Media Matters — the influential media watchdog group founded by out, onetime Republican media strategist David Brock — is under threat of closure as lawsuits and investigations by Elon Musk and the Trump administration threaten to bankrupt it.

The organization, funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Musk, as well as investigations by Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general, The New York Times reports.

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Republican official sues Media Matters for reporting on X’s neo-Nazi content
It’s the second time a Republican attorney general has sued the group.

The group has slashed staff and is now dialing back its criticism of Musk and Trump in the face of the legal onslaught, according to sources in the organization. Plummeting staff morale, rising infighting, and security concerns are now plaguing the group, they say.

Media Matters made headlines in this and other publications in 2023 when they released a report revealing the dramatic rise in hate speech on X, and the platform’s complicity in its ascent.

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“As X owner Elon Musk continues his descent into white nationalist and antisemitic conspiracy theories, his social media platform has been placing ads for major brands like Apple, Bravo (NBCUniversal), IBM, Oracle, and Xfinity (Comcast) next to content that touts Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party,” Media Matters reported.

On the same day the group released the report, IBM issued a statement saying that it had “suspended all advertising on X while we investigate this entirely unacceptable situation.”

“IBM has zero tolerance for hate speech and discrimination,” the tech giant said. Apple followed shortly after.

Days later, the advertiser revolt included Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the Max streaming platform all ending their advertising on X.

Musk file suit against Media Matters, claiming that the group had manipulated data in its research about X. It was the start of a nearly two-year deluge of legal action by Musk against the nonprofit that included cases filed in the U.S., Singapore, and Ireland.

Attorneys General Ken Paxton of Texas (R) and Andrew Bailey of Missouri (R) followed Musk’s lead shortly thereafter, probing the tech billionaire’s claims and accusing Media Matters of defrauding donors in their states.

With Trump’s return to the White House, the Federal Trade Commission also went after the group.

In May, the FT. launched an investigation into whether Media Matters and about a dozen other watchdog and advertising groups illegally colluded to dissuade companies from buying ads on X and other platforms, the Times reports. The commission has demanded internal communications among the watchdog groups to make their case, which continues despite Trump and Musk’s very public falling out.

Over 22 years, Media Matters has reported on Fox News’ obsession with Target’s Pride merchandise, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s white nationalist crusade, Tucker Carlson’s complicity in bomb threats targeting gender-affirming care providers, and the rise of the term “groomer” among anti-LGBTQ+ activists in the far-right media ecosystem.

The group was founded in 2003 by media strategist David Brock, a self-described “right-wing hit man” and onetime darling of conservatives who switched allegiance to Democrats at the same time he came out as gay. Media Matters was his answer to undermining the far-right’s dominant messaging machine.

Initially, the group targeted conservative talk radio and Fox News through fact-checking, advertiser boycotts, and what Brock described as “guerrilla warfare and sabotage,” before evolving into a journalistic outlet covering the rise of the alt-right and misinformation and hateful content online, including social media.

Brock stepped back from his founder’s role but returned to the nonprofit after Musk’s assault on the group. According to insiders, Brock has clashed with other leadership over a response to the coordinated attacks and has since been sidelined.

Future responses under consideration by Media Matters include declaring bankruptcy or making further concessions to Musk and government investigators to settle the litigation after earlier attempts failed to appease any of the parties. Those actions would only continue to undermine or end the mission of accountability and transparency that Media Matters was founded to pursue.

Publicly, the group remains steadfast.

Citing ABC News and CBS parent company Paramount, Angelo Carusone, the current president of Media Matters, said, “Unlike some major media entities that have recently caved to pressure, we understand that this battle is larger than us. That’s why we continue to carry out our mission and fight in court.”

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