Hidden agendas can be dangerous, particularly when the goal is to influence public opinion with political attacks in the guise of impartial journalism. Recently, a supposedly “independent, not-for-profit news organization” has stepped into the public arena. NC Health News promises to “provide crucial information about health care in North Carolina,” but few people realize that the organization is just another propaganda outlet for the Progressive Left.
NC Health News was founded in November 2011 by Rose Hoban, a former radio reporter for WUNC. Since then, Hoban’s “news” outlet has had considerable success at getting out its message. Mainstream media organizations frequently treat Hoban’s writing as authoritative, but they are willfully ignoring the obvious ideological agenda behind her organization.
What is that agenda? Well, it is simple, and readily explained by a strategy memo leaked this February. A liberal organizing network called Blueprint NC distributed a 38-page document that outlined a “collective statewide strategy” to discredit Republicans and conservatives in North Carolina. One of the immediate goals described in the memo was to “eviscerate the leadership and weaken their ability to govern.” In order to do that, Blueprint concluded, it was necessary to have
Enter Rose Hoban and NC Health News. As a former reporter, Hoban had the connections necessary to cozy up to mainstream media outlets. Those outlets, for their part, were more than willing to push NC Health News’ liberal agenda. They did not question the blog’s self-description, which reads:
“We are serious about our independence and are not affiliated with any political party, special interest organization, or activist group.”
That’s interesting, because even a cursory Google search would have turned up evidence to the contrary. Two out of three of the founding board members also serve as officers or board members in Blueprint NC member organizations. Leah Devlin is a board member at Action for Children, while Satana Deberry is the executive director of the NC Housing Coalition.
NC Health News may be a spin-off of another liberal mouthpiece with close ties to Blueprint. The blog receives much of its funding from and shares staff with the Raleigh Public Record; Hoban was once the Record’s managing editor. The Record is another “nonprofit news organization” that is heavily propped up by leftist Blueprint bankrollers like the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, which is backed by Jim Goodmon, the owner of WRAL.
Finally, NC Health News is frequently featured on the liberal NC Policy Watch blog, while NC Health News in turn features Policy Watch articles. NC Policy Watch is a project of the North Carolina Justice Center, which is a “Leadership Committee Member” of Blueprint NC.
Let’s go back to that memo from Blueprint NC. Blueprint urged its operatives to use “relationships to statewide media” in order to push their liberal agenda. And indeed, NC Health News is doing exactly that. Mainstream media outlets march in lockstep with Blueprint by deliberately ignoring the obvious links their “independent” news source has to a powerful political network. And ordinary North Carolinians are none the wiser, as NC Health News advances the message of Blueprint NC with the Trojan horse of ”… employing the highest journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy and extensive research.”
Currently, NC Health News is on the front lines of Blueprint’s “collective statewide strategy” to attack conservatives. This week, Rose Hoban published a blog post with a sensational headline: “McCrory Administration Officials Suppressed Insight Into Medicaid.” The headline was quickly used as a talking point for Democratic legislators attacking Secretary of Health of Human Services Aldona Wos, while mainstream news outlets integrated Hoban’s blog post into their own stories. Judging by this week’s events, the Blueprint plan to “eviscerate the leadership” and “weaken their ability to govern” is apparently in full swing.
Everyone has an agenda. But NC Health News’ agenda is hidden, and for North Carolinians that can be unhealthy.
Since my work is being dissected on this blog post, I feel it necessary to point out some of the most glaring problems here:
– Your interesting graphic implies that NCHN has received funding from Raleigh Public Record and from the NC Justice Center. Neither of these entities have given funds to NCHN. As a matter of fact, NCHN pays processing fees to Raleigh Public Record to act as our fiscal agent as we await 501(c)3 designation by the IRS (many not-for-profit journalism organizations have had to wait for long periods for the IRS to act, similar to the problems experienced by Tea Party organizations). Nor have we received money from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation or from the Fletcher Foundation.
– The NC Justice Center quotes from many news organizations’ articles, including Carolina Journal and commentaries by John Hood.
– Our choices of board members reflects people who have wide knowledge of health care in North Carolina. Leah Devlin is a dentist who served for eight years as the State Health Director and Satana Deberry is an attorney who once served in DHHS. They bring valuable insight into different aspects of the health care system in North Carolina.
Finally, as people familiar with my work will note, when Democrats were in power, I spilled many pixels excoriating those in power, in particular critiquing prior administrations’ handling of the mental health system. As a journalist, I take pride in being an equal opportunity critic of those in positions of power.
Rose Hoban, RN, MPH
Editor, North Carolina Health News
Ms. Hoban,
Remember that Civitas, Locke and other Pope instruments deal in lies, innuendo and false propaganda. You should feel proud to be attacked by such low lifes who pretend to be journalists. Pope’s lackeys are just bad propaganda mills.
Well, I read this, and I still have a question: Has Rose Hoban lied about or distorted the facts in her reports?
If that is the case, so be it, and only then should you bring up this list of associations as a possible motive for such wrongdoing.
Until that time, however, this is merely a guilt by association screed and doesn’t tell us whether Hoban has been inaccurate in her stories.
Your diagram would make Glenn Beck proud, but you don’t point to anything in the article as being false. So your blog post says more about your own partisanship than that of N.C. Health News.
Oh how folks squeal when the lights are turned on.
I think “jweaks” makes a good point. Can we see a similar chart detailing how John Locke/Civitas/Carolina Journal are funded and the organizations to which they have ties? Also, don’t you need to identify error in the reporting for these supposed influences to matter?
As recovery here falters
The Pope he just alters
All facts to the contrary you see
This Pope’s big addiction
Is his love of pure fiction
So Hoban’s a hero to me!