By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON – About the time the pro-education reform documentary “Waiting for Superman” was turning American moviegoers against teacher unions, the National Education Association was calling on some of its left-wing media friends to help repair the union’s crumbling public image.

The NEA’s media makeover didn’t come cheap. In 2011, the union paid Media Matters for America, “a non-profit progressive research and information center,” $100,000 for public relations assistance.

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The revelation comes from a new investigative book, Shadowbosses: Government Unions Control America and Rob Taxpayers Blind, written by Citadel international politics professor Mallory Factor.

The Daily Caller reports that shortly after the union made its hefty payment, Media Matters “published 41 separate articles online referring to the NEA and other teachers unions, each one staking out a position that’s favorable to organized labor and critical of a media outlet whose commentators disagree.”

Not surprisingly, the most frequent target of the Media Matters “research” was the Fox News Channel. Media Matters’ attacks against FNC were so persistent and over-the-top that in one report, the group alleged that “Fox, in general, hates public school teachers,” reports the Daily Caller.

The Media Matters counter-offensive may have provided the NEA with some (not so) cheap thrills, but it hasn’t improved how Americans view teacher unions. A 2011 Gallup poll found that half of the respondents thought unions were hurting public education, according to the Huffington Post.

With results like that, the NEA may want to ask for its money back.