Politico.com's J.H. Snider (2/3/09) has some ideas for how "to ensure that think tanks don't abuse this public trust" manifested in the fact that "government has granted think tank donors vast tax breaks": "Media, government, donors and think tanks themselves must all do a better job of holding think tanks accountable."

Think tanks that don't uphold their own ethical claims should be subject to the same type of media scrutiny as the claims of any other major political, press or academic institution in American society. Examples of areas that need better coverage include think tanks' revolving door with government, functioning in orchestrated lobbying campaigns and claiming credit for others' work.

The media should adopt a richer terminology to categorize think tanks. The widespread categorization along a liberal to conservative continuum is inadequate. Think tanks should also be categorized by the extent to which they support academic, advocacy or journalistic norms. When think tanks operate without transparency, the burden of proof should be on think tanks, not journalists, to prove no undisclosed conflicts of interest, including in-kind contributions that do not directly flow through a think tank's financial books.

Though acknowledging that "think tanks often portray themselves as being all things to all people," Snider wants us to know that, "in fact, many are rife with ethical conflicts." See the latest annual study in FAIR's magazine Extra!: "The Incredible Shrinking Think Tank" (3-4/08) by Michael Dolny

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