the first company to publicly leave ALEC in the wake of these protests. But there are still many companies that provide funds for this shadow lobbyist group. GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) John Del Giorno, a vice president for lobbying, is a board member to ALEC. Republic Report recently visited GSK’s D.C. lobbying office to make sure the company received our letter co-signed with Color of Change.
Republic Report is an investigative news blog dedicated uncovering the corrupting influence of money in politics.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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