American progressive advocacy group
People for the American Way (PFAW /ˈ p f ɔː progressive advocacy group in the United States.[ 5] 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, PFAW was registered in 1981 by the television producerNorman Lear ,[ 6] liberal [ 7] Christian right agenda of theMoral Majority .
While publicly known as People for the American Way since its inception, the group only legally held this name from 1985 to 1998.[ 8] [ 8] [ 8]
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.[ 9] [ 1] Democratic CongresswomanBarbara Jordan ,University of Notre Dame PresidentTheodore Hesburgh andTime Inc. chairman and CEOAndrew Heiskell .[ 8] [ 10] [ 11] Tides Foundation ,[ 12] donor-advised fund that directs money to politically liberal causes.[ 13]
Among the group's most frequent targets wereJerry Falwell ,Jimmy Swaggart andPat Robertson .[ 8] [ 14]
Though always publicly known as People for the American Way, the group was originally trademarked as "Citizens for Constitutional Concerns Inc." prior to officially taking the "People for the American Way" name in 1985.[ 8]
Former presidents of PFAW include Arthur Kropp,[ 15] Tony Podesta ,[ 16] Ralph Neas .[ 17]
Soon after its founding, PFAW launched an affiliated501(c)(3) organization,People for the American Way Foundation , for the purpose of conducting more extensive educational and research activities for liberal causes.[ 18] [ 8] George Soros 'Open Society Institute , theMiriam G. and Ira D. Wallach Foundation , the Bauman Family Foundation, and theEvelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund .[ 19]
In 1998, the People for the American Way Voters Alliance was launched as apolitical action committee .[ 20]
PFAW was responsible for the 1982 television specialI Love Liberty Washington Post as "America's first left-wing patriotic rally."[ 21] Robert Bork andBrett Kavanaugh and supporting the nomination ofSonia Sotomayor .[ 6] [ 22] [ 23] [ 24]
PFAW'sRight Wing Watch project is a website that catalogs statements of public figures whom they label as right-wing, including politicians, preachers, and others, with a focus onhate speech and right-wingconspiracy theories .[ 25] [ 26] VHS recording clips from television programs such asPat Robertson 's700 Club [ 27] Gordon Klingenschmitt sentDMCA takedown notices toYouTube againstRight Wing Watch' s channel based on copyright claims. TheElectronic Frontier Foundation provided legal counsel toRight Wing Watch to defend their channel and posts against YouTube's actions.[ 28]
In 2014,HGTV withdrew from plans to produce a television series withJason and David Benham afterRight Wing Watch made an issue of their statements about homosexuality.[ 29] [ 30]
In 2018,Salon.com andThe Daily Telegraph Right Wing Watch researcher, for causing the removal ofAlex Jones 'sInfoWars Apple, Inc , YouTube,Facebook , andSpotify .[ 31] [ 32] death threats .[ 33]
In June 2021,Right Wing Watch 's YouTube channel, which had been operating for about 10 years, was temporarily suspended by YouTube, who stated that the suspension had been an accident.[ 25] [ 26] [ 25]
Michael Keegan served as the organization's president for 11 years through June 2020.[ 34] Ben Jealous succeeded Keegan as president,[ 35] [ 36] Svante Myrick succeeded Jealous as president on November 14, 2022.[ 37] Ithaca ,New York , to take that position.[ 38] Cristela Alonzo ,Alec Baldwin ,Seth MacFarlane ,Joel Madden ,Bertis Downs IV ,Dolores Huerta ,Josh Sapan ,Howie Klein ,Alyssa Milano ,David Saperstein ,Margery Tabankin ,Reg Weaver , andCarrie Mae Weems .[ 3]
^a b c d "People for the American Way [permanent dead link District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Government of the District of Columbia ; accessed May 7, 2016. ^a b "People For The American Way - Nonprofit Explorer" .ProPublica . 9 May 2013. Retrieved16 September 2025 .^a b "Board of Directors Archived 2015-03-15 at theWayback Machine ". People for the American Way. Retrieved May 7, 2016. ^ "Staff Archived 2016-05-15 at theWayback Machine ".People for the American Way. Accessed on May 7, 2016. ^ Lasley, Thomas J. II (2010).Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent SAGE . p. 212.ISBN 9781412956642 Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved11 August 2018 . ^a b Day, Patrick Kevin (October 7, 2011)."Norman Lear Celebrates 30 Years of People For the American Way" .The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 . ^ Yingling, Jennifer (2011-10-11)."At 89, Norman Lear still pushing for the 'American Way' .The Hill Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved2020-05-28 . ^a b c d e f g "People for the American Way and People for the American Way Foundation Records" (PDF) . Library of Congress. 2015. RetrievedJune 22, 2025 .^ Reeves, Richard (May 13, 2009)."What is the American Way of Life?" .Real Clear Politics .Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. RetrievedMay 7, 2015 . Djupe, Paul; Olson, Laura (2014).Encyclopedia of American Religion and Politics . Infobase Publishing. p. 287.ISBN 9781438130200 ^ "People For's Founding Mission Statement" .People For the American Way . Retrieved2024-01-20 .^ Evans, Will (September 30, 2008)."McCain, GOP Senators Challenged On Pay Equity For Women" .NPR .Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 . ^ 1976–2001: 25 Years of Working Toward Positive Social Change Archived 2016-10-20 at theWayback Machine ^ "History" . Tides.Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. RetrievedMay 7, 2015 .^ Oster, Sharon M. (May 11, 1995).Strategic Management for Nonprofit Organizations: Theory and Cases . RetrievedJune 22, 2025 . ^ "Arthur Kropp; President of People for the American Way" .Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved2022-07-07 .^ Miles, Sara."Do YOU Know Tony Podesta?" .Wired .Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved6 May 2015 . ^ "People for the American Way President Ralph Neas Discusses Opposition to Ashcroft for Attorney General" .CNN . January 16, 2001.Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. RetrievedMay 6, 2015 .^ Glanz, James (March 11, 2000)."Survey Finds Support Is Strong For Teaching 2 Origin Theories" .The New York Times the original on July 14, 2012. ^ Evans, Will (30 September 2008)."McCain, GOP Senators Challenged On Pay Equity For Women" .NPR.org .Archived from the original on 2020-06-03. Retrieved2020-06-03 . ^ Goodstein, Laurie (November 5, 1998). "The 1998 Elections: Congress – The Right; Religious Conservatives, Stung by Vote Losses, Blame G.O.P. for Focusing on Clinton Archived 2018-01-31 at theWayback Machine ".The New York Times ^ Shales, Tom (March 20, 1982)."Miss Liberty's Left Hand" .Washington Post . RetrievedDecember 8, 2023 . ^ "President Trump's conservative court shift may slow down as liberal judges avoid retirement" .USA Today Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. RetrievedApril 23, 2019 .^ "People For The American Way" .OpenSecrets .Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved2015-05-07 .^ "People for the American Way Outside Spending" .OpenSecrets .Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved2018-09-19 .^a b c "YouTube reinstates channel devoted to exposing conservative extremism" .NBC News Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved2022-07-06 .^a b Baragona, Justin (2021-06-28)."YouTube Bans and Then Unbans Right Wing Watch, a Media Watchdog Devoted to Exposing Right-Wing Conspiracies" .The Daily Beast Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved2021-06-28 . ^ Keegan, Michael (11 October 2016)."Right Wing Watch: 10 Years Of Fighting The Right... With Their Own Words" .HuffPost Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved1 October 2018 . ^ "Attempt to Silence the Political Speech at Right Wing Watch" .Electronic Frontier Foundation Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 .^ "HGTV Drops Benham Brothers' 'Flip It Forward' After Anti-Gay Views Are Unearthed" .HuffPost Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 .^ France, Lisa Respers (May 9, 2014)."Benham brothers lose HGTV show after 'anti-gay' remarks" .CNN Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 . ^ Marcotte, Amanda (August 8, 2018)."Meet Jared Holt, the guy who's getting Alex Jones kicked off the internet" .Salon Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 .^ Bernal, Natasha (August 10, 2018)."The man who sparked the revolt against Infowars and Alex Jones with a single tweet" .The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 . ^ Bonn, Tess (August 9, 2018)."Researcher who helped kick Infowars's Alex Jones off Spotify received death threats" .The Hill Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2021 . ^ Kurtz, Josh (June 8, 2020). "A New Gig for Ben Jealous Archived 2020-07-01 at theWayback Machine ".Maryland Matters . Retrieved June 28, 2020. ^ Marino, Pam (June 2, 2020). "Monterey County native Ben Jealous tapped to lead nonprofit fighting right-wing extremism Archived 2020-06-03 at theWayback Machine ".Monterey County Weekly ^ Ford, William J. (June 24, 2020). "Ben Jealous: ‘Racism is Tragic, Racism is Alive’ Archived 2020-06-27 at theWayback Machine ".The Washington Informer ^ "Svante Myrick Named President of People for the American Way - People for the American Way" . 14 November 2022.Archived from the original on 2023-01-03. Retrieved2023-01-03 .^ Harris, Lee (2023-01-23)."Wall Street's Big Bet on Rewiring America" .The American Prospect . Retrieved2023-01-23 .
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