From the New York Times, unlike borrow this they are today. At times, investigation finds that, as the local news industry collapses a secret the network of paid play new site is seeking to take its place. My colleagues Davy Albert and Jack legacy on the company trying to re, write the works of work in journalism It's Wednesday October, twenty Eightth. Ever since I was a little kid, I had a newspaper, probably when I,

six and I will go up the street and interview I saw remember. There was like a lady from Sweden and an eye doctor and he's from Ireland and- and I would interview them and get their life stories and my little newspaper, and then you know. When I came of age it was the Vietnam WAR and I can add to it frankly because I think you're a truth is important and I also At that time, very naively, can I believed that people were uninformed and once they knew the truth, then they act differently.

so Davy and Jack. Tell me about powers. So pat more is is a sixty nine year old, freelance brighter. She is now based in Newport, richer in Florida. Her entire career has been in journalism, so I wound up writing for papers like the EAST village, other York S, the hair, all those types papers I moved to Cincinnati in order for an alternative paper called everybody's news. She worked for a variety of alternative newspaper is, and also various local newspapers around the country. I was an editor for a jewish newspeak. Hold the american Israel I, which is, I can a community paper, even though its not a geographic community, bouncing around different publications, including in North Carolina and even the in Ireland, and I was really have an abortion.

in writing LT. I while and then did end up as a copy editor at the Forum Park, Eagle in New Jersey and sort of thought that she would have a steady job there, but I kind of took that job just in time for the financial collapse around two thousand and eight. I think the industry probably was Clappings two thousand seven two thousand and then the whole colony tank. There are a lot of cutbacks and a lot of people who are laid off and Pat Morris was one of them. So what is Europe doing after that? So after she gets laid off, she does a bunch of freelance jobs and then in two thousand, a tea and start a little nor a company called Franklin Archer, which she eventful. The starts to think of ass. A content mill, conjugal whimsically is a continent. A content mill is a phenomenon in the internet, age of journalism, essentially

these are sites the churn out basic stories to generate clicks and sell ads and its everything from the sort of clay bait. We see beneath a lot of news articles like you'll, never believe what these child seller Please look like now totally click on those yet to more basic articles. Four may betrayed publications, etc and in these sorts of jobs are what a lot of journalists had to get into after the economic recession in two thousand aid, because so many traditional journalism, jobs, particularly at local newspapers, were disappearing. So part came across this job at Franklin Archer. That just seemed like writing local news stories across the? U S from you know, She lived in Florida, and so I applied and I got a job as copy editor. They said I copy at an ailing stuff,

a variety of their clients. I thought that the clients were actual established entities that had contracted with Franklin Archer for content, which is why everybody does now count cause. You don't have staff, and you don't have reporters, and you know how dreadful, as you have contacts so TAT understands that she has become a local news reporter for a company called Franklin. Archer that sells her articles to a variety of different local newspapers across the country right, so maybe not the best thing for a local newspaper. Splash of your report are there, but pretty good for Bat Morris get absolutely eager painted on time all the time it was direct deposit. It was weekly, and then it became every other week. I never I gotta say never had an issue which is a big drugged when you're freelance

you know that you knew like every week. You're gonna have even if owes us a hundred dollars. You know you you're gonna, have that I think is very attractive to people and what kinds of stories does that mean Pat ends up working? Well, she works on a line of this community, stories. It wasn't hard news. It was all soft featuring stuff. You know the police department having. human trafficking awareness programmes. The fire department, doing whatever the fire department did recycling as company that those recycles plastic bags in two tables? That kind of thing Meat and potatoes of local is absolutely gap. but from the beginning, there were also signs that something was a little bit off about this job. They said aloud of the clients are conservative. Is that a problem you remember specifically, I ass! Well, what do you mean by conservative? Are you talkin about white supremacist stuff for you, Talkin about

and it was like. Oh no! No, no! Nothing like that. You know about a lot of the again. Its clients are kind of pro business. Now, my ok, I can. If this pro business, I can add that sea gets tons of assignment chunks of damn that are focused on local politicians. Republican specifically, and she strictly uncomfortable with the way? It seems very one sided to her, so she actually starts to it turned down. These assignments and try didn't do these very simple local pieces on the fire department, and you know the community Board beat egg and things like that, but these sites turn out so much political content that it becomes hard to avoid for her and at one point she gets a rather interesting assignment. So assignment is copy editing. This story about class at the university,

The Illinois. It was on this absolutely alarmist story about how a literature class was looking at a book that had sexual content. To do this is to sexual content and in college level. Literature course. and in an earlier draft of this story, there's a student that so outraged by this that they dropped the course cypher free bizarre and then, as I read on supposedly this Student unnamed student was so traumatized by the whole thing that they neither quit the class or they quit school.

And you know- and we know that this is really weird and Pat Asks- a very reasonable fact checking question. So I went back to the reporter causes and said: what can you a democrat these people? You know? How do you know that the student quit? Can you a tribute in this to a source this for steering student enough? I heard about the student who quite well, who was it now? Did they really quiet and the writer basically says I can't a tribute that fact and the story, because this came directly from Brian and I didn't know who Brian was. I think I said that will whose brought hidden I got back this thing from somebody else like Ryan is the company what he wants. We want an so who is

Brian See learns is the top dog in this organization that she has a job at and in an email she actually hears from her assigning editor saying whatever Brian wants goes, and it didn't even seem odd to me, because I had worked in another place where the line between editorial and business was very, very blurred. you ever find out more about grew Brian was well, I was told in a Brian, then I got YE mails from Brian components. I knew his name, which is, pretty much all I knew until I was contacted by the times, so you got a call from us here and why were you calling pad well. We were reaching out to Pat because Davy and I were trying to talk to anyone who would ever worked for this guy Brian TIM Pony, and that's because it

turns out, the brain has got a lot more going on and patted realized. Brian is the man behind perhaps the biggest news operation you ve never heard of. Thank you for joining us for another addition of against the current my guest, and this addition is Brian, pony and Brian got his start in news as a rapporteur for tv stations in Illinois, breathing for joining us throughout Madame Eventually he decided he didn't want to just report the news he wanted to be a newspaper publishers, media is its perceived, is kind. So he bought some commute.

The newspapers in Illinois and he started to see pretty early on the signs of collapse in the journalism industry and particularly in local news. The problem with all traditional media today. Is it a lot of them produce as if we're in the previous era, they pursue the same types of content that that worked in that previous era and because our inertia it stage, and so he decided that he was going to capitalize on that any started. A company called genetic, and this company essentially is designed to outsource the local news reporting for many of the big city papers around the country tier system. Your system is, I mean essentially your arguing that major urban dailies should outsource their nous production to you. I don't. I don't think we should all outsource or news production away what, but isn't that what you do community news, because they can't do it themselves-

fighting but described that it be how how can you and your group of writers do it for a twentieth, the cost. Yet how to do that. He'd develops some rudimentary software tat turns public records into little snippets of news and then he also hires a team of reporters to cover communities remotely into Brian the idea here. Local news is dying and the old business model is not sustainable in the age of the internet. and this is a lower costs model to still provide local news to small towns and cities across the nation, and to do that. Brian is selling this local news content to legacy news organisations like the Chicago Tribune and Houston Chronicle, who themselves are trying to cut their costs, and so how does it go? So it's going pretty well for blind and pony at this point so much so that the Chicago trouble

and actually fires its staff that covers the Chicago suburbs and users Bryant and ponies operation to cover the suburbs. But then you have the thought: what other jobs can we possibly outsourced? People far away at this point, was you're getting tells the story of a fairly recent addition to the list of jobs back in November, the radio programme this american life comes and an does a show that reveals that in a line of tea, says the reporters name on the story is Genie Cox, but there is no Jenny, Cox or even if there is a genie cock somewhere out there. She didn't write this story. These stories are being written by people. Philippines, and they get paid much less than an american writer would get paid to do these stories and in light of these cases, they are also publishing under fake by lines choose some other figures

That have made their way onto the new sites if dramatics clients and the real estate sections carry Reed Amy Anderson, J, Browns Town, pristine Scott, that, even though the clients of Brian are really outraged and say, you know, this is not what we're paying for. This is not what we signed up for, so they basically pull out of the deals with Brian and the whole operation, kind of crashes and burns. So no Brian component is facing failure, but from the ashes of dramatic he comes up with this new

idea, and this new idea is bigger and its bolder and it involves an entirely new business model and it all starts now with a web of companies that includes Franklin Archer and how exactly as it different from dramatic. What's different this time, it's different and a couple of key ways: the air Writers in this network are now at american freelancers, no longer in the filipino workers abroad and be the news articles that their producing or for websites that looked like local news, but are actually primarily controlled by a bright and pony himself and appear to be based stir on the? U s ha, and so what are they like? Well, I think I should just show you probably youngest, so

let's go to a website called thumb reporter thumb, reporter dot com and I'm ok, and Tom is actually a region of Michigan, though the lower pay so of Michigan kind of shaped like a mountain, and the thumb of Michigan is just north of Detroit EAST of the in Michigan. Ok, so you they're thumb reported on here. I'm on farm report com. My first observation, as it looks like a regular local news website, lotta new story about a political news stories. Yeah it's it's a pretty clean, simple, lay out. It doesn't look real click, baby, you're, anything, it's pretty basic, lay out with some photos of politicians and there's a good amount of content is scroll down about, but twelve articles on this first screen right I mean I, I guess at the outset was just take stock of somebody.

Headlines. The top headline is about this local republican lawmaker, whose praising a court order that struck down the democratic governors covered pulse and there's another headline about a different republican lawmaker. Complaining that the Michigan should fully reopened me there's another headline about one of the same republican lawmakers passing for bills. Another headline about republican lawmaker, who's going to help local farmers and then another headline about republican lawmaker, who is talking about voter fraud and I think I'm seeing a clear trend here. Lots of coverage of Republicans lots of positive covered Republicans, yes and There is, though, one story about a Democrat, and the headline is Michigan. Governor Gretchen Whittemore gets F great for fiscal management in its report about,

daddy from the libertarian think tank the Cato institute- and this is a trend that Pat saw in her assignments, Franklin Archer and it's a trend. The worst seeing across the board on websites run by Rhine Component, and this is just one example of a website in the network. What we found is that there are almost thirteen hundred websites like eyes and there in all fifty states- and you all these websites, take this approach of positively, covering Republicans in general and negatively covering Democrats pretty much yeah. But there are some innocuous articles on these websites to end. These just are straight news articles about the local community, but they seem to be in service of adding legitimacy and to make the sites look more neutral than they really are

we'll get back. I am Kristen minds are and I'm the co host of innovation and covered a new podcast, the world, changing in real time, often in ways we don't notice an can't protect innovation. And covered explores the breakthroughs that our driving our culture. Now from how we play. we consume to how we can act more more. What the ideas that are reshaping our reality in extraordinary way is innovation. Uncovered is upon cast from invest, go cute and t brand at the New York Times listened today in basque or distributors ink. This is Monica Drake Assistant managing editor at the near

I'm. We are living through a moment of uncertainty with life changing so quickly. We know that journalism, quality well sourced fact, check journalism can play a crucial role in helping us navigated. All we're reporting on every aspect the. U S, election from the candidates in their positions, on the issues to how the pandemic affects the way we vote journalists are writing about how the corona virus has intensified racial inequalities and they're following protests against police violence which have become a global civil rights movement across our newsroom. Our colleagues are also thinking about how we can adapt to the new demands of daily life, as we seek new ways to find joy coverage. This comprehensive would be impossible to accomplish without our subscribers if you'd like to subscribe, good it and why times, dot com, slash subscribe, So what exactly is going on? I mean how should we be thing, about what this? Just behind him. Pony news operation is because, as I said earlier,

This does not seem like what someone like Pat Morris thought. They were signing up for. What exactly is this so David. I set out to answer that question and after many months of reporting, we found out that this is not a traditional journalism. Outfit. In fact, it is a pay for play operation and in many cases we found evidence of a money trail where a good chunk of the funding for these sites, traceable and public records are payments from political groups and campaigns, wow. That is very on traditional journalists, and if it can even be called journals, it certainly is, and it helps explain why you see

Some of the slant that we just saw on that news website and essentially in of some of what we found through thousands of internal emails and also the editing history behind dozens of stories, was an operation in which some of these groups, political groups or pr professionals actually pitch or The stories to impose network and day file, what is called a lead in which they give attractions on what the story should be about who the reporter should talk to what sure they should ask and then out, the story is published. We even found some instances and emails in which the These so called story watchers, as these clients are called, are able to even dictate edits after publication if they wanted the story to be more pointed or focus on something more, and so, as you noted, this is almost the entire

This is of the journalism ethics that most news organisations would abide by right. It's actually essentially propaganda network, so justly industry, republican candidates, conservative donors- are paying money to bind him ponies company and as part of that transaction bacon. Ask for coverage, they can monitor coverage they can get in. In shaping it. Who is talk too for that coverage? That's what's going on here, In some cases, that's exactly what we thought and is any of this disclosed to the reader? Virtually none of these sites have those kinds.

Usher is, in fact, the sites go out of their way to state that they are objective and fair and unbiased and their coverage, and then, at the same time, that these descriptions are on the sites. We have seen internal emails where assigning editors are telling their freelance writers not to focus any article on a democratic lawmaker or bill, because clients are Republicans well. I wondered if you can give me an example of how this pay to play system works can break down an example for me sure so, one of the most compelling examples we found was around an article on a website called main business daily, and this article is about one of the most hotly Tested and nationally important Senate races in November, it's between report.

Senator Susan Collins, Anti democratic challenger, Sarah Gideon. So what we found is the reporter who wrote this story did so according to clear instructions from a republican operative who has worked for the Senate leader fund a pact that is spent nearly ten million dollars attacking Sarah Gideon in the cycle and that operative gave clear instructions to the reporter to write that Sarah Gideon was a hypocrite, and we even found an eternal emails at the operative requested added to the story after it was first published in the result story, was based solely on accusations from this Collins campaign and never included, comment from sorrow It sounds like this republican operative, exactly the story he wanted slamming the democratic candidate free. I state Senate for being too faced. Indeed,

and he not only got this story, but we also found his finger prints on a number of stories about this centre. Mason Main and also the Senate race. In Carolina with Lindsey, Graham and in Missouri, with roadblocks, and what about story that you told me about earlier at the one tat was copy editing about richer class at the University of Illinois. That article is not a clear kite pay to play such wish in as far as we can tell, but we do know a few things. What we found in Emil's is thy Genie, Ives republican candidate, for the. U S, House in Illinois, actually corresponded

with bright and pony to get the story written. We also know from public document start Genie: Ives is paid, TIM ponies companies, fifty five thousand dollars according to state and federal records over the past three years. I do want to note that I did reach juniors and she told me that those payments to Brian were for website design Facebook ads and that she doesn't pay to plant stories and Jack. We re will understand why junior hives, local or public and political cabinet

care about a literature class at the University of Illinois. In this particular case, we don't we're unsure whether this is a personal or it illogical issue for her. But it's almost beside the point, because what's important for us here is to understand how, probably because of her payments to Bryant and pony she is able to get her pet issues published on his sites and Michael. These are just two examples that we have spoken about, but this is what the network dies. They put out stories like this and over seventeen days in July, we saw around two hundred stories that were ordered up by these republican operatives and corporate our firms. That's pretty staggering this

clearly very dubious as journalistic practice I mean very dubious- is any of it illegal unclear whether any of this is actually breaking the law. When you can say about it, is that it violates? Are it you know, deeply held sense of what is ethical and journalism, and it is true, is DE, is traditional hallmarks, internalization of fairness and transparency. Legally speaking, the Federal Trade Commission requires that articles that are funded be clearly labelled as ads. And so it is possible in many of these cases, where you have articles that are paid for and ordered up under federal rules. These should include

disclosures and in almost every case we found there is no such labels. Howdahs Brien's him pony, explain what he's doing here ethically from journalistic standpoint, end legally, where Brian would not talk to us. We we tried calling him texting and leaving a voice, males emailing em. I even left to notice how much we didn't get any response. But what he has said in pass interviews in public appearances is that he believes this represents a local news, business model that is more sustainable than the traditional model, which is clearly struggling, and I just want to jump in here and say something that might seem obvious, but journalism is really expensive about. Two thousand one hundred newspapers have folded across the countryside,

two thousand for which is a twenty five percent decline, almost all local newspapers right in which also really interesting here, is that Brion said in an interview in September with the desert NEWS, which is a u news outlets, but he is a reason for trying to save local news and it's not ideological. It's actually because he believes this is a way to save the country, and let me read you his quote in, for he said quote: we believe that this parents of community news has contributed to a market decline. Incivility in America, when Americans know about Neighbours, wedding anniversaries, their work promotions and their chill making the honourable at school or earning junior I basketball accolades. They are less likely to caricature in type cast each other over political issues, and will you basically saying is that local news helps? You know your neighbours and with that you're less

clearly I hate each other. It is fascinating to me that he sees this approach as a force for civility because- What seems so problematic about it beyond the lack of transparency and the ethical challenges is that this model injects part, ship into local news, and we have that already in our national news in abundance. Think of Fox NEWS on the conservative side, the commitments we see on the liberal side and we could have nowhere- that leads. It leads to a profound polarized mission in our national discourse and Yet the local news has remained for the most part, a bath and of objective noosed unworthy of sacred untouched corner of the news industry. Store is coming out of local school board of a local police department or your kid soccer. Those were told this kind of straight news, but if praying TIM pony succeeds.

making this the future of local news in that version of local journalism goes away right and in our reporting we saw that their similar efforts on both the right and left to create similar artists and local news outlets and I'll note that these are not as ambitious and they don't have the scale of brains, operation, but nevertheless, We have long heard about the death of local news, and often we have heard about that in a context of predictions that no one will be watching at City hall, and there will be corruption and the lack of accountability, but instead of a pure death of local news, think what we ve seen here is a rushing in of partisan interests. And national money, and that-

led to this more partisan version of local news, which could make civility impossible in cities and towns across the country and my God, it's worth adding that the reason anyone knows about the story at all is because the report and the local newspaper called the lancing state turn all in Again they were the ones at first raised questions about these sites, and then I led to several other end up stories like in the Columbia Journalism Review, and it also lead to our investigation and there's something that feels very apt about that. The fact that it was good local journalism that uncovered this kind of twisted version of local Jerome here,

the work that is at stake, because you know brain TIM Pony has said in a recent interview that he plans to create fifteen thousand more websites like this. This is only going to get bigger, Davy and Jack. Thank you very much. We appreciate. Thank you. Having us. Thank you. you know I started googling and it was just like a medicine wall and my son, It was defrauding people like me as to what our work was being used for and it was defrauding readers into thinking that

You know that they were reading a local, honest publication, that they could trust and are you still work four Franklin Archer. No, I am not. I always went for the things that I thought had integrity and community journalism. You know what I feel very very strongly about this stuff that I did because I believed in it, even if it was small town stuff. You know small town stuff is important. You want to know where your water comes from its stuff in your water wide. My cable bill double, so I would never ever ever right for anybody.

Who was deliberately deceiving people and an entire groups of people either for profit, we'll be right back. Snapchat has helped more than one point: two million young people registered about using mobile tools directly in the app these tools. Also that users request a melon, ballad, fill out a sample ballot and help find appalling place, because the covered nineteen pandemic has disrupted voter education efforts that usually take place. A colleges and universities. The role snapchat place this year is even more critical to learn more about Genji, civic engagement visit and my time stock coms Snapchat voices, here's what else you need ten, thirty

dad over least on Tuesday, from the coast swing state of Florida shoes that six point. Four million people have already voted in the state more than two thirds the number who voted in the entire twenty sixteen election. The data shows that Democrats unusually built up an advantage by mailing in far more balanced than Republicans, but that Republicans have begun Eating into Democrats led by casting more early in person, votes nation wide as of Tuesday afternoon, within sixty nine point, five million Americans had already

held in their balance or voted early in person, a record high early vote? And let me say that I live in the water ass pro up. It's a controlled environment. You can take some preventive measures in the White House to avoid former President Barack Obama, who has avoided direct criticism of president Trump for much of the past four years, delivered his most stinging and personal rebuke. Yet, on Tuesday, during a rally in Florida, accept this guy he's turn the White off Obama campaigning for Joe Biden expressed bewilderment. The trump had contracted the virus and dismay at the way. Tromp has talked about the pandemic and loved ones is closing origin.

The people are too focused on company is one of those rare Corbett, Probert comedies compliant he's jealous of covert media cup. that's it for the daily, I'm like Lavaro, see you tomorrow.