Background on the Institute for Public Accuracy:

The Institute for Public Accuracy was founded in mid-1997 by Norman Solomon with the support of a two-year $100,000-per-year Public Interest Pioneer grant from the Stern Family Fund. IPA opened its national office in San Francisco in October 1997. Several months later, IPA established its media office in the National Press Building in Washington, D.C. It is a 501(c)(3) organization.

IPA increases the reach and capacity of progressive and grassroots organizations (at no cost to them) to address public policy by getting them and their ideas into the mainstream media. IPA gains media access for those whose voices are commonly excluded or drowned out by government or corporate-backed institutions. As a national consortium of independent public-policy researchers, analysts and activists, IPA widens media exposure for progressive perspectives on many issues including the environment, human rights, foreign policy, and economic justice.

IPA has developed a detailed set of constantly updated databases of producers, commentators, and journalists at media institutions across the country. Generally, IPA news releases are most effective when they address breaking news stories. We have reached wide audiences by using major news developments as pegs for quickly providing accurate information and alternative analysis.

While regularly making it possible for numerous policy analysts, scholars and other independent researchers to be heard in mass media, IPA boosts many progressive grassroots groups with scant resources for media outreach. Since 1998, IPA news releases have promoted analysts from thousands of different organizations doing work on a wide variety of public-policy issues.


Views and links appearing in material published or distributed by the Institute for Public Accuracy do not necessarily represent the opinions of the board or staff of IPA.

Funders of the Institute for Public Accuracy include:

  • Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
  • Wallace Action Fund
  • Susan Adelman and Claudio Llanos
  • Park Foundation
  • Bydale Foundation
  • Madison Community Foundation
  • Stewart Mott Charitable Trust
  • Vermont Community Foundation
  • Lucy and Isadore B. Adelman Foundation
  • Bertha Foundation
  • Quitiplas Foundation
  • Santa Cruz Community Foundation
  • Edward Herman Trust

IPA also receives financial support from individuals.

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  • “Notable Hypocrisy” Cited as Prominent Think Tank Urges Funding Disclosure by Witnesses at Capitol

    WASHINGTON — A new report by one of the nation’s most influential think tanks, the Heritage Foundation, criticizes witnesses who testified on Capitol Hill without disclosing grants they had received from the U.S. government. But the report does not mention that the Heritage Foundation presented congressional testimony on American policies toward North Korea without acknowledging…

  • Alternatives to Federal Anti-Drug Policies

    WASHINGTON — With a $195 million federal anti-drug ad campaign now underway, some experts on drug policies and the law are questioning the effectiveness of the latest efforts to curb drug use. Among those available for comment are: DARRYL COLBERT Program Administrator for the Substance Abuse Network of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington,…

  • What Should Be Done With the Budget Surplus?

    WASHINGTON — For the first time in decades, government officials and policy wonks in the nation’s capital are talking about what to do with a federal budget surplus. The Congressional Budget Office predicts a surplus of between $43 billion and $63 billion this year. While many in Washington are pushing for tax cuts, some policy…

  • While Clinton Offers Reassurances in Hong Kong, Some Critics Dispute His Economic Assumptions

    WASHINGTON — President Clinton hopes that his public statements in Hong Kong on Friday will help to soothe jitters about economic turmoil in Asia. But some policy analysts in the United States are raising fundamental questions about the recent upheaval that has roiled the economies of many Asian nations. Despite assurances from U.S. officials, critics…

  • Critics Question Human Rights Standards

    WASHINGTON — While many applaud statements by President Clinton in China specifically citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, analysts associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy are raising questions about selective adherence to the Declaration’s provisions. Among those available for comment are: ANURADHA MITTAL Mittal, policy director at the Institute for Food and Development…

  • Clinton in China: Balancing Business and Rights?

    WASHINGTON — Reports of a “large-scale” signing and major business deals on tap during the U.S.-China summit are intensifying the concerns of some analysts. Many support dialogue with the world’s most populous nation, but they remain troubled by President Clinton’s handling of economic, military and human rights issues. Among those available for comment are: JAMES…

  • Critics Dub “Cost of Government Day” Cost of Disinformation Day

    WASHINGTON — As the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation promotes “Cost of Government Day,” claiming that it takes until June 25 for Americans to pay for “the burdensome cost of government,” economists associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy ridiculed the group for purveying dubious assertions. Among those available for comment are: RANDY ALBELDA Ms.…

  • Social Security: “Shortfall” Warnings Distort Reality, Critics Charge

    WASHINGTON — Hours after an influential think tank released a report Monday warning of a multi-trillion-dollar “shortfall” for Social Security, several economists and policy analysts denounced the report as a misleading effort to promote privatization of the federal program. The report, issued by the Heritage Foundation, claims that Social Security “is a very bad deal…

  • Context for Clinton Trip to China

    WASHINGTON — As President Clinton prepares for the summit in China, think tanks in the United States are churning out media releases on U.S.-China relations. But some scholars associated with the Institute for Public Accuracy, a nationwide consortium of policy researchers, contend that key aspects of the summit’s economic context are being overlooked. Among those…

  • U.S. Foreign Aid: Should It Buy Support?

    WASHINGTON — With Congress now at work on proposals to fund U.S. foreign aid programs for fiscal year 1999, analysts are debating the merits of such assistance. Today, the Heritage Foundation released a policy paper claiming that the largest portion of Washington’s foreign aid budget “goes to many countries that seldom support U.S. foreign policy…

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