PragerU facts for kids
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| Formation | 2009 |
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| Founders |
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| Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization |
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Area served
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United States |
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CEO
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Marissa Streit |
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Revenue (2021)
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$56,600,000 |
| Expenses (2021) | $32,900,000 |
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Staff (2021)
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97 |
The Prager University Foundation, known as PragerU, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy group and media organization that creates content promoting conservative viewpoints on various political, economic, and sociological topics. It was co-founded in 2009 by Allen Estrin and talk show host Dennis Prager. Despite the name including the word "university", it is not an academic institution and does not confer degrees.
PragerU's videos contain misleading or factually incorrect information promoting climate change denial. Historians and political scientists have also criticized PragerU's videos for containing misleading or inaccurate claims about topics such as slavery and racism in the United States, immigration, and the history of fascism. PragerU has been accused of promoting anti-LGBT politics.
Contents
History
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PragerU was founded in 2009 by conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager and radio producer/screenwriter Allen Estrin, in order to advocate for conservative views and to offset what Prager regards as the undermining of college education by the left. Marissa Streit, a former Israeli army intelligence member and headmistress of a Los Angeles county school, joined in 2009, and was made the chief executive officer in 2011. They originally considered making it a brick-and-mortar university, but the idea was revised into a digital product to save money.
PragerU is based in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, and it had around 50 employees as of January 2020[update]. PragerU encourages students to join "PragerFORCE", an international student organization to promote PragerU's videos and ideology; about 6,500 college and high school students promoted its videos as of 2020. Despite the name, PragerU is not an academic institution and does not hold classes, does not grant certifications or diplomas, and is not accredited by any recognized body.
PragerU reached a billion views in 2018.
In July 2019, PragerU representative Allen Estrin attended then-United States President Donald Trump's Social Media Summit, along with other conservative organizations and people such as Charlie Kirk and James O'Keefe.
Conflicts with YouTube and Facebook
In October 2016, PragerU claimed that YouTube had put 21 of PragerU's videos in the "restricted mode" setting, which ensures content is age appropriate. YouTube responded, saying: "We aim to apply the same standards to everyone and we don't censor anyone. Often it's not the right approach to say that videos with the same topic should get the same rating. We'll need to take into consideration what the intent of the video is, what the focus of the video is, what the surrounding metadata of the video explains."
In October 2017, PragerU filed a federal lawsuit against YouTube's parent company, Google, claiming that 37 of its videos were unfairly demonetized or flagged so that they could only be viewed with "restricted mode filtering," which limits views based on viewer characteristics such as age. PragerU claimed that Google's demonetization and flagging violated the First Amendment by arguing that YouTube was a public forum. In March 2018, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh dismissed the case, ruling that because Google was a private company, PragerU had failed to show that Google had infringed its free speech rights. In February 2020, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this ruling.
In 2018, as part of its efforts to counter misinformation, YouTube added fact-checking tags to PragerU's videos about climate change. In August 2018, Facebook removed two PragerU videos from its platform. It later restored the videos, saying that they "were mistakenly removed." According to Francesca Tripodi, professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill, there are plausible non-ideological explanations for Facebook's removal of several of the videos. PragerU contended that Facebook had engaged in deliberate censorship.
In 2020, YouTube took down two anti-trans videos featuring Candace Owens for violating their policy on hate speech, wherein being transgender was likened to schizophrenia and disease.
Finances
The organization depends on donations to produce its content. Much of PragerU's early funding came from hydraulic fracturing billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks. Two members of the Wilks family sit on PragerU's board. The next-largest donor is the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Other donors include the Morgan Family Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, Donors Trust, the late Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, Lee Roy Mitchell, and the Minnesota-based Sid and Carol Verdoorn Foundation, led by former C.H. Robinson CEO Sid Verdoorn. Major support is also provided by the National Christian Foundation and the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation.
As of 2018, the organization reportedly had a $10 million annual budget, of which it spent more than 40% on marketing. In 2019, 40% of its budget came from almost 130,000 online donors; the Los Angeles Times noted that PragerU attracted more donors than some Democratic presidential primary contenders had at the time. In 2021, PragerU reported to have received about $57 million in revenue, most of it from donations, and reported approximately $33 million in expenses. PragerU consistently spends more on Facebook advertising than major political campaigns and national advocacy groups. In 2019, it ranked among the 10 biggest political spenders on the platform.
In 2020, PragerU received $704,057 in COVID-19 relief loans from the Paycheck Protection Program; this debt was later forgiven in full.
Content
PragerU releases videos on various topics from a conservative viewpoint that according to its site "advances Judeo-Christian values." As of February 2023[update], its YouTube channel included 2,200 videos. Each video costs between $25,000 and $30,000 to create. Dennis Prager "personally approves every item" and "edits every script" before publication, according to Mother Jones. PragerU guests cover a range from the secular right, the far-right, and the theocratic right. Some prominent video presenters have included Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Nigel Farage, Charles Krauthammer, Michelle Malkin, Bret Stephens and George Will.
Much of PragerU's popularity comes from its "5-Minute Videos", which summarize economic, political, and cultural topics, with many discussing controversial topics.
Among topics covered, PragerU videos have argued against a $15 minimum wage, against increased gun control and in support of capitalism. Although topical, PragerU videos largely avoided mentioning Donald Trump during his presidency. PragerU is pro-Israel, and Dennis Prager has said that "Nothing better identifies incipient evil than antisemitism." PragerU videos also promote the Electoral College, arguing that it thwarts voter fraud and that "pure democracies do not work".
Historians and political scientists have criticized PragerU's videos for containing misleading claims about topics such as slavery and racism in the United States, immigration, and the history of fascism. According to GLAAD, an LGBT media monitoring organization, PragerU also promotes anti-LGBT politics.
Climate change denial and propaganda
Many videos promote fossil fuels, criticise the use of renewables, and dispute the scientific consensus on climate change. According to the non-profit think tank InfluenceMap, targeted ads posted on Facebook included misleading material that cast doubt on science, framed climatic concerns as ideological and hysteria, and promoted a conspiracy theory that "big government control" is the real motivation behind energy policies to reduce gas emissions.
PragerU's climate-denying output has included comparisons of climate activists to Nazis and claims that renewable energy is harmful to the environment.
Gender-affirming care
In November 2023, PragerU released "Detrans: The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care", a 21-minute film that follows two people who began gender-affirming care in their late teens and then later detransitioned. The short film was launched with a $1 million marketing campaign that included a "timeline takeover" on twitter. "Detrans" was condemned by the president of the Human Rights Campaign, an American LGBTQ advocacy group, who called it "hate-filled propaganda".
School program
By 2015, PragerU developed two partnership programs to promote its views, including religious material, in public and private schools. PragerU's Educator Program, with 3,000 sign-ups reported as of 2015, supplies teachers with lesson plans and study guides that accompany videos. Secondary school teachers and college professors can register their classes through PragerU's Academic Partnership program, which lets students sign up and allows teachers to monitor their students' progress.
In 2023, Florida became the first state to accept PragerU as an official education vendor. They were approved by the Florida Department of Education, who said that PragerU "aligned with the state's revised civics and government standards." The decision allows public school teachers in Florida to incorporate PragerU videos into their classroom materials. Critics warned that the official recognition of PragerU will expose students to the program’s extreme material and expressed concerns about allowing an organization with a track record of disinformation into the curriculum.
See also
In Spanish: PragerU para niños
