How Pro-Trump Local News Sites Keep Pushing 2020 Election Misinformation

[Nevilledog]

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stephen fowler
@stphnfwlr
NEW for @npr: What sustains Trump’s lies that he won the 2020 election? A growing network of pro-Trump media sites mimicking the look+feel of local news.

Here’s a look at how The Georgia Star News went from obscurity to a sit down with Trump. #gapol

How Pro-Trump Local News Sites Keep Pushing 2020 Election Misinformation
A small news site founded days after the 2020 election has become a go-to source for Republicans eager to claim that former President Trump actually won the state of Georgia last fall.
npr.org
5:32 AM · Jul 2, 2021

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1011916687/how-pro-trump-local-news-sites-keep-pushing-2020-election-misinformation

If you don't follow politics in Georgia closely — or even if you do — you might be forgiven for not knowing much about The Georgia Star News.

Founded just after the November election when President Biden narrowly flipped the state by about 12,000 votes, it looks like a regular news website with a lifestyle section, a widget for the weather and stories about local and national goings-on.

But the site is more than just a local news outlet. It's part of the Star News Network — an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites. The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida.

Steve Bannon, a former strategist for former President Donald Trump, described The Georgia Star News in a radio interview as content "you can't get anywhere else."

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