Lee Fang | |
---|---|
Education | BA, Government from University of Maryland |
Occupation | Advocacy journalist |
Lee Fang is a liberal writer.[1][2] He is currently a reporting fellow at The Nation Institute and a contributing writer at The Nation.[3][4] Fang is a former senior investigator at the Republic Report and a former investigative blogger for ThinkProgress.[5]
Early life and career
Fang's hometown is in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He attended college at the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating with a B.A. in government and politics.[6][dead link] Fang was an intern with ThinkProgress and also a researcher for Progressive Accountability. As an undergraduate, Fang also interned for Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), for the activist watchdog outfit Media Matters and for the lobbying firm Westin Rinehart.[6][dead link]
Work with ThinkProgress
Fang published several articles where he alleges that special interests manipulated the media reaction to the Occupy Wall Street protests.[7][8] Fang has been interviewed about Tea Party strategy documents.[9]
Accusations against Chamber of Commerce
On October 5, 2010, Fang wrote a story on ThinkProgress, where he alleged that the United States Chamber of Commerce funded political attack campaigns from its general fund, which solicits funds from foreign sources. Fang stated that the chamber is "likely skirting longstanding campaign finance law that bans the involvement of foreign corporations in American elections."[10]
The story attracted national attention.[11][12] The U.S. Chamber of Commerce denied Fang's charge, stating on its website that "no foreign money is used to fund political activities. All allegations to the contrary are totally and completely false."[11] Fang discussed the story on National Public Radio,[13] and on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann. Fang told Olbermann that the Chamber is "going to foreign businesses and foreign individuals, saying, 'if you send us checks, you'll have a voice in American public policy debates.' They're sending those checks to the same bank account used for the attack ads."[14][15]
Reporting on Allen West
Fang's reporting about Florida Congressional representative and Tea Party advocate Allen West, who called for the censorship of U.S. journalism based on publication of leaked documents from Wikileaks, was picked up by CBS News.[16]
Reporting on Contango
In April 2011, Fang wrote an article titled "The Contango Game: How Koch Industries Manipulates The Oil Market For Profit’’, in which he said “Koch Industries occupies a unique role in manipulating the oil market.”[17] The story was soon after picked up by major media organizations like CBS and MSNBC.[18][19]
Fang has previously written about Charles and David Koch,[20][21] and he was interviewed for a documentary about the Koch brothers.[22]
Opposition to Chick-fil-A
In 2012, Fang supported city officials in Boston and Chicago who sought to prevent Chick-fil-A franchises from opening in those cities over concerns about Chick-fil-A president S. Truett Cathy's views on homosexuality. Journalist Glenn Greenwald, disagreeing with Fang's conception of the U.S. Constitution, wrote "Lee Fang became the first progressive writer I know of to defend these state actions against the restaurant chain."[2]
Bibliography
Writings
Lee Fang, The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right New York: The New Press, 2013.[23]
Interviews
Robert Greenwald and Jeff Cole, "Koch Brothers Exposed" (DVD) New York: Disinformation, 2012. Interviews with Bernard Sanders, Van Jones, Bill McKibben, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Lawrence Lessig, Benjamin Todd Jealous, and Lee Fang.[22]
References
- ^ Rutenberg, Jim (2/23/2013). "A Conservative Provocateur, Using a Blowtorch as His Pen". New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
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(help) - ^ a b Greenwald, Glenn (7-30-2012). "Free speech and donations". Salon. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
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(help) - ^ "Lee Fang". The Nation Institute. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- ^ "Lee Fang". The Investigative Fund. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- ^ "Lee Fang". Republic Report.
- ^ a b "Lee Fang". Center for American Progress.
- ^ Julia La Roche (2011-10-10). "Blogger Tries To Smear Occupy Wall Street Critics By Tying Them To A Hedge Funder". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Ungerleider, Neal (2011-09-21). "Occupy Wall Street: Tahrir Over Here?". Fast Company. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Etheridge, Eric (August 4, 2009). "Fight in August". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Fang, Lee. "Exclusive: Foreign-Funded 'U.S.' Chamber of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads". ThinkProgress.Org.
- ^ a b Chris Frates (10/05/2011). ""Chamber of Commerce Under Fire for Foreign Cash". Politico. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Foreign-Funded U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Running Partisan Attack Ads". Sierra Voices. 2010-10-07. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Gross, Terry; Kramer, Melody (October 7, 2010). "'Citizens United' Ruling Opened Floodgates On Groups' Ad Spending National Public Radio". NPR.org. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ "Tuesday, Oct. 5th - MSNBC - Countdown with Keith Olbermann". NBC News. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Poor, Jeff (2010-10-06). "Soros-Funded Think Progress, MoveOn Grumble Over Foreign Donations | Media Research Center". Mrc.org. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Madison, Lucy (December 14, 2010). "Incoming GOP Rep. Allen West: News Outlets Publishing WikiLeaks Should Be Censored - Political Hotsheet". CBS News. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ Fang, Lee (2011-04-13). "The Contango Game: How Koch Industries Manipulates The Oil Market For Profit". ThinkProgress. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ Sherter, Alain (April 15, 2011). "Contango Lesson: How Koch Industries Raises Gas Prices". CBS. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
- ^ "NBC News Standards and Practices Editor Concedes Koch Segment "not a reflection of normal procedure at MSNBC."". KochFacts.com. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ Cynthia Stead (2011-04-21). "Revealing insights in media reform". CapeCodOnline.com. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ People and Power (March 29, 2012). "The Koch Brothers - People & Power". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
- ^ a b Greenwald, Robert; Cole, Jeff (2012). Koch Brothers Exposed. New York: Disinformation. ISBN 9781934708866.
- ^ Fang, Lee (2013). The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right. New York. ISBN 9781595586391.
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