The New Media Firm is a left-progressive Democratic Party-aligned for-profit public relations firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 2007 by Democratic public relations operatives Will Robinson and Tierney Hunt. [1] [2]
Background and Activities
The New Media firm has worked on the campaigns of Democratic Party candidates at the local, state, and federal levels. Notably, the firm’s public portfolio includes television advertisements for the campaigns to reelect Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). At the state and local levels, the firm worked for the campaigns of Greg Landsman for Cincinnati city councilman, Hala Ayala and Danica Roem for seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Spiros Mantzavinos for Delaware State Senate. Additionally, the firm produced advertisements supporting President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential election cycle. [3]
The firm has also worked on campaigns supporting progressive state ballot measures, including Maine’s 2016 Question 4 and South Dakota’s 2014 Measure 18, both of increased the state minimum wages. Similarly, the firm has worked on general campaigns supporting increasing government spending on healthcare programs, particularly Medicaid and Medicare, plus state-level legislation which would require employers to offer paid sick leave. [4]
Aside from its work supporting political candidates and policies, the firm has also worked with education labor unions to bolster their brand recognition and reputations, including the North Carolina Association of Educators, the National Education Association, and the Maine Education Association. [5]
People
Will Robinson is a founding partner of the New Media Firm. Previously, he was the executive director of Project 500, a Democratic Party redistricting campaign; the campaign director of the Democratic National Committee; and the founder of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a non-profit group that provides research and support to left-progressive groups seeking to use state-level ballot referenda to change laws and constitutions. [6] [7]
Tierney Hunt is a founding partner of the New Media Firm. Former public relations clients of hers include EMILY’s List, a federal PAC that bundles and gives contributions to pro-abortion, female Democratic candidates for office and Women Vote! PAC, a PAC that supports left-wing and Democratic Party candidates. Additionally, Hunt has worked on independent expenditures on behalf of campaigns supporting President Barack Obama; Planned Parenthood Votes, a federal PAC associated with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America that makes contributions to candidates who support abortion; NARAL Pro-Choice America, a progressive 501(c)(4) organization which engages in political action and advocacy efforts to expand access to abortion across the United States; the Service Employees International Union, a large left-of-center labor union; and the Sierra Club, a national environmentalist organization. [8]
Matt Burgess is a principal of the New Media Firm and a senior adviser to the Blue Leadership Collaborative, a training program for Democratic political operatives. Previously, Burgess managed the reelection campaign of Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), and the 2012 gubernatorial campaign of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). Additionally, Burgess was formerly a senior political strategist for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the 501(c)(4) lobbying arm of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; political director of Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, a New York-based lobbying group that advocates for gun control measures while opposing laws expanding firearms carry privileges; and executive vice president of End Citizens United, a Democratic-aligned PAC that supports political candidates who promise to overturn the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. [9]