Industry-funded organizations

An industry-funded organization receives funding from a company or industry and often acts as a mouthpiece for views that serve the industry's economic interests.

Industry-funded organizations come in many shapes and sizes. These included trade associations, think tanks, non-profit advocacy groups, and media outlets. Some of these organizations serve as "third parties" for public relations campaigns. The third party technique has been defined by one PR executive as putting "your words in someone else's mouth."

These organizations purport to represent one agenda while in reality they serve some other party or interest whose sponsorship is hidden or rarely mentioned. For example, the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), which has a lengthy entry in SourceWatch, claims its mission is to defend the rights of consumers to choose to eat, drink and smoke as they please. In reality, CCF is a front group for agribusiness and the tobacco, restaurant, and alcoholic beverage industries, which provide most of its funding.

Of course, not all organizations engaged in manipulative efforts to shape public opinion can be classified as "front groups." For example, the now defunct Tobacco Institute was highly deceptive, but it didn't hide the fact that it represented the tobacco industry. There are also degrees of concealment. The Global Climate Coalition, for example, didn't hide the fact that its funding came from oil and coal companies, but nevertheless its name alone is sufficiently misleading that it can reasonably be considered a front group.

This sort of manipulation doesn't necessarily entail outright lies of commission, but it typically entails lies of omission that disguise the identity of the message's sponsor. The use of the third party technique tends to corrupt journalism, science and the other institutions that it touches. Moreover, using lies of omission rather than commission enables the people who participate in front groups to rationalize that they aren't really doing anything wrong. The logic of the third party technique implies that when PR firms set out to manufacture news, they often want to keep their clients (and themselves) out of the story.

Please note: SourceWatch has a separate listing for think tanks.

Resources

 * How to research front groups
 * Possible industry funded groups requiring investigation

Examples
See the category of SourceWatch articles on industry-funded organizations.
 * Accuracy in Media
 * ActivistCash.com
 * Adam Smith Institute
 * The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition
 * Agribusiness Freedom Foundation
 * AIDS Responsibility Project
 * Air Hygiene Foundation
 * Air Quality Standards Coalition
 * Alexis de Tocqueville Institution
 * Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
 * Alliance for Better Foods
 * Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth
 * Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care
 * Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy
 * American Beverage Institute
 * American Beverage Association
 * American Beverage Licensees
 * American Chemistry Council
 * American Council on Science and Health
 * American Egg Board
 * American Enterprise Institute
 * American Gaming Association
 * American Industrial Health Council
 * American Meat Institute
 * American Petroleum Institute
 * American Policy Center
 * American Tort Reform Association
 * Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC)
 * Americans for Secure Retirement
 * Americans for Tax Reform
 * Americans for Victory Over Terrorism
 * AmeriCares
 * Asbestos Alliance
 * Association of Wisconsin Lobbyists
 * BC Salmon Farmers Association
 * Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness
 * Black America's PAC
 * Business Council of Australia
 * Business for Social Responsibility
 * Business Roundtable
 * Business Software Alliance
 * Morton Blackwell Leadership Institute
 * California Civil Rights Initiative
 * Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions
 * Campaign for Working Families
 * Canned Food Alliance
 * Capital Research Center
 * Cato Institute
 * Center for Consumer Freedom
 * Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise
 * Center for Energy and Economic Development
 * Centre for Independent Studies
 * The Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology
 * Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
 * Christian Coalition
 * Citizens for a Free Kuwait
 * Citizens for a Sound Economy
 * Citizens for Better Medicare
 * Citizens for Sensible Control of Acid Rain
 * Claremont Institute
 * Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
 * Coalition for a Healthy and Active America
 * Coalition for Asbestos Resolution
 * Coalition for Economic Growth and American Jobs
 * Coalition for Employment through Exports
 * Coalition for Government Procurement
 * Coalition for Health Insurance Choices
 * Coalition for Southern Africa
 * Coalition for the Modernization and Protection of America's Social Security
 * Coalition for Vehicle Choice
 * Competitive Enterprise Institute
 * Consumer Alert
 * Consumer Data Industry Association
 * Consumer Distorts
 * Consumer Federation of America
 * Consumers Alliance for Affordable Natural Gas
 * Consumers for World Trade
 * Consumers' Research
 * Contributions Watch
 * Cooler Heads Coalition
 * Council for Affordable Health Insurance
 * Council for Biotechnology Information
 * Council for Energy Independence
 * Council for Responsible Nutrition
 * Council for Solid Waste Solutions
 * Council for Tobacco Research
 * Council of American Muslims for Understanding
 * Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy
 * Council on Water Quality
 * CropGen
 * CropLife America
 * CropLife Australia
 * CropLife International
 * Discover America Partnership
 * Drug Free America Foundation
 * European Internet Foundation
 * European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Industry Technology Association
 * E-Ping
 * Election Center
 * Election Technology Council
 * Electric Power Research Institute
 * Employment Policies Institute
 * Employment Roundtable
 * EMPOWER.org
 * Energy Stewardship Alliance
 * Environmental Issues Council
 * EPA Watch
 * Ephedra Education Council
 * European Science and Environment Forum
 * Food Security Network
 * FOREST
 * Foundation for Clean Air Progress
 * Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment
 * FreedomWorks
 * Global Climate Coalition
 * Global Climate Information Project
 * Global Warming Cost website
 * Greening Earth Society
 * Guest Choice Network
 * Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
 * Heidelberg Appeal
 * Health Benefits Coalition
 * Health Care America
 * Healthcare Leadership Council
 * Heartland Institute
 * Hepatitis C Coalition
 * Human and Environmental Risk Assessment project or HERA
 * Heritage Foundation
 * Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace
 * Hudson Institute
 * Hygiene Council
 * Independent Women's Forum
 * Information Technology Association Of America
 * Institute for Regulatory Policy
 * Institute of Economic Affairs
 * Institute for Energy Research
 * International Food Information Council
 * International Life Sciences Institute
 * International Tax and Investment Organization
 * JunkScience.com
 * Keep America Beautiful
 * Landmark Legal Foundation
 * Leipzig Declaration on Global Climate Change
 * Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
 * George C. Marshall Institute
 * Meat Promotion Council
 * Motion Picture Association of America
 * Mountain States Legal Foundation
 * National Anxiety Center; Al Caruba
 * National Association of Forest Industries
 * National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
 * National Cattlemen's Beef Association
 * National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy
 * National Center for Policy Analysis
 * National Center for Public Policy Research
 * National Coalition on Ergonomics
 * National Consumer Coalition
 * National Dairy Council
 * National Empowerment Television
 * National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition
 * National Journalism Center
 * National Legal Center for the Public Interest
 * National Newspaper Association
 * National Wetlands Coalition
 * National Wilderness Institute
 * Nuclear Energy Institute
 * Nutrients for Life Foundation
 * One Nation (US)
 * Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
 * Organization for Internet Safety
 * Parent-Teachers Association
 * Partnership for a Drug Free America
 * Partnership for the West
 * Perchlorate Study Group
 * Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
 * Political Economy Research Center
 * Progress & Freedom Foundation
 * Project EverGreen
 * Project Learning Tree
 * Public Interest Watch
 * Reason Foundation
 * Republicans for Clean Air
 * Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment
 * RetireSafe.org
 * Scientific Alliance
 * Sense about Science
 * Shape the Debate
 * Shaping America's Youth
 * Small Business Survival Committee
 * Smart Growth Madison
 * 60 Plus Association
 * Social Issues Research Centre
 * Society for Women's Health Research
 * Spiked Online
 * Statistical Assessment Service
 * Stratfor
 * Susan B. Anthony List
 * Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) Owners of America
 * Tech Central Station
 * The Biotechnology Institute
 * The Wisconsin Forum
 * Transatlantic Policy Network
 * Treated Wood Council
 * The Vinyl Institute
 * U.S. Coalition of Service Industries
 * Victorian Association of Forest Industries
 * Washington Legal Foundation
 * Water Environment Federation
 * Western Plant Health Association
 * Wisconsin Merchants Federation
 * Wise Use Movement
 * Wood Promotion Network