Propaganda Outlet Clamors Under Pseudonym ‘Montana Free Press’
Montana “Free” Press is political kayfabe masquerading as news.
This report was originally published in the Substack titled “Brutus” on October 4th, 2022.
Ever wonder why virtually every mainstream so-called “local” media outlet in Montana unrelentingly spews left-wing propaganda and cultural Marxism? The obvious reason is that they are not, in fact, local. Virtually all the money that flows into their coffers comes from out-of-state corporate donors and multi-millionaire or billionaire out of state “philanthropists.”
For example, on the Montana Free Press (MTFP) website they proclaim that they are an “independent” source for news in Montana. Their “About” page states:
“MTFP seeks to uncover the truth and bring to light essential news stories by studying arcane bureaucratic processes, seeking out dark corners of major institutions, digging deep into data and documents, and holding power accountable to the people.“
Yet this organization is funded by the darkest corners of multinational institutions, multi-state institutions and multinational and powerfully rich donors. In this article, we will go over the Montana “Free” Press’ blatant connections to dark money groups not of the State of Montana.
Let’s take their top four (4) major donors in 2021, which are touted on their website:
- Simone and Tench Coxe — $59,395.05
- Inasmuch Foundation — $50,000
- Local Media Association — $50,000
- Wilburforce Foundation — $50,000
Who are these donors? Where are they from? What are their motives? Where did these other 501(c)(3) organizations get their money from in order to give so much to MTFP?
Simone and Tench Coxe
Simone and Tench Coxe, a wife and husband who gave MTFP $59,395, live in Austin, Texas after moving from Palo Alto, California in January 2021. Simone Coxe co-founded the public relations firm Blanc & Otus and she more recently co-founded CalMatters—a California nonprofit news outlet. Tench Coxe is a billionaire and former venture capitalist. Tench Coxe is the third largest individual shareholder at Nvidia; a mutli-national tech company. Coxe spent more than three decades at venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures, serving as a managing director from 1989 to 2020.
As always, these rich leftist are ex-“venture capitalist philanthropists.” Simon and Tench are wealthy California liberals who do not live in Montana or, if they do, it is probably a vacation home on a piece of land where a ranch family used to live that now sits empty while Montanans toil for crumbs and are priced out of owning their own land.
Simone and Tench donated $2 million to Beto O’Rourke—the infamous Democrat known for saying, “Hell yes I am going to take your AR-15s!”—in support of his campaign for Governor of Texas. This is a clear indication that Simone and Tench Coxe are your typical silicon valley elitists.
Inasmuch Foundation
Inasmuch Foundation, which gave $50,000 to MTFP, is a perplexing foundation based out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On their website they state,
“Inasmuch Foundation champions journalism, education, human services, and community to improve the quality of life for Oklahomans.”
They say they are a foundation predicated on influencing Oklahomans, yet they gave money to MTFP which has nothing to do with Oklahoma. In their 990 IRS filings, Inasmuch Foundation also gave Local Media Foundation, based out of Michigan (which is also a major donor to MTFP) $350,000. This strikes me as very unusual.
Although most of their money donations or grants have been given to entities in Oklahoma, they seem to give money to organizations all over the country that have nothing to do with Oklahoma. They also have connections to organizations like Blackstone (BlackRock), Morgan Stanley, and other large financial institutions as evidenced in their 990 tax filings.
Local Media Foundation
Local Media Foundation, who also gave $50,000 to MTFP is an organization based out of Lake City, Michigan. Their mission claimed on their website is to,
“Ensure a healthy future for local journalism, which is essential to a strong democracy, by reinventing business models for news.”
Why would an organization touting “local” media be transferring large sums of money to other news outlets thousands of miles away from their charter?
Local Media Foundation’s 990 IRS form shows they received, what appears to be, grant money from “THE FACEBOOK COVID-19 LOCAL NEWS RELIEF FUND” and “THE BRANDED CONTENT PROJECT, A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN LOCAL MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND THE LOCAL MEDIA CONSORTIUM, FUNDED BY MULTIPLE INVESTMENTS FROM THE FACEBOOK JOURNALISM PROJECT.”
As you can see, this “Local Media Foundation” has connections to Zuckerbucks and God only knows who or what else. Local Media Foundation’s total revenue in its 2020 tax filings show the organization had a massive 346% increase in revenue from the previous year and a massive 339% increase from the year before that!
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| $469,833 | $1,593,866 | $5,522,543 |
| — | + 339% (yoy) | + 346% (yoy) |
Zuckerberg and other leftist organizations clearly dumped money into the Local Media Foundation. Now ask yourself again, why did they give Montana Free Press $50,000? It is clear that small fortunes of dark money and resources are being shuttled around America in order to capture institutions whom they wish to influence and/or empower to push agendas, void of any real input or value from the people of this great State.
Wilburforce Foundation
Wilburforce Foundation, which gave $50,000 to MTFP, is based out of Seattle, Washington and is another leftist organization with massively deep pockets. Wilburforce Foundation received nearly $17 million in revenue in 2020. In 2019, they had a whopping $29 million in revenue. Wilburforce Foundation has over $148 million in assets and is well-known for its generous contributions to environmental groups and other leftist organizations in Montana. Some of the Montana leftist groups they donate to include:
- Forward Montana Foundation
- Greater Yellowstone Coalition
- Montana Wilderness Association
- Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
According to 990 tax IRS filings, they disseminate funds heavily weighted to leftist groups in the Mountain West region; expanding geographically as far out as British Columbia.
It is clear they are one of the funders pushing the Agenda 21 narrative, trying to create a massive unpopulated wilderness and wildlife corridor area from British Columbia down to the southern regions of the Rocky Mountains, which involves removing ranchers from the land throughout the corridor to satisfy their agenda.
The Executive Director of Wilburforce, Paul Beaudet, is a raging progressive and was Associate Director of a homosexual “Pride” foundation—which has incessantly pushed the LGBTQ agenda in the Pacific Northwest.
Why is the Wilburforce Foundation, based out of Seattle, Washington, giving Montana “Free” Press money? What are their motives in doing that? It is clear that Montana “Free” Press pushes an agenda that the Wilburforce Foundation supports.
The obvious conclusion as to why Montana Free Press does nothing but spew left-wing propaganda is that its funding comes from out-of-state left-wing organizations.
Montana “Free” Press is not a news organization that serves the People of Montana; it serves its out-of-state funders and their agendas. MTFP’s entanglement with radical-leftist corporate donors represents only a small fraction of the stranglehold these dark money organizations have on Montana’s news cycle and its effect on cultural denigration, economic warfare, and political kayfabe.
There is no such thing as local news anymore, esp. in the so called local papers, most are owned by one organization and have one viewpoint.