Partisan media grows in NC. Do you know who’s funding your news?

Out-of-state political organizations are bankrolling some of North Carolina’s newest news websites.

The news start-ups offer factual journalism but don’t prominently disclose details of their funders, and one spent heavily on Facebook ads to promote its content to readers who might not be aware of the site’s bias.

The ads come from Cardinal & Pine, which is largely funded by Acronym, a Democratic-aligned dark money group that also has its own political action committee. On the conservative site, a website called The Center Square regularly covers politics in North Carolina and other swing states. It’s run by a Chicago-based organization with close ties to an Illinois conservative think tank focused on state government issues.

Cardinal & Pine has a staff of four journalists who have worked at traditional and nonprofit news outlets. Editor Billy Ball, who previously worked at IndyWeek and N.C. Policy Watch, says the North Carolina-based staff determines news coverage and doesn’t get any guidance from Acronym.

But he said he’s not involved with Cardinal & Pine’s Facebook advertising. Facebook’s ad database shows the website spent $1.36 million last year.

Much of that advertising promoted positive news stories about Joe Biden, as well as features about Democratic candidates in four key state Senate races where the Democratic Party was targeting GOP incumbents to take a legislative majority.

“Dem challenger Allen Wellons fought for patients’ rights and better teacher pay, and he’s ready to work to move NC forward again. Watch now,” one of the ads says.

“The articles they publish are factual, but they very much take a left-leaning pro-Democrat stance and don’t disclose to readers that they’re doing that,” said Gabby Deutch of NewsGuard, a website that reviews the political leanings and trustworthiness of online news. The site does, however, describe itself as “a progressive news outlet” on its “about us” page, although not on individual articles.

She said Cardinal & Pine and related Acronym-funded Courier Newsroom sites in other swing states push Facebook posts that “look like the same thing that the politicians’ campaigns would put out to sway voters.”

A variety of websites across the political spectrum have emerged in recent years, designed to capitalize on readers’ trust in local news sources. “It’s definitely a trend, this type of website that mimics local news sources with a name that sounds like a newspaper and is relatively generic,” she said.

Ball argues that Cardinal & Pine is transparent by mentioning Acronym on its “about us” page.

“I write from a progressive perspective,” he said. “I don’t think it jumps out at you that this is a slanted, partisan sort of thing. We’re not interested in trying to protect somebody because they’re a Democrat or Republican.”

As an example, associate editor Sarah Ovaska, a former News & Observer reporter, pointed to her coverage of the push to get Gov. Roy Cooper to pardon Ronnie Long, who was wrongfully convicted of rape. The stories pointed out that Cooper hadn’t issued any pardons until December.

“For us, it’s about trying to fill some of the holes that are quite obvious in North Carolina’s media ecosystem,” Ball said. In addition to covering politics, Ball says Cardinal & Pine seeks to combat online misinformation and provide accurate, reliable news about topics like the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other end of the political spectrum, The Center Square has begun covering North Carolina politics in the past year with what it calls “a taxpayer sensibility.”

It’s run by the Chicago-based Franklin News Foundation, which is closely tied to the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think think led by John Tillman, the former president of Americans for Limited Government.

It’s billed as a news wire service like The Associated Press, and some local papers including The Watauga Democrat have republished its articles.

Recent articles on The Center Square’s North Carolina page range from the state’s transportation funding issues to prison vaccinations, and some are shared on social media by Republican politicians.

The primary author of its North Carolina stories is Nyamekye Daniel, who covers Georgia for the site. Chris Krug, the publisher of the site, did not respond to an interview request for this article but instead sent an email suggesting that The News & Observer could republish Center Square articles.

The Center Square’s think-tank-funded journalism model is similar to two longstanding North Carolina publications: The left-leaning N.C. Justice Center’s Policy Watch website and the conservative John Locke Foundation’s Carolina Journal.

Both of those also routinely have their work republished by smaller, traditional newspapers that don’t list the funding sources or think-tank affiliation.

Both are staffing up, with Policy Watch adding longtime News & Observer reporter Lynn Bonner and Carolina Journal adding bylines from former N.C. Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse and former Dan Forest campaign spokesman Andrew Dunn. Before getting into politics, Woodhouse was a reporter for WNCN-TV and Dunn was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer and the Charlotte Agenda.

Carolina Journal news stories are frequently republished by another newcomer to the news scene, ncpoliticalnews.com, and those links are occasionally shared by politicians on social media.

The site has been around in some form for years, but it’s been more active since former Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy, a Republican, bought it in December. He declined an interview request, saying the site is still in the development phase.

Another newcomer to North Carolina news is Metric Media, which operates 48 largely identical sites that have names that resemble community news publications, such as “South Raleigh News” and “Durham Reporter.”

But visitors to “East Wake Times” won’t find any news about Knightdale or Wendell; instead, one of the top stories is “top marginal tax rate in North Carolina could reach 54.59% under Biden plan.”

A 2019 report from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University said that Metric’s faux-local sites nationwide primarily highlight Republican politicians’ statements on hot-button issues and “aid campaigns to manipulate public opinion by exploiting faith in local media.”

The New York Times reported last year on the Metric websites, which are owned by conservative businessman Brian Timpone, and concluded that “the operation is rooted in deception, eschewing hallmarks of news reporting like fairness and transparency.”

Metric did not respond to an email inquiry from the NC Insider.

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This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 1:09 PM.