TV Journalists Have Cited the Discredited SPLC Hundreds of Times

The April 21 indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) doesn't just threaten a major organ of the left's lawfare machine; it also puts in jeopardy one of the corporate news media's favorite sources of activist data.

For decades, but particularly since the first Trump administration, the SPLC has enjoyed a perverse symbiotic relationship with the left-wing press. Their absurd "hate group" designations provided the media with ammunition against their right-wing targets, and the media in turn held up the SPLC as the gold standard of analysis and objectivity.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Since the start of President Trump's first term, cable and broadcast networks have cited the SPLC 392 times.
SPLC stats were cited 6,600% more than average during the week surrounding the 2017 Charlottesville Unite the Right rally.