David Horowitz Freedom Center

The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly known as the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a project of ex-Marxist turned right-wing activist David Horowitz and Peter Collier. (The name change took effect in early July 2006). [1]

Background

The Center consists of three "departments":

• FrontPageMag.com, a conservative daily online magazine
• Wednesday Morning Club, "a lunch forum that provides a platform in the entertainment and media industry for conservative speakers and ideas." [2]
• The Individual Rights Foundation ("IRF"), which deals with conservative legal issues

It is also affiliated with:

• Students for Academic Freedom, a network for right-wing college students
• Discover the Network, a Campus-Watch-like site tracking "leftists" and "jihadists"

Additionally, in the 1990s, the CPSC sponsored the Committee for Media Integrity (COMINT), an organization designed to identify purported "liberal bias" in public television and promote the defunding of PBS, (Source: David Brock, The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy, 2004, p. 104).

According to CSPC tax filings, the organization paid over $300,000 to the Republican media consulting firm that ran racist campaigns for Jesse Helms. [3]

An announcement dated July 7, 2006, in FrontPageMag.com headlined: "A New Birth of Freedom" began: "The Board of Directors of The Center for the Study of Popular Culture announced on the Fourth of July that the organization has changed its name to The David Horowitz Freedom Center. The new center has hired Peter Collier, former publisher of Encounter Books, and Buzz Patterson, former presidential aide and author of Reckless Disregard, as vice president and chief operating officer. As part of its expansion, the Center has agreed to host the Liberty Film Festival, Hollywood’s only conservative annual awards event." link to article

Principals

• David Horowitz, President and Co-founder
• Peter Collier, Vice President and Co-founder
• Robert B. "Buzz" Patterson, Chief Operating Officer
• Michael Finch, Executive Director
• Elizabeth Ruiz, Assistant to the President
• Sharon Schuster, Operations Manager
• Amalia Hernandez
• Jess Morgan, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Funding

• Media Transparency lists grants to CSPC here; top funders have been the Bradley Foundation ($6 million), Sarah Scaife Foundation ($5.5 million), and Olin Foundation ($2 million).

Between 2001 and 2010, the Institute received $3.725 million from the Bradley Foundation .

Contact information

David Horowitz Freedom Center
P.O. Box 361269
Los Angeles, CA 90036-9828
Phone: (818) 849-3470
E-mail: info AT horowitzfreedomcenter.org
Web: http://www.horowitzfreedomcenter.org

External links

Center announcements

• "A New Birth of Freedom", FrontPage Magazine.com, July 7, 2006.

General articles

• Bill Berkowitz, "Foaming campus cleanser sputters at Temple: David Horowitz attacks liberal academics with so-called Academic Bill of Rights; also looking to rid college campuses of what he calls the anti-war academics who "hate America", Media Transparency, January 15, 2006.
• Bill Berkowitz, "Center for the Study of Popular Culture becomes David Horowitz Freedom Center: Leading Bush non-profit political ally changes name, plans expansion and new hires", Media Transparency, July 10, 2006.