SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-09-10
People For the American Way (PFAW) is a progressive advocacy group in the United States. Organized as a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, PFAW was registered in 1981 by the television producer Norman Lear, a self-described "liberal" who founded the organization in 1980 to challenge the Christian right agenda of the Moral Majority.
People For the American Way (PFAW) was founded by the television producer Norman Lear in opposition to the publicized agenda of the Moral Majority, a prominent and influential American political organization associated with the Christian right.
Officially incorporated on September 4, 1980, the People For the American Way's co-founders included Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and Time Inc. Chairman and CEO Andrew Heiskell.
PFAW began as a project of the Tides Foundation, a donor-advised fund that directs money to politically liberal causes.
Former presidents of PFAW include powerful lobbyist Tony Podesta [Podesta_Group], and Ralph Neas (best known for directing a series of national campaigns that marshaled strong bipartisan majorities to strengthen and protect the nation's civil rights laws during the Reagan-Bush presidencies.).
Soon after its founding, PFAW launched an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization, People for the American Way Foundation, for the purpose of conducting more extensive educational and research activities for liberal causes. Later, the People for the American Way Voters Alliance was launched as a political action committee (PAC).
PFAW has been active in battles over judicial nominations, opposing U.S. Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork, and Brett Kavanaugh, and supporting the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. PFAW is also active in federal elections, donating $339,874 to oppose Republican candidates in the 2014 election cycle, and $351,075 to oppose Republican candidates in the 2016 election cycle.
PFAW monitors what it considers right-wing activities by sponsoring a website called Right Wing Watch that showcases video footage of groups and individuals who take conservative stances on social issues. The web site was founded in 2007, expanding on PFAW's earlier practice of VHS recording controversial clips from conservative television programs, such as Pat Robertson's 700 Club, for distribution to news media. In 2013, evangelist and politician Gordon Klingenschmitt sent DMCA takedown notices for Right Wing Watch's using clips of his program, in which Right Wing Watch was defended by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
In 2014, Jason and David Benham lost the opportunity to host their own HGTV television show after Right Wing Watch labeled the brothers as "anti-gay, anti-choice extremists" because of their statements at various events about homosexuality.
In 2018, Jared Holt, a Right Wing Watch researcher, was credited for getting conservative radio show host Alex Jones's InfoWars program removed from multiple content distribution sites, including Apple, Inc, YouTube, Facebook, and Spotify. Afterwards Holt says he received death threats.
Right Wing Watch has been quoted by NPR, Fortune, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and a local FOX News affiliate.
Michael Keegan served as the organization's president for 11 years, through June 2020. On June 15, 2020, Ben Jealous succeeded Keegan as president. Past and present members of the group's board of directors include John Hall Buchanan, Jr., Alec Baldwin, Seth MacFarlane, Mary Frances Berry, Julian Bond, Bertis Downs IV, James Hormel, Dolores Huerta, Jane Lynch, Josh Sapan, Dennis Van Roekel, Howie Klein and Reg Weaver.
Major donors to PFAW include George Soros' Open Society Foundations, the EastWest Institute">Miriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, the Bauman Family Foundation, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund.
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