Salon: Republicans Are Launching Fake Local News Sites To Spread 'Propaganda' (salon.com)

"The Tennessee Star claims to be the 'most reliable' online local paper in the state," reports Salon. "In fact it's just a GOP front." An anonymous reader quotes their report:
An investigation by the fact-checking outlet Snopes found that several new local news websites are actually being launched by Republican consultants whose company is funded in part by the candidates the sites cover. Politico first reported last year that Tea Party-linked conservative activists Michael Patrick Leahy, Steve Gill and Christina Botteri were behind the "Tennessee Star," a website that purported to be a local news website but mostly posted content licensed from groups linked to big Republican donors. Snopes discovered that the trio has since launched similar sites in other battleground states ahead of the 2020 elections: the Ohio Star and the Minnesota Sun...

The group behind the sites does not appear content with just three outlets. According to Politico, Leahy has purchased domain names associated with Missouri, New England, the Dakotas, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, most of which are electoral battleground states that will be vital in 2020.

Kathleen Bartzen Culver, who heads the Center of Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, told Snopes that political operatives are free to launch their own news platforms, but it's a problem if they are trying to deceive readers into believing the sites are nonpartisan local news. "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 said... "The information sphere is so polluted right now that the average citizen has trouble telling what is real and what is not," Culver told Snopes. "I find that very troubling within a democracy."

Comments

Well, this is scary

[lessthan]

This story just came up for me and the first (chronologically) 20 posts are about how we can't trust the mainstream media and how the Republicans deserve a voice. I guess this is how a country ends, in a tidal wave of propaganda screaming about "both sides!"

Salon

[sproketboy]

Salon IS Fake News To Spread 'Propaganda'

FTFA

Re:When did slashdot become used as a political si

[Ryanrule]

Go fuck your self ivan. Fuck you, fuck your mother, fuck your culture, fuck your leadership. I want you dead.

Re:it's kind of funny,

[Ksevio]

Which stories would you consider "Fake" from the mainstream media lately? About what percentage do you think are factual? I'd guess about 99.999% but it could be higher. You seem to confuse reporting on events with reports that are fabricated. Pretty much all the things you listed were reported accurately, just there wasn't evidence to prove it.

Take for example the Kavanaugh case - there's pretty strong evidence that his accuser was telling the truth, but that's beside the point - News stories were often "Woman accuses Kavanaugh of rape". That's a true story. A woman did accuse him. We also have solid proof that Trump's campaign colluded with Russia. Stories reporting on that aren't fake

The whole FISA warrant and fake dossier paid by FusionGPS should be enough to see serious charges brought up. That should be our new Watergate, but it's not.

Here's a great example of "Fake News". We have proof that the FISA warrant wasn't because of the dossier, but your news stories probably forgot to mention that. Also, why would FusionGPS fund a "fake dossier"? That doesn't even make sense.

Re:it's kind of funny,

[tbannist]

You don't seem to get it.

Even if it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, Trump asked for help from the Russians and they gave it. FBI documents have shown that Russia began a spearfishing operation against the Democrats the day after Trump asked for that help.

More basically, a government that wants to see your country fail played a critical role in the selection your country's leadership. You should be pretty concerned about that. They certainly weren't trying to pick the best person for the job.