What happens when a program about school reform takes money from a foundation with a similar focus?
Here's the situation:
A news program aired a special education series examining efforts to reform struggling urban public schools. The education series was funded solely by ABC Charitable Foundation, one of the nation’s largest philanthropic institutions. The program was criticized for accepting this funding because education reform is one of ABC’s areas of focus. In fact, as critics noted, ABC was actively trying to shape the very educational reforms that the special series was covering – i.e., the emergence of charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated.
While ABC was identified as one of several funders of the news program that broadcast the education series, ABC was not specifically identified as the sole funder of the series. ABC also was not identified in any promotional materials accompanying the series’ launch.