ProPublica, a nonprofit news site, has responded to statements made by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin. The Pulitzer-winning organization shot back at Bevin after he went on a lengthy rant, claiming ProPublica was a “biased, left-wing organization,” according to Business Insider .
Bevin’s issues with ProPublica began thanks to its involvement with The Courier-Journal, Kentucky’s largest newspaper. The Courier-Journal and Bevin have a complicated past; the popular newspaper had published in-depth investigations into Bevin back in September. The Journal had revealed that Bevin had permitted a 134% salary increase for a friend who served as Kentucky’s information officer for 10 months. The increase amounted to $215,000.
So when Bevin learned that the Journal was pairing with ProPublica to do a year-long investigation of a ‘government program’ in Kentucky, Bevin lashed out. In a lengthy video, he criticized both the newspaper and the organization for their biases and journalistic integrity.
Bevin seemed especially distressed to learn that billionaire investor George Soros helped to finance the nonprofit.
“Now the Courier-Journal has just straight up said, ‘We don’t even care about being objective. We’re willing, for a price, because we’ll sell our soul, we’ll be a sock-puppet for the ProPublica organization, for George Soros… for all these other people who hate America, and undermine day in and day out the values that we in Kentucky actually hold dear, that America was founded upon.”
Very nice to meet you too, @GovMattBevin !
You asked who @ProPublica is. We thought we’d give you some answers. Like everything we do, they are, you know, actually accurate. https://t.co/hiRsyoQXhk
— ProPublica (@propublica) December 13, 2018
ProPublica had previously disclosed that less than 2% of its operations are funded by Soros. Additionally, the organization has publicly addressed its possibly problematic connection to Soros.
Bevin’s concern for and hostility towards ProPublica is said to come from their impending investigation of a government organization in his state. After the investigation back in September, the governor began striking back at the news organization. In his most recent video, he stated that the Journal would not be transparent in their findings, and directly questioned their journalistic integrity.
But it looks like ProPublica isn’t particularly concerned about this controversy either. In a series of good-natured Tweets, the organization directly addressed many of Bevin’s concerns.
“You called us a “biased, left-wing organization.” Actually, we believe in evidence. Hard, indisputable evidence. Carefully gathered and precisely told. Perhaps that’s why our peers have given us 4 Pulitzers, 3 Peabodys, 2 Emmys, 6 Polks, a DuPont and a National Magazine Award.”
During its lengthy tenure in Kentucky, the Courier-Journal has earned 10 Pulitzer Prizes, They are just one of the 90 different news organizations ProPublica works with across the country.
