Clare Melford is a British business executive and consultant who is the co-founder and CEO of the Global Disinformation Index, a London-based think tank focused on combatting alleged disinformation on online news sites. Melford was formerly CEO of the International Business Leaders Forum, managing director of MTV Networks, and led the European Council on Foreign Relations during its break away from the Open Society Foundations. 1
Under Melford’s leadership, GDI has been criticized for associating fact-based right-leaning news outlets and beliefs with disinformation and encouraging the deplatforming and demonetization of right-leaning voices online. 2 3
Career and Education
Clare Melford attended Oxford University and completed a postgraduate certificate program at Cambridge University and worked as a management consultant at Marakon Associates early in her career. She then became an executive at MTV, working as the general manager of MTV Networks for the Nordic Region based in Stockholm, Sweden, where she managed the staff operating nine MTV-affiliated channels in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. 4
Melford also led the European Council on Foreign Relations during the council’s transition to an independent organization from an arm of George Soros’ Open Society Foundations where she was responsible for setting up a new management team, CEO, and board for the council. 5
As a consultant, Melford also led programs for the Nobel Women’s Initiative and environmental advocacy group Do the Green Thing. 6
From 2010 to 2012, Melford was the CEO of the International Business Leader’s Forum (IBLF), where she led the organization to promote priorities around “Smart, Inclusive and Responsible Growth” and increased the organization’s involvement within the United Nations and World Economic Forum. 7
Since departing the IBLF, Melford worked as a consulted for Towergate Insurance Direct and Eduko Education, and Girls Not Brides. 8
She is also a director for Greater Than, a company that utilizes AI in car insurance pricing. 9
Global Disinformation Index
In 2018, Clare Melford founded the Global Disinformation Index with Daniel Rogers, an American cyber-intelligence contractor who is a senior fellow at the left-leaning Truman National Security Project. The GDI’s aim is to “[defund] disinformation” by rating the propensity of online news outlets to produce disinformation and advising online advertisers. The GDI compiles a “dynamic exclusion list” that rates 2,000 websites for their risk of “disinformation.” Major advertising companies, like Microsoft-owned Xandr, reportedly pay GDI for access to the list and blacklist high-risk entries. 10
The GDI’s advisory panel for evaluating disinformation risk included employees from Facebook, the Pew Research Center, and the Open Society Foundations. The GDI is funded by the Argosy Foundation, the Catena Foundation, Luminate, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, Reset, Disinfo Cloud, and the United Kingdom government. 11 12
References
- “About.” Global Disinformation Index. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.disinformationindex.org/about/
- “Funders.” Global Disinformation Index. Accessed March 13, 2023. https://www.disinformationindex.org/about
- Kaminsky, Gabe. “Disinformation Inc: Meet the Groups hauling in cash to secretly blacklist conservative news.” Washington Examiner. February 9, 2023. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/disinformation-group-secretly-blacklisting-right-wing-outlets-bankrolled-state-department
- “IBLF appoints Clare Melford as its new Chief Executive.” International Business Leaders Forum. November 1, 2010. Accessed via archive.today March 16, 2023. https://archive.ph/20130415050644/http://www.iblf.org/latest-news/2010/2010_Jan_Feb/Nov-4-2010-IBLF-announces-Clare-Melford-as-new-CEO.aspx
- “IBLF appoints Clare Melford as its new Chief Executive.” International Business Leaders Forum. November 1, 2010. Accessed via archive.today March 16, 2023. https://archive.ph/20130415050644/http://www.iblf.org/latest-news/2010/2010_Jan_Feb/Nov-4-2010-IBLF-announces-Clare-Melford-as-new-CEO.aspx
- “IBLF appoints Clare Melford as its new Chief Executive.” International Business Leaders Forum. November 1, 2010. Accessed via archive.today March 16, 2023. https://archive.ph/20130415050644/http://www.iblf.org/latest-news/2010/2010_Jan_Feb/Nov-4-2010-IBLF-announces-Clare-Melford-as-new-CEO.aspx
- “IBLF CEO Steps Down.” International Business Leaders Forum. November 1, 2010. Accessed via archive.today March 16, 2023. https://archive.ph/20130415040654/http://www.iblf.org/latest-news/2011-2012/November-26-2012-IBLF-CEO-steps-down.aspx#selection-503.189-503.228
- “Calre Melford: Experience.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-melford-69ab56/details/experience/?profileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAArhVYB7XoS6VUL5fWa9voarJDHZ4Ty4dg
- “Calre Melford: Experience.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-melford-69ab56/details/experience/?profileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAAArhVYB7XoS6VUL5fWa9voarJDHZ4Ty4dg
- Kaminsky, Gabe. “Disinformation Inc: Meet the Groups hauling in cash to secretly blacklist conservative news.” Washington Examiner. February 9, 2023. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/equality-not-elitism/disinformation-group-secretly-blacklisting-right-wing-outlets-bankrolled-state-department
- “Disinformation Risk Assessment: The Online News Market in the United States.” Global Disinformation Index. December 2022. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.disinformationindex.org/country-studies/2022-12-16-disinformation-risk-assessment-the-online-news-market-in-the-united-states/
- “Funders.” Global Disinformation Index. Accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.disinformationindex.org/about