Angelo Carusone (born May 16, 1982) is an American author and nonprofit executive. He is the president of

Media Matters for America Media Matters for America (MMfA) is a non-profit left-leaning watchdog journalism organization. It was founded in 2004 by journalist and political activist David Brock as a counterweight to the conservative Media Research Center. It seeks to ...

, a nonprofit

media watchdog Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inte ...

. Carusone has also led political and progressive initiatives such as Dump Trump and StopBeck campaigns.

Early life and education

Carusone was born on May 16, 1982. His father was a sewer and drain cleaner while his mother was a part-time lunch lady. Carusone completed his BA diploma in American studies at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

in 2000. He finished a degree in philosophy at the same university in 2004. In 2010, he obtained his Juris Doctor diploma from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...

Career

Carusone gained attention in American politics for his initiatives that target right-wing personalities whom he considers "bullies". These activities, which he calls "brand safety", include similar that helped drive advertisers away from the shows of

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

, who eventually lost his

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

show, and

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

. He is also said to have played a role in hastening the departure of Bill O'Reilly from Fox. In 2012, Carusone also initiated the Dump Trump campaign. This initiative called on retailers to discontinue selling Trump-branded products. Trump threatened him with a $25 million lawsuit. In 2016, Carusone served as the Deputy CEO of the Finance and Administration of the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

. In December of the same year, he was promoted president of Media Matters, having previously served as its executive vice president. He succeeded the organization’s founder

David Brock David Brock is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by ''Time'' as "one of the most influential operatives in the Democratic Par ...

. When he assumed the position, he stated that Media Matters would shift the focus of its scrutiny from the conservative media to "

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

" websites, alleged "fake news", and "misinformation". He has unmasked, for example, US news outlets that are associated with

Falun Gong Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by its leader Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near t ...

, a Chinese

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

. Carusone has been critical of

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

's 2022 takeover of

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. Carusone alleges Musk will allow the social media platform to become a source of

hate speech Hate speech is a term with varied meaning and has no single, consistent definition. It is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as ...

, instead of reasonable controls on information. Carusone has called on major advertisers to pull funding from Twitter if Musk continues with his supposed planned "radicalization".

Personal life

Carusone is married to Brett Abrams. He lives on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carusone, Angelo 1982 births Living people Media Matters for America people American political writers