Watchdogs are questioning the transparency and legitimacy of Courier Newsroom, a George Soros-backed network founded in 2019 that operates 10 local new outlets in battleground states.
For one thing, following a $250,000 donation from Planned Parenthood, Courier produced a heavy flow of content highlighting abortion access as a key issue in state races. The so-called news organization was also the subject of a 2020 Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint alleging the newsroom should be treated as a political action committee and therefore subject to FEC rules requiring them to disclose their donors to the public.
"This is literally fake news in the sense in that it's funded by Planned Parenthood and these other groups in swing states to basically do Democrat messaging," submits Tim Graham, executive editor of NewsBusters at the Media Research Center.
And while he acknowledges that "either party could do this sort of thing," he questions whether there is much difference between the messaging of Courier and other outlets like MSNBC or CNN.
"Is there really a significant difference?" Graham poses.
He advises voters to examine and consider their news sources.
