Media Research Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541429009
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Herndon, VA, USA
Phone
5712673500
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,573,615
Expenses
$12,935,742
Assets
$17,946,012
Liabilities
$10,787,156

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Bozell (President/Director)
  • L Brent Bozell (President Emeritus)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ed Molchany (Chief Operating Officer): $369,909 total reported compensation
  • L Brent Bozell (President Emeritus): $317,991 total reported compensation
  • Daniel Schneider (VP of Free Speech America): $277,135 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Media Research Center documents and combats the falsehoods and censorship of the news media, entertainment media and big tech in order to defend and preserve America's founding principles and Judeo-Christian values.

What it reported doing in 2025

News Analysis Division - brings political balance to the nation's news media by documenting and countering liberal bias from television network news shows and major print publications. Newsbusters' news archives reached over 1,035,000 hours of programming, storing important historical references that are available to anyone upon request. There were 2,182 related stories, studies, and videos produced in 2025 with over 12 million video views and 222.1 million impressions online. Newsbusters was able to educate its 2.7 million Facebook followers, nearly 250k x followers and over 3.5 million Truth Social followers about biased reporting in the media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.03 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 89.5%; rating input score 89; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.2%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.39; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $10.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $370K · 18 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.