As Local News Dies, a Pay-for-Play Network Rises in Its Place

[EvilEyeFleegle]

I guess this makes sense3..an entire fake news operation..dressed up Up look like the everyday newspaper. What a surprise..ran by the Republican operatives

As Local News Dies, a Pay-for-Play Network Rises in Its Place (Published 2020)

A nationwide operation of 1,300 local sites publishes coverage that is ordered up by Republican groups and corporate P.R. firms.

www.nytimes.com

The sites appear as ordinary local-news outlets, with names like Des Moines Sun, Ann Arbor Times and Empire State Today. They employ simple layouts and articles about local politics, community happenings and sometimes national issues, much like any local newspaper.
But behind the scenes, many of the stories are directed by political groups and corporate P.R. firms to promote a Republican candidate or a company, or to smear their rivals.

 

[Oddball]

Why should the NY Slimes, Warshington Compost, CBSNBCABCCNNNPRPBS get to have all the fun?

 

[Missourian]

Is there a link...to donate?

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Why should the NY Slimes, Warshington Compost, CBSNBCABCCNNNPRPBS get to have all the fun?

Fair enough..most Media is pay for play--on some level. But this operation..is just a bit more tightly...focused. i think they're preaching to the already converted..quite frankly. But it helps shape attitudes....that's the long game.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

Is there a link...to donate?

Shouldn't be too hard to find...maybe buy yourself a puff piece--man of the year and all that

I don't think they need the money though:

Other news organizations have raised concerns about the political bent of some of the sites. But the extent of the deceit has been concealed for years with confidentiality contracts for writers and a confusing web of companies that run the papers. Those companies have received at least $1.7 million from Republican political campaigns and conservative groups, according to tax records and campaign-finance reports, the only payments that could be traced in public records.

Too funny!

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

After further reading:


The Times uncovered details about the operation through interviews with more than 30 current and former employees and clients, as well as thousands of internal emails between reporters and editors spanning several years. Employees of the network shared emails and the editing history in the site’s publishing software that revealed who requested dozens of articles and how.
Mr. Timpone did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him by email and phone, or through a note left at his home in the Chicago suburbs. Many of his executives did not respond to or declined requests for comment.

The network is one of a proliferation of partisan local-news sites funded by political groups associated with both parties. Liberal donors have poured millions of dollars into operations like Courier, a network of eight sites that began covering local news in swing states last year. Conservative activists are running similar sites, like the Star News group in Tennessee, Virginia and Minnesota.

But those operations run just several sites each, while Mr. Timpone’s network has more than twice as many sites as the nation’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett. And while political groups have helped finance networks like Courier, investors in news operations typically don’t weigh in on specific articles.



So what the real sin is..is that this guy got way too big.....and the smaller guys are jealous....LOL! Maybe they never thought of tailoring stories to order.....or maybe..they do it all in-house...

 

[Missourian]

After further reading:


The Times uncovered details about the operation through interviews with more than 30 current and former employees and clients, as well as thousands of internal emails between reporters and editors spanning several years. Employees of the network shared emails and the editing history in the site’s publishing software that revealed who requested dozens of articles and how.
Mr. Timpone did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him by email and phone, or through a note left at his home in the Chicago suburbs. Many of his executives did not respond to or declined requests for comment.

The network is one of a proliferation of partisan local-news sites funded by political groups associated with both parties. Liberal donors have poured millions of dollars into operations like Courier, a network of eight sites that began covering local news in swing states last year. Conservative activists are running similar sites, like the Star News group in Tennessee, Virginia and Minnesota.

But those operations run just several sites each, while Mr. Timpone’s network has more than twice as many sites as the nation’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett. And while political groups have helped finance networks like Courier, investors in news operations typically don’t weigh in on specific articles.



So what the real sin is..is that this guy got way too big.....and the smaller guys are jealous....LOL! Maybe they never thought of tailoring stories to order.....or maybe..they do it all in-house...

Same thing happened before the First Civil War. That's how we got newspapers like the Pulaski County Democrat and the Garrett County Republican.