Mod: Apparently the GOP had decided it can no longer rely on the Russians to do fake news for them in 2020, perhaps due to the potential for unwanted controversy. According to the anti-misinformation source Snopes, instead "activists" are setting up a chain of PAC funded disinformation news websites all by themselves.
Hiding in Plain Sight: PAC-Connected Activists Set Up ‘Local News’ Outlets (
Snopeslink): On 6 February 2017, a website of uncertain origin named “
The Tennessee Star” was born. At the time, it was unclear who funded or operated this “local newspaper,” which was largely filled with freely licensed content from organizations tied to conservative mega-donors. After some prodding by
Politico in early 2018, the
Tennessee Star revealed its primary architects to be three
Tea Party-connected conservative activists:
Michael Patrick Leahy,
Steve Gill, and
Christina Botteri.
Now, a
Snopes investigation reveals in detail how these activists used the appearance of local newspapers to promote messages paid for or supported by outside or undisclosed interests.
Gill, for example, is the political editor of the
Tennessee Star, but he also owns a media consulting company that at least one candidate and one
Political Action Committee (PAC) paid before receiving positive coverage in the
Tennessee Star. Several
Star writers have in the past or currently work for
PACs or political campaigns that they write about, without disclosing that fact. Though its owners claim that the
Tennessee Star is funded by advertising revenue, it appears to be supported by wealthy benefactors.
But this story is about more than just the
Tennessee Star.
Leahy,
Botteri, and
Gill have been expanding their version of journalism to other battleground states in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. They are, they say, co-founders of a new,
Delaware-registered company,
Star News Digital Media, Inc., whose explicit strategy is to target battleground states with conservative news. So far,
Leahy,
Gill, and
Botteri have added
The Ohio Star and
The Minnesota Sun to their network of purportedly local newspapers. These papers are effective carbon copies of the
Tennessee Star.
If you were to search for these three “newspapers” in
Google, they would each show up described identically as the “most reliable” newspapers in their respective locales, providing “unbiased updates on
Investigative Reports,
Thoughtful Opinion,
Sports,
Lifestyle”:
Across the political spectrum, according to a 2017
Pew Research Center study, local news is considered more trustworthy than other more national sources. It is perhaps for that reason that an estimated 30% of all links pushed by the
Russian troll farm known as the
Internet Research Agency during the 2016 presidential election were to stories on local news websites. In some cases, these
Russian imposters created their own fake local news sites.
The issue is not the creation of conservative content. The issue, according to
Kathleen Bartzen Culver, the director for the
Center of Journalism Ethics at the
University of Wisconsin at
Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is disguising conservative activism as journalism.
“I have no problem with advocacy organizations creating content that reinforces the positions they take on public policy issues on the left, right or center. The issue comes in when they’re not transparent about that advocacy,”
Culver told us via phone. “In this case, if you have a conservative take on a policy issue and you want to promote that take, go ahead. But just claim it for what it is.”
Mod: Much more on this at the link.
sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
