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Courier Newsroom is an American digital media company that operates news outlets and sponsors political content intended to support Democratic Party candidates. It microtargets voters via
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
advertising with the intention to both inform and persuade. Courier's lack of transparency about its funding sources and glowing coverage of Democratic candidates have raised questions about its reliability and about the line between advocacy and journalism. Courier engages in political
microtargeting Microtargeting is the use of online data to tailor advertising messages to individuals, based on the identification of recipients’ personal vulnerabilities. Such tactics can be used for promoting a product or a political candidate. Direct market ...
and the ''
Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...
'' described Courier's business model as "money from interested parties who seek a particular political outcome." Courier was founded by
Tara McGowan Tara McGowan (born ) is an American political strategist and former journalist. She was the co-founder and CEO of multiple organizations which have been noted for large expenditures on digital advertising in preparation for the 2020 United States ...
, a political strategist and former journalist who previously worked for the Obama campaign and the SuperPAC
Priorities USA Action Priorities USA Action is the largest Democratic Party super PAC. Founded in 2011, it supported Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. It was the primary super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign and Joe Biden's 2020 ...
. Courier was launched by
ACRONYM An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
and is now owned by
Good Information Inc The Project for Good Information (PGI) is an American group founded by Democratic strategist Tara McGowan. Launched in February 2021, its stated purpose is to combat disinformation and misinformation online by promoting verified traditional media ...
.


History

Courier Newsroom was founded in 2019 by
Tara McGowan Tara McGowan (born ) is an American political strategist and former journalist. She was the co-founder and CEO of multiple organizations which have been noted for large expenditures on digital advertising in preparation for the 2020 United States ...
. As of May 2020, Courier Newsroom websites had a budget of $11 million, a staff of 60 reporters and 12 editors, and aimed to publish approximately 300 articles and videos a week. Courier Newsroom raised $15 million in the first half of 2022 from donors including
Reid Hoffman Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman is the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily ...
and
George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
. The outlet spent over $5 million on Facebook and Instagram advertising designed to promote Democratic candidates and members of Congress.
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...
's concern that the Courier Newsroom was not a real news outlet sparked a 2020 change in policy at
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
, which started to limit the reach of partisan sites by restricting their access and curtailing their advertising. Courier Newsroom was originally owned by liberal
dark money In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public. In the United States, ...
group
ACRONYM An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
, but ACRONYM later divested its stake in the company in April 2021. As of June 2021, Courier Newsroom operates progressive digital news outlets in ten states. In June 2021, the company acquired a progressive political news site, ''Iowa Starting Line,'' which the ''New York Times'' called "the best political journalism you've never heard of."


Strategy

The Courier Newsroom's local digital news outlets are not traditional town newspapers. Instead, they are websites designed to encourage people in key swing states to vote Democratic, while looking like local newspapers. The articles are promoted on social media such as Facebook, which does not prohibit the practice because the newspapers are for-profit. Funders include
George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
,
Reid Hoffman Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman is the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily ...
, and movie producers. Courier Newsroom received $250,000 from
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
between June 2021 and June 2022. It received $715,000 in 2022 from "a dark money group with close ties to the
Democratic Attorneys General Association The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) is a United States national political advocacy group that focuses on electing Democrats as state attorneys general. Its Republican counterpart is the Republican Attorneys General Association. I ...
" for "content creation and promotion." According to ''NOTUS'', that same year "Courier wrote frequently and favorably of a Democratic attorney general candidate in Nevada named Aaron Ford." Ford won his election. In 2020, the
Hopewell Fund The Hopewell Fund is a left-wing 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization managed by Arabella Advisors, a for-profit consulting company that advises left-leaning donors and nonprofits about where to give money and serves as the hub of a Modern liberalism ...
backed Courier Newsroom. ''The New York Times'' reported that Courier "published articles favoring Democrats and received millions of dollars from dark money groups. It was paid $2.6 million by a nonprofit linked to House Democratic leadership to promote articles." As of 2024, Courier Newsroom had spent more than $12 million on Facebook and Instagram ads. This number does not include spending on
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
, which does not disclose advertising spending. In October 2024, Courier Newsroom spent over $6 million on political ads on Facebook, making them the third highest spender on political ads on Meta, trailing only the Harris and Trump campaigns themselves. According to the ''Columbia Journalism Review'', "Courier's pattern of spending in the 2024 election cycle also raises inevitable questions about funding sources and demonstrates to what extent the network is a campaigning tool rather than local journalism." Courier's ads recruited participants "to a program that claims they can receive up to $400 for talking to their family and friends about 'voting for Kamala Harris and Democrats this election cycle.'" In February 2025, Tara McGowan addressed a summit of Democratic donors and operatives that had gathered to "discuss how the left's well-funded digital media ecosystem failed in the 2024 election." The meeting included representatives of the
Emerson Collective Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the collective, which operates under a limited liabilit ...
,
Catalist Catalist is a for-profit corporation based in Washington, D.C., that operates a voter database and works for progressive causes. History Catalist was founded as Data Warehouse, LLC. The founding team of Catalist included Harold M. Ickes, Laura ...
,
Soros Fund Management Soros Fund Management is a privately held American investment management firm. It is currently structured as a family office, but formerly was a hedge fund. The firm was founded in 1970 by George Soros and, in 2010, was reported to be one of th ...
, ''
NowThis NowThis Media is an American progressive social media-focused media organization founded in 2012. The company specializes in creating short-form videos. Their target audience are Gen Z and Millennials. History NowThis was founded by ''Huff ...
'', and ''
Crooked Media Crooked Media is an American progressive political media company. It was founded in 2017 by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, all former top Barack Obama staffers and co-hosts of the '' Keepin' It 1600'' podcast. Dan Pfeiffer, also a ...
''. The production of more effective short and long form video was discussed as was "how to better collaborate with influencers to push progressive messages out."


Reception

Courier Newsroom was originally owned by
ACRONYM An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...
; the creation and operation of Courier Newsroom initially raised ethics questions about ACRONYM and about its financiers, who include billionaires Reid Hoffman and
Laurene Powell Jobs Laurene Powell Jobs ( Powell; born November 6, 1963)United States birth records is an American billionaire businesswoman executive and philanthropist. She is the widow of Steve Jobs, who was the co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., and she m ...
. A complaint to the Federal Elections Commission was dismissed and ACRONYM has since dissolved. Carrie Brown, director of social journalism at the journalism school at City University of New York, found the targeting of news to swing voters "problematic." '' Vox'' reported that "the Courier Newsroom launch did raise some eyebrows. If this were a Republican operative declaring its strategy like this, a lot of Democrats probably would have criticized it." According to
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...
, "websites affiliated with Courier Newsroom that appear to be free-standing local news outlets are actually part of a coordinated effort with deep ties to Democratic political operatives."
NewsGuard NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. It rates publishers based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria. NewsGuard ...
, which rates news sources, warns readers that Courier Newsroom websites are "insufficiently transparent" and "cherry-pick facts to advance a Democratic narrative." Gabby Deutch, writing on behalf of NewsGuard, called Courier News a "faux news site" and said while " like some sources of partisan disinformation, Courier stories are generally fact-based" its strategy is nevertheless "pumping up moderate Democrats elected to Congress in 2018 in Republican-leaning districts." In 2020, NewsGuard rated the Courier websites as "generally unreliable." In 2024, NewGuard's editor said that "Courier Newsroom sites do not disclose ownership and financing, they do not disclose possible conflicts of interest, nor do they gather and present information responsibility."
NewsGuard NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. It rates publishers based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria. NewsGuard ...
, a misinformation tracking company that rates the reliability of news sources, has warned that "Courier's undisclosed funders and glowing coverage of Democratic candidates should raise questions about its reliability." A 2024 study by NewsGuard found that "the number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S." NewsGuard identified at least 1,265 such websites "backed by dark money or intentionally masquerading as local news sites for political purposes." According to ''Axios'', almost half of these websites are targeted to swing states, "a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics." Courier Newsroom was described by ''Axios'' as having "some of the more strategic sites." ''NOTUS'' wrote that "Courier grew out of a series of explicitly political experiments that hinged on using paid online advertising to turn out voters. It then pivoted to being a privately owned media company" that is "testing the limits of what a newsroom can be." According to ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', outlets like Courier try to capitalize on readers' trust in local news sources "while playing down their partisan interests and often obscuring their donors." The ''
Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...
'' ''(CJR)'' described Courier's business model as "money from interested parties who seek a particular political outcome." ''CJR'' also reported that Courier engages in political
microtargeting Microtargeting is the use of online data to tailor advertising messages to individuals, based on the identification of recipients’ personal vulnerabilities. Such tactics can be used for promoting a product or a political candidate. Direct market ...
wherein "employees at Courier's headquarters are responsible for testing whether content produced by its local newsrooms is successful in moving voters in a desired progressive direction." Courier Newsroom has been accused of producing
pink-slime journalism Pink-slime journalism is a practice in which news outlets, or fake partisan operations masquerading as such, publish poor-quality news reports that appear to be local news. Researchers and media credibility raters have observed pink-slime journa ...
.


Websites

Courier Newsroom lists 11 affiliated websites: * ''Iowa Starting Line'', Iowa, acquired June 2021. Founder Pat Rynard *''Copper Courier'', Arizona, launched October 2019. * ''The Dogwood'', launched mid-2019. At launch, ''The Dogwood'' was owned by an ACRONYM subsidiary, For What Is Worth Media, Inc. * ''Up North News'', Wisconsin. Founding Editor: Pat Kreitlow. * ''The 'Gander'', Michigan * ''Cardinal & Pine'', North Carolina. * ''The Keystone'' * ''The Nevadan'' *''Floricua'', Florida * ''Granite Post'', New Hampshire *''Courier Texas''


See also

* Democracy Docket * MeidasTouch * More Perfect Union *
States Newsroom States Newsroom is a nonprofit news network in the United States. Its newsrooms focus mostly on state politics. States Newsroom grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressive think tank founded in 2004 by Chris Fitzsimon, who said it "is sort of t ...
* ''
The Lever ''The Lever'' is an American reader-supported investigative news outlet founded by David Sirota, a speechwriter and former senior advisor to Bernie Sanders. The name ''The Lever'' is inspired by a quote from the Greek mathematician Archimedes, w ...
''


Notes


References


External links

*
Courier Newsroom profile factsheet
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519043101/https://www.newsguardtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Courier-Newsroom-NewsGuard-Nutrition-Label.pdf , date=2020-05-19 via
NewsGuard NewsGuard is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps. It rates publishers based on whether they have transparent finances or publish many errors, among other criteria. NewsGuard ...
American news websites Mass media companies based in Washington, D.C. Progressive organizations in the United States Internet properties established in 2019