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- A network of 1,300 websites trying to fill the void of shuttered local newspapers is reportedly a “pay-for-play” operation run by Republican operatives and PR firms, The New York Times reported Sunday.
- The Times said the network “is built not on traditional journalism but on propaganda ordered up by dozens of conservative think tanks, political operatives, corporate executives and public-relations professionals.”
- The operation, which has sites in all 50 states, is “rooted in deception” and lacks characteristics of news reporting like “fairness and transparency,” The Times said.
- The Times identified specific instances where political operatives and advocacy groups made payments to the operation, though most of the sites do not have a disclaimer acknowledging such funding.
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A national network of 1,300 websites trying to fill the void of shuttered local newspapers is reportedly a ‘pay-for-play’ operation run by Republican operatives and PR firms, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The network, which has websites in all 50 states, “is built not on traditional journalism but on propaganda ordered up by dozens of conservative think tanks, political operatives, corporate executives and public-relations professionals,” the Times said.
The websites involved in the operation take on the look of regular local news outlets, using a basic layout design and operating under mastheads like Maine Business Daily, Des Moines Sun, Ann Arbor Times, and Empire State Today. Their articles typically cover community events, local politics, and sometimes national news.
The majority of the outlets are digital-only, but print newspapers are released in some towns. Some of the articles get tens of thousands of shares on social media.
Brian Timpone, a “TV reporter turned internet entrepreneur who has sought to capitalize on the decline of local news organizations for nearly two decades,” mostly runs the operation, according to The Times.
The year-long Times investigation consisted of interviews with more than 30 people, including current and former employees and clients. The Times said it also reviewed thousands of internal emails between reporters and editors that spanned several years, as well as editing history in the site's publishing software.
"The network is one of a proliferation of partisan local-news sites funded by political groups associated with both parties," The Times said. "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."
The operation grew from about 300 sites to nearly 1,300 from June through October last year, as local newspapers continue to experience closures nationwide.
The Times said the operation is "rooted in deception" and lacks characteristics of news reporting like "fairness and transparency," and that traditional news outlets do not accept payment for stories.
The network contracts with freelancers in the US and abroad, paying $3 to $36 per job, which typically come with instructions on what to write and who to interview, The Times said. "In some cases, those instructions are written by the network's clients, who are sometimes the subjects of the articles."
The Times identified one person behind a number of articles about US Senate candidates as Ian Prior, a Republican operative that previously worked for the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee aimed at maintaining a Republican majority in the Senate, The Times reported.
The Illinois Opportunity Project, a conservative advocacy group, asked for dozens of articles about Republican politicians in the state, The Times said. The nonprofit's tax record showed it had paid $440,000 to companies owned by Timpone.
In 2016, following complaints, the Illinois Board of Elections ordered news outlets owned by Timpone to acknowledge they were funded by a political action committee with money that largely came from a conservative megadonor, The Times said.
The Illinois sites now have a small disclaimer explaining the sites are funded "in part, by advocacy groups who share our beliefs in limited government." Nearly all of the websites in other states do not have a similar disclaimer.