Wealthy liberal foundations have been seeking to have influence on media coverage of energy and environmental matters by funding workshops, courses and seminars for journalists focused on climate change – and some of the world’s most elite universities are happy to oblige.

An analysis of funding initiatives led by some of America’s biggest private foundations shows several major left-of-center entities funding this training for climate journalists at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Southern California. In addition, Britain’s prestigious Oxford University is involved in a similar endeavor across the Atlantic.

The news comes two years after the announcement by the Associated Press of its hiring of twenty climate journalists using $8 million in grants received from the same type of foundations to propel more climate journalism. After the infusion of funding, AP journalists appeared to forgo seeking comment from the fossil fuels industry on stories that affected them.