Colorado
National Democrats mimic news sites to influence voters in Colorado ahed of 2022 midterm
Distinguished Democratic operatives are making a community of internet sites in midterm battlegrounds like Colorado that mimic native information shops.
Why it issues: The net content material is designed to deceive voters by parroting Democratic messages underneath the banner of unbiased information, Axios’ Lachlan Markay and Thomas Wheatley report.
- Candidates and campaigns then consult with the web sites of their political promoting, giving their partisan jabs a patina of reports.
What’s taking place: A community of not less than 51 regionally branded information websites has popped up since final yr, together with the Mile Excessive Sentinel and Southern Colorado Occasions.
- Every follows the same template: aggregated native and nationwide information, usually interspersed with write-ups on sports activities and points of interest, which are closely slanted in favor of Democrats.
The intrigue: The web sites are registered to an organization referred to as Native Report Inc., shaped in Florida final yr.
- However the mastheads point out involvement from the American Impartial, a Washington-based progressive outfit launched by David Brock, who based the left-leaning Media Issues.
- The for-profit American Impartial is funded partly by the nonprofit arm of American Bridge, an opposition research-focused Democratic tremendous PAC, in accordance with its web site.
The large image: Progressive shops posing as information sources just isn’t new regionally, the place the Colorado Occasions Recorder and others publish Democratic-aligned content material.
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