“Despite his modest cable audience, Chris Matthews is an enormously influential power player within Washington’s media elite,” writes the Media Matters watchdog group in light of the anchor’s recent sexist comments against Hillary Clinton. “MSNBC has entrusted Matthews with a prominent role in political campaign coverage throughout the last year. This platform places Matthews in a unique position to define wider media narratives and agendas and to shape public perceptions on critical issues. If left unchecked, factual errors and distortions on Matthews’ shows have the potential to reverberate throughout the media. Media Matters has created The Matthews Monitor in an effort to ensure that Matthews’ coverage is solidly based on fact — not speculation or personal animus.”