“At this point, the city is continuing as we always have until we learn something otherwise,” Pamela Cotham, the Assistant Purchasing Agent at the City of Knoxville, told Accuracy in Media’s undercover journalist on hidden camera. 

“The work hasn’t stopped; we’re just cautious,” she reiterated. 

According to Cotham, the city was previously “very vocal” about its DEI practices. While it is still pushing the woke ideology, employees are simply doing so in a covert manner. 

“As you know, DEI is just not the thing right now,” she told AIM’s undercover journalist. 

“The current trend is that, you know, everything is at the federal level and, as we all know, if it’s at the federal, it flows down, it will eventually come down. We will react once it hits our level, and then the mayor will decide what level we react. Of course, she’s all in,” she continued. 

The Trump administration has issued several executive orders targeting DEI throughout the country, whether it be inside government apparatuses or public education. Violating these can put institutions at risk of federal funding. 

Despite this, local governments like that of the city of Knoxville have managed to fly under the radar with little oversight. 

Since AIM’s visit to Knoxville, the state of Tennessee successfully passed both the Dismantle DEI in Employment Act and the Dismantling DEI Departments Act. The former bill “prohibits local governments and public universities from making hiring decisions based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability,” while the latter prohibits government or public education institutions from maintaining DEI offices or departments. 

While this legislation is a step in the right direction for the state, AIM has no reason to believe the city of Knoxville is now in compliance with anti-DEI laws. 

Visit SaveTennesseeCities.com, where you can send one convenient message to all relevant officials. Tell them taxpayers shouldn’t be funding non-compliant cities in their efforts to push woke DEI. 

The post Local Tennessee government still pushing DEI, being ‘cautious’ amid federal ban appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

But undercover video obtained by Accuracy in Media reveals conference sessions centered on race, power, and identity politics instead.

During a presentation at the 2025 APA conference, Dr. Kevin Nadal, a professor at John Jay College, argued that psychology is rooted in “white supremacy” and urged attendees to stop “centering whiteness” in their professional practice.

“We are not to continue to center whiteness in our practice.”

Nadal questioned the traditional role of psychologists, telling attendees:

“In what ways… is that really perpetuating this notion that to be a psychologist is akin to being a person in a position of power and privilege?”

He went on to claim that the profession itself has been shaped by white supremacy.

“We’re basing this off white supremacy, that to be a clinician means that we’re focusing on the definition likely being white.”

Later in the presentation, Nadal argued that discussions about bias often depend on members of historically marginalized groups raising concerns first.

“Much like most problems in society, it takes the person of the historically marginalized group to bring it up… For us to also think about how we are not to continue to center whiteness in our practice… that we don’t just focus on the types of approaches that might be most fitting or appropriate or comfortable for white therapists…”

The video raises serious questions about the direction of one of America’s largest professional organizations for psychologists. Rather than focusing exclusively on evidence-based treatment and patient care, conference attendees were encouraged to examine psychology through the lens of systemic power, privilege, and race.

The conference’s list of sponsors included organizations such as the American Diabetes Association, OpenAI, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Their sponsorship raises an obvious question: Were these organizations aware that conference programming included presentations describing psychology as rooted in white supremacy and encouraging clinicians to stop “centering whiteness”? If so, do they support those views?

Patients deserve confidence that psychological care is grounded in sound science, professional ethics, and individualized treatment–not political ideology.

Accuracy in Media has spent years documenting the spread of diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology throughout American institutions. Our investigations have exposed DEI programs in K–12 schools, colleges, universities, and government agencies that critics argue prioritize identity politics over equal treatment and merit.

Visit NoPoliticsInHealthcare.com now to send a message to the conference sponsors and relevant university leaders demanding accountability.

The post Accuracy in Media Exposes APA Conference Speaker Urging Psychologists to “Stop Centering Whiteness” appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

Accuracy in Media’s undercover journalist caught several local government employees discussing their DEI efforts. 

“My title is still the same. All of the work is still the same. Still explicitly call things what they are,” said City of Spartanburg Strategic Partnerships and Opportunities Manager Marilyn Nguyen on AIM’s hidden camera. 

However, she said the city is preparing to shift its language in response to potential laws against DEI. 

“It would be the same exact work, we would just be, you know, working with language around like access and opportunity versus inclusion,” she explained. “We would be renaming all of it so that we would, you know, continue to be able to do the same thing.”

It’s not just one employee pushing this woke agenda for Spartanburg. Assistant City Manager said on AIM’s hidden camera, “One of the reasons I moved here was Spartanburg was doing DEI stuff before it was trendy or popular. Like it’s something we believe in, it’s in our core and we keep it.”

Over in Greenville, Volunteer Coordinator Kamara Sitton confirmed to AIM’s undercover journalist that there is a DEI office. 

“We do have one, we have a person,” she said. 

She advised seeking out any DEI opportunities through the community engagement office. 

In the coastal city of Myrtle Beach, an unnamed employee confirmed the presence of a DEI representative for employees. She said community based DEI efforts are done through the city’s Human Rights Commission. 

AIM investigated several local governments in neighboring North Carolina, which sparked a state legislature probe. Lawmakers overrode Democratic Governor Josh Stein’s veto to pass several anti-DEI measures, targeting the destructive ideology in public schools, higher education, and local government.

It’s time for South Carolina to pass its own DEI bans in government and public institutions. 

A bill was introduced last year in the South Carolina State House to put an end to DEI across government. It passed in the general assembly but didn’t make it to the Senate floor before the legislative session adjourned. 

South Carolina must put an end to DEI, otherwise local governments will take the opportunity to keep promoting the divisive ideology. 

Visit SaveCarolinaCities.com to send one convenient message to the relevant officials. Let them know taxpayers won’t stand to see their hard earned money go towards woke DEI efforts.

The post Local governments admit to keeping DEI alive in red South Carolina appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

The admissions raise serious questions about whether ideological activism is being embedded into the education of future mental health professionals.

During the APA’s “Cross-Radical Solidarity” session, University of Louisville Associate Professor Samuel Beasley described weaving social justice issues into clinical coursework while using professional ethics as cover.

Rather than presenting activism directly, Beasley said he embeds it into counseling case studies.

“If I embed it in a clinician situation and connect it to our values as counseling psychologists, then I have a much clearer path.”

He explained that students can be assigned case studies involving political or social issues under the guise of ethics and multicultural counseling.

When discussing how to respond to criticism, Beasley advised relying on APA standards to make objections more difficult.

“When someone wants to challenge them… you say they’re challenging our values as a field… I usually just use the APA ethics code, the APA multicultural guidelines.”

The strategy, he suggested, allows instructors to advance ideological content without presenting it as overt political instruction.

The session comes as the APA continues to face controversy over allegations of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hostility within the organization. Members have reported harassment at APA events because of their Jewish faith, and have pointed to inflammatory rhetoric from former APA leadership surrounding Israel and the October 7 terrorist attacks such as calling Hamas terrorists “martyrs.”

At the APA session “Future of Diversity at Work,” professors acknowledged changing language—not ideology—to keep DEI initiatives alive.

Melissa R. Jenkins of Washington State University said grant proposals had to be rewritten using different terminology.

“We had to rewrite our grant using the non-triggering language.”

Jennifer L. Wessel, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland, said opponents are not being fooled by the wording changes because the underlying agenda remains the same.

“I think the people who are against what we are doing are against the content, not the words.”

Wessel also described advising a researcher to remove “DEI” from a paper’s title so she “would not get deported” while making clear the substance of the research would remain unchanged.

Accuracy in Media has repeatedly exposed universities attempting to preserve DEI programs despite state and federal restrictions. The APA conference reveals the same strategy is now being discussed within the training of future psychologists and mental health professionals.

Patients seeking mental health care should not have to wonder whether their counselor was trained to provide evidence-based treatment or ideological instruction.

Take action today at NoPoliticsInHealthcare.com to send a message directly to the conference’s sponsors and the leadership of the universities represented at the event. Radical politics have no place in America’s health care system.

The post Professors Caught Admitting They Hide DEI Agenda at American Psychological Association Conference appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

By: News Desk | Last updated: July 31, 2026

A student at Cornell University, Austin Franco, has recently faced backlash after making a controversial statement regarding his employment preferences. Franco, a rising junior, claimed he is “not interested in working for a Jew” during an interview with the conservative media watchdog group Accuracy in Media. This interview, reportedly conducted without his knowledge and under false pretenses, has drawn significant attention, sparking conversations around antisemitism and free expression.

In a video posted on social media platform X, Franco stated that he has not faced any disciplinary action from Cornell in connection with his remarks. Despite initial concerns about the school’s response, he indicated that while the university’s advocacy team had reached out to him, he remains enrolled with no ongoing investigations. “As of now, they said there’s not anything going on on their back end,” he expressed, asserting that his comments did not cross the line into hate speech.

The controversy began when Franco responded to a job offer from Gabe Einhorn, CEO of a real estate company, and his brother, Aiden. Franco’s eight-word reply quickly went viral, amassing over 2 million views on social media. Einhorn, who identifies as Jewish, found Franco’s response shocking and expressed his concerns about the implications of such prejudiced views being held by a college student.

Following the uproar, Franco defended his remark in subsequent online communications, stating that his experiences with Jewish individuals had largely been negative. He explained his rationale for the comment, suggesting that it was an honest expression of his feelings rather than an outright hateful statement. When pressed further during the interview, Franco remarked, “I thought I was being nice. Saying this is why I don’t want to work for you.”

Read the rest of SSBCrack News’ article here.

The post SSBCrack News Covers AIM’s Follow-Up Investigation Into Cornell Student appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

By Matthew Chapman | July 30, 2026

A shadowy network of conservative activist groups, backed by Koch-linked dark money, is deploying hidden cameras and mass public-records requests to hunt down and destroy the careers of college professors and administrators — and it’s working.

An investigation from Columbia’s Tow Center found that right-wing groups including Accuracy in Media, the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, and the “pink-slime” news network Metric Media have flooded universities nationwide with Freedom of Information Act requests demanding syllabuses, emails and course materials containing words like “diversity,” “queer” and “Indigenous.” Metric Media alone filed more than 9,000 FOIA requests across all 50 states in a single year, disguising the campaign as accountability journalism through sites masquerading as local news outlets.

The effort appears to tie into the Heritage Foundation’s infamous “Project 2025” manifesto for reshaping the government in a right-wing image, which condemned higher education as an “establishment captured by woke ‘diversicrats.’”

Metric Media co-founder Brian Timpone defended the tactics bluntly, insisting, “Parents should know what they are paying professors to teach their children.”

According to the report, Accuracy in Media’s undercover hidden-camera videos alone cost at least three university employees their jobs, while a secretly filmed lecture at Texas A&M cost senior lecturer Melissa McCoul her position after a student challenged her class on gender identity, citing President Donald Trump’s executive order asserting there are only two genders. McCoul, two staffers, and the university’s own president all lost their jobs over the fallout. She’s since sued for wrongful termination.

Read the rest of Raw Story’s article here.

The post Raw Story Covers AIM’s Higher Education Investigations appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

Using FOIA requests and hidden-camera videos, the groups targeted universities, leading to the firing of faculty and staff.

July 30, 2026 | By Miranda Green

In February of 2025, as college students across the country settled into their spring semesters, administrators at four major public universities in the Midwest received public records requests about their policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, which arrived on the same day from a network of sites that looked like local news outlets, asked for all emails employees had sent the previous year containing the words “BIPOC, Indigenous, Latinx, Diversity, and Non-white.”

The requests, from sites owned by a paid partisan network called Metric Media, were part of a strategic, ongoing effort to expose and castigate public universities for teaching with an eye on diversity. Around the same time, a nonprofit called Accuracy in Media began uploading gotcha-style hidden-camera videos to YouTube of school administrators talking about their continued efforts to foreground diversity and equity. The videos sought to highlight the contrast between those efforts and school rules that, in some cases, ban educators from talking about gender and identity. And last summer, the Oversight Project, an offshoot of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, sent FOIA requests to the North Carolina public university system, seeking all syllabuses that contained any of a long list of terms, including “gender identity,” “racial equity,” “white privilege,” and “restorative justice.”

Read the rest of Columbia Journalism Review’s article here.

The post Columbia Journalism Review Examines AIM’s Undercover DEI Investigations appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

July 29, 2026 | by Dion J. Pierre

The Cornell University student who became notorious for declaring that he would not work for “a Jew” revealed the broader extent of his antisemitism in an undercover conversation published last week, discussing Holocaust denial, racial hierarchy, and conspiracies about Jewish power with a woman he believed shared his views.

“It might not have been the smartest thing to say,” Austin Franco told an undercover investigator working for Accuracy in Media, referring to the message he sent the Jewish founders of a rental-technology startup. “But the reaction was overwhelming, not equal to what I said. I thought I was being nice. This is why I don’t want to work for them.”

Franco, 19, claimed that his hostility toward Jews intensified after he was fired from a job by a Jewish supervisor, describing the episode as a turning point that pushed him toward online personalities and publications promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

“You just have to lay the cards on the table and realize there is no way you’re getting to power — I mean, unless you want to wear the little hat, right? Kiss the wall,” he said. Franco then recommended a Substack writer whose work he described as interesting, while acknowledging that he did not necessarily believe everything the author said about Jews and the Holocaust.

Franco also discussed supposed racial differences in intelligence, arguing that Black people should accept being intellectually inferior to other groups even while outperforming them athletically.

“Have you played Fallout?” he asked. “You can max out intelligence, but you’re not going to be able to max out strength. It’s the same thing here. You have to make sacrifices within each race, within the bell curve.”

Read the rest of The Algemeiner’s article here.

The post The Algemeiner Covers Latest Developments in AIM’s Cornell Investigation appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

Posted on July 28, 2026 | By Gabrielle Temaat – Assistant Editor

‘…goal is to help white individuals become better allies,’ professor says

Professors at the annual American Psychological Association conference advocated for “antiracism” in therapy to train “white allies,” according to a video released by watchdog group Accuracy in Media Monday.

Speaking on stage to an audience, Yara Mekawi, an assistant professor at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, said there are “ways for white allies to speak up” about “racial injustice” while “staying in their lane.”

She advocated for psychologists to use “motivational interviewing to help white allies overcome their ambivalence in their antiracism commitment.”

She noted that psychologists have outlined these strategies in a book called “Beyond Fragility.”

Professor Mekawi “is the director of the Challenging Ongoing Legacies Of Racism (COLOR) lab,” according to her biography on the University of Louisville’s website.

Another speaker, Natalie Watson-Singleton, associate professor of psychology at Spelman College in Georgia, condemned anti-DEI policies and blamed them for “censorship.”

Read the rest of The College Fix’s article here.

The post The College Fix Highlights AIM Investigation Into “Anti-Racism Therapy” Conference appeared first on Accuracy In Media.

‘I didn’t say anything that could be classified as hateful,’ the student claimed, according to a conservative watchdog group

Brendan Rascius in New York
Tuesday 28 July 2026 14:45 BST

A student at Cornell University who went viral after saying he was “not interested in working for a Jew” claims he has faced no disciplinary action from the Ivy League school, according to a new report.

Austin Franco, a rising junior at Cornell, made the remarks in an interview with Accuracy in Media, a conservative watchdog group that appears to have recorded the 19-year-old without his knowledge and under false pretenses.

When asked what action the New York school had taken about remarks he made in June to a prospective employer, Franco said that although Cornell and its advocacy team had contacted him, he remains enrolled as a student.

“As of now, they said there’s not anything going on on their back end,” Franco said in the video, posted to X on July 22. “I think because I didn’t say anything that could be classified as hateful. There wasn’t really a leg they could go on.”

Read the rest of the Independent’s article here.

The post The Independent: Cornell Student Claims University Took No Action in AIM Undercover Video appeared first on Accuracy In Media.