Lachlan Markay and Thomas Wheatley reporting for Axios (“Democrats’ swing-state local news ploy“):
Writers for a D.C.-based media operation run by prominent Democratic operatives are behind a sprawling network of ostensible local media outlets churning out Democrat-aligned news content in midterm battleground states, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Behind the patina of independent local news, these sites are pumping out content designed to put a sheen of original reporting on partisan messaging. It’s an increasingly common tactic among political outfits looking to give their team a steady stream of positive content they can then use to boost their own electoral communications.
What’s happening: A network of at least 51 locally branded news sites has popped up since last year under names like the Milwaukee Metro Times, the Mecklenburg Herald and the Tri-City Record.
The sites are focused on key swing states with elections in 2021 and 2022: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Each follows a similar template: aggregated local news content and short write-ups about local sports teams and attractions — interspersed with heavily slanted political news aimed at boosting Democratic midterm candidates and attacking Republican opponents.
The intrigue: “About Us” pages for each of the sites say they’re run by a company called Local Report Inc., which was formed in Florida last year. Their mastheads indicate involvement by another entity: the American Independent, a Washington-based progressive news outfit. Six American Independent writers have each contributed to most or all of the sites in the network, according to an Axios review of bylines on the sites. While all of the sites aggregate content from other sources, all six of those authors regularly write stories directly for the Local Report network, with numerous articles appearing exclusively on those sites.
The American Independent was launched by Democratic operative and fundraiser David Brock — also known for founding the left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America. TAI’s president, Matt Fuehrmeyer, is a former senior aide at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and to Harry Reid, the late former Senate Democratic leader. The for-profit entity is funded in part by the nonprofit arm of American Bridge, an opposition research-focused Democratic super PAC, according to its website.
What they’re saying: Jessica McCreight, TAI’s executive editor, described its relationship with Local Report Inc. as a “co-publishing agreement” but would not say whether her organization has editorial control over the sites’ content. “It’s been widely reported that where local news outlets shut down, dis- and misinformation grows,” McCreight told Axios in an email. “To combat this challenge, The American Independent has expanded to bring readers local, fact-based news and information on topics and issues that impact their communities.”
This is mildly interesting but I’d need a lot more information to get particularly upset about this.
First off, calling this the “Democrats’ swing-state local news ploy” is cute but strikes me as misleading. That David Brock and others are creating generic “good news” sites that tout Democratic accomplishments and highlight Republican failures is newsworthy given that he’s apparently tried to do so surreptitiously and purports to be a watchdog of the press. But that’s hardly evidence that the Democratic Party or even significant members of the Democratic Party are involved.
Second, there are a lot of generic news outlets out there run by partisan owners. I’m not sure what makes this one special.
Third, it’s not even obvious that anyone is reading these sites.
If there’s one for Northern Virginia, it has not only up to now escaped my attention but I couldn’t even find it via a Google search. There’s a Local News Inc.-affiliated Commonwealth Community Report, which purports to be “the voice for local news in Virginia,” the content of which seems wholly uninteresting. Its most recent local stories include such seemingly nonpartisan reports as “Two Men Stole Power Tools From a Local Home Depot,” “Virginia’s Unemployment Rate Falls for 18 Months Straight as of December,” and “In-Person Commencement is Returning to VCU.” My strong guess is that it was not a successful venture in that its most recent report, “Venture Richmond Awarded Grant Money For Broad Street Business Project,” was filed January 18th. Its national news coverage, which one would think autogenerated given the nature of the enterprise, stopped even earlier, on December 8, 2021.
