''The Capitolist'' is a
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
-based news outlet created by Brian Burgess in 2016. It was revealed to be funded by "
dark money" beginning in 2018 connected to
Florida Power & Light (FPL) in 2022. This allowed FPL to request articles that would promote candidates, discourage deregulation, and attack reporters critical of FPL.
Payments from FPL have funded ''The Capitolist'' since at least January 2018, through Matrix LLC, Metis Group LLC, and other consulting companies. Matrix LLC created fake candidates to influence state senate races in Florida in 2020, which led to discovery of their connection to ''The Capitolist''. After "operatives" for Matrix took control of ''The Capitolist'' in 2019, email records showed "Matrix operatives and Florida Power and Light executives dictating ''Capitolist'' coverage."
References
External links
* {{official, https://thecapitolist.com/
Mass media in Florida