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American Independent Network

A network of five sites that publishes pro-Democrat coverage in political
battleground states, and that shares writers and articles with The
American Independent, a national progressive site with ties to a
Democratic PAC.

44.5 / 100
Proceed with caution: This website fails to adhere to several basic journalistic standards.

Does not repeatedly publish false content 22 points

Gathers and presents information responsibly 18

Regularly corrects or clarifies errors 12.5

Handles the difference between news and opinion responsibly 12.5

Avoids deceptive headlines 10

Website discloses ownership and financing 7.5

Clearly labels advertising 7.5

Reveals who's in charge, including any possible conflicts of interest 5

The site provides names of content creators, along with either contact or
biographical information 5

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Ownership and Financing

NewsGuard identified five sites as part of the network: ArizonaIndependent.com,
MichiganIndependent.com, OhioIndependent.com,
PennsylvaniaIndependent.com, and WisconsinIndependent.com. The sites began
publishing on April 9, 2022.
The network shares authors and republishes articles from the website of The
American Independent, with a disclosure at the bottom that such articles were
“Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation,” the
nonprofit arm of The American Independent.
The American Independent, formerly known as ShareBlue Media, was founded by
Democratic operative David Brock. Brock also founded liberal media watchdog
site MediaMatters.org, as well as the American Bridge 21st Century Foundation
and the affiliated anti-Republican American Bridge 21st Century super PAC. This
PAC has spent approximately $33.4 million as of September 2022 on the 2022
U.S. midterm elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics,
including $5 million in advertisements for U.S. President Joe Biden in
battleground states, according to reports from Politico and The Hill.
Although articles are attributed to The American Independent Foundation, the
websites in the network state on their homepages and Facebook pages that they
are “a project of American Independent Media, a 501(c)(4) organization whose
mission is to use journalism to educate the public, giving them the information
they need about local and federal issues.”
NewsGuard identified a nonprofit organization called American Independent
Media that was incorporated in Washington on April 4, 2022, five days before the

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sites began publishing content.

According to business registration records, the organization’s “incorporator” is
Katherine LaBeau, a partner at Elias Law Group, which describes itself on its site
as “a mission-driven firm committed to helping Democrats win, citizens vote, and
progressives make change.” Elias Law Group received approximately $11.5 million
in 2022 from dozens of Democrat PACs, candidates, and groups, according to
U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. According to the Elias Law
Group website, founding partner Marc Elias “has represented the Democratic
Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees, several presidential
campaigns, as well as dozens of U.S. senators, governors, representatives,
campaigns, and other Democratic and progressive organizations.”
NewsGuard could not determine a relationship between The American
Independent Foundation and American Independent Media. There is no record of
payments made to Elias Law Group by The American Independent Foundation
and American Bridge 21st Century super PAC, according to NewsGuard’s search
of FEC records.
NewsGuard did not receive a response to multiple messages inquiring about the
sites’ ownership in September 2022, including two emails to The American
Independent’s general address; one email and one LinkedIn message to The
American Independent Vice President and Executive Editor Jessica McCreight;
one Linkedin message to The American Independent senior editor Emma Roller;
one message submitted to three of the sites’ contact forms; and two inquiries to
Labeau and Elias Law Group.
The sites do not run advertising or charge for subscriptions, making any source
of revenue other than its possible Democratic political backing unclear.

Content

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The websites are presented as state news outlets that cover a mix of national and
state politics. The sites do not disclose an overall point of view, only saying on
their homepages that they are “a project” of an “organization whose mission is to
use journalism to educate the public, giving them the information they need
about local and federal issues.”
However, the sites publish content that consistently promotes the impact of the
Biden administration’s policies in their respective states, as well as Democratic
candidates in those states, such as Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,
who was seeking re-election in 2022. Articles also regularly criticize Republican
policies and candidates, such as Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and
Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz.
For example, typical stories in the summer of 2022 included an
ArizonaIndependent.com article titled “Arizona Republicans nominate racist
venture capitalist Blake Masters for Senate,” a WisconsinIndependent.com
article titled “Ron Johnson says funding for Social Security and Medicare should
be optional,” and a PennsylvaniaIndependent.com article titled “Vital
Pennsylvania dam will receive repairs, upgrades thanks to Biden infrastructure
law.”
The sites, which have identical layouts, divide content into sections for
Community, Economy, Education, Entertainment, Health Care, Infrastructure, and
Lifestyle. The Community section of each of the sites includes the same recipe
for classic coffee cake and a puzzle.

Credibility
The sites publish a mix of original content as well as articles republished from The
American Independent and The Associated Press, with attribution. Articles are
typically fact-based and headlines accurately reflect content.

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The sites, as noted above, give the impression that they are nonpartisan, with the
statement on its homepage that the sites’ mission is “to educate the public,
giving them the information they need about local and federal issues.” However,
NewsGuard found that the site’s articles consistently advanced a pro-Democrat
agenda.
For example, multiple articles in the summer of 2022 touted legislative efforts by
the Biden administration, including an August 2022
PennsylvaniaIndependent.com article titled “Vital Pennsylvania dam will receive
repairs, upgrades thanks to Biden infrastructure law.” a June 2022
ArizonaIndependent.com article titled “$118 million from Biden’s American
Rescue Plan allocated to support Arizona schoolchildren”; and a September 2022
MichiganIndependent.com article titled “Unemployment in 22 states has
dropped below 3% under Biden.” The Michigan article said, “Unemployment has
fallen across the country — to rates lower than those that Trump left office with —
following actions taken by the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Other articles criticized Republican candidates running for office in the 2022
midterm elections. Such articles included a May 2022 ArizonaIndependent.com
article titled “Republican Kari Lake's campaign for Arizona governor is built on
lies,” an August 2022 PennsylvaniaIndependent.com article titled “Oz Defends
Price-Gouging Oil Companies,” and a July 2022 OhioIndependent.com article
titled “GOP Ohio Senate nominee J.D. Vance has supported cuts to Social
Security and Medicare.”
It appears that the content of the network’s websites is meant to have impact
beyond its publication on the websites. Between August 2022 and mid-
September 2022, The Arizona Independent and The Pennsylvania Independent
each spent $12,700 on political advertising on Facebook, according to data from
the Facebook Ad Library. These ads noted that they were paid for by “American
Independent,” and primarily focused on criticism of Republican leaders and
policies.
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For example, ads that ran in September 2022 included “Republican-led General
Assembly Prioritizes Corporate Tax Cuts Over Education or Inflation in New State
Budget,” “Arizona Republicans out of touch with constituents on abortion
rights,” and “Arizona Republicans failed to address education funding.”
Because the sites’ coverage consistently advances a pro-Democrat agenda that
the sites do not disclose, and because the sites also do not disclose their
relationship with The American Independent, a site that has connections to a
liberal PAC, NewsGuard has determined that the sites do not gather and present
information responsibly and handle the difference between news and opinion
responsibly.
The sites do not state a corrections policy and NewsGuard did not find any
corrections on the sites. However, because at the time of NewsGuard’s review in
September 2022, the sites had been publishing content for less than a year since
their founding in mid-2022, and because NewsGuard did not identify
unambiguously false claims that required correcting, NewsGuard has determined
that the sites do not currently fail its standard for having effective corrections
practices.
NewsGuard did not receive a response to multiple messages inquiring about the
sites’ undisclosed pro-Democrat agenda in September 2022, including two
emails to The American Independent’s general address; one email and one
LinkedIn message to The American Independent Vice President and Executive
Editor Jessica McCreight; one Linkedin message to The American Independent
senior editor Emma Roller; and one message submitted to three of the sites’
contact forms.

Transparency
The sites do not disclose their ownership. They include a statement at the
bottom of their homepages, which says, “The [State] Independent is a project

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of American Independent Media, a 501(c)(4) organization.” However, the sites do

not disclose their major donors or any information about their financing, which
does not meet NewsGuard’s standard for nonprofit ownership disclosure.
The sites do not identify their editorial leaders. The sites’ Contact Us pages
include a general submissions form.
Articles generally name their authors but do not provide any biographical or
contact information for them.
NewsGuard did not receive a response to multiple messages inquiring about the
sites’ ownership, editors, and lack of disclosure of authors’ biographical and
contact information.
The sites do not run advertisements.

History
The websites were registered anonymously between 2013 and 2022, according to
domain registration records. However, they were inactive until April 2022.
In August 2022, social media users posted complaints online about receiving
unsolicited newspapers emblazoned with logos for The Pennsylvania
Independent, The Michigan Independent, and The Wisconsin Independent, with
the same design and fonts as appear on the websites.
In October 2021, registered voters in Virginia received print newspapers
identified as the “Virginia edition” of “The American Independent,” featuring the
same fonts and layouts as the state papers described above. The papers covered
then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in a negative light,
according to conservative news site FreeBeacon.com.

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Brock, the founder of The American Independent and its affiliated foundation and
political action committee, identified as a conservative in the 1990s. In 1993, he
published an article in conservative magazine the American Spectator about
then-President Bill Clinton’s personal life, which helped trigger the investigation
into Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky, that led to Clinton’s
impeachment. Five years later, Brock wrote an article for Esquire that detailed his
regrets about the story. He founded liberal media watchdog site Media Matters in
2004.

Written by: Lorenzo Arvanitis, McKenzie Sadeghi

Edited by: Amy Westfeldt

Sources
Ownership and Financing
https://pennsylvaniaindependent.com/
https://michiganindependent.com/
https://arizonaindependent.com/
https://wisconsinindependent.com/
https://ohioindependent.com/
Oliver Willis, also an American Independent author:
https://ohioindependent.com/2022/07/26/biden-calls-on-oil-companies-to-
increase-production-after-months-of-massive-profits/
Facebook pages for Pennsylvania and Arizona managed by American
Independent: https://www.facebook.com/ArizonaIndependent/
https://www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaIndependent
Web archives show the URLs led to a domain for sale page until December 2021
https://web.archive.org/web/20180205000605/https://www.hugedomains.com/
domain_profile.cfm?d=MichiganIndependent&e=com
https://web.archive.org/web/20211207064742/https://www.hugedomains.com/d
omain_profile.cfm?d=arizonaindependent&e=com

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Earliest archives showing content are from July/August 2022:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220728224101/https://arizonaindependent.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20220521195708/https://michiganindependent.co
m/
Social media reports of American Independent print newspapers:
https://twitter.com/seanspicer/status/1448457747347955712
https://twitter.com/JoshKraushaar/status/1454495634703196166
https://twitter.com/PastorJChester/status/1443907778272276484
https://twitter.com/SarahCassi/status/1540090824863744003
https://twitter.com/Deadpandiletta1/status/1540796576985137153
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1515295952021306/posts/317808754907546
3/
Free Beacon on VA voters receiving American Independent newspaper in 2021:
https://freebeacon.com/elections/dark-money-dems-fake-newspaper-virginia-
election/
American Independent Media IRS forms:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/814770680
Tillman CJR article:
https://www.cjr.org/tow_center_reports/metric-media-lobbyists-funding.php
True Blue Media:
https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/5872344
American Bridge 21st Century Foundation IRS Foundation
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/275278038/202013219
349303091/full
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/275278038/01_2020_pr
efixes_27-31%2F275278038_201812_990O_2020012917081554
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/275278038/02_2019_pre
fixes_27-30%2F275278038_201712_990O_2019020116055414
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/275278038/12_2017_pre
fixes_27-30%2F275278038_201612_990O_2017121415027006

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https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/275278038/2017_03_EO
%2F27-5278038_990O_201512
American Bridge 21st Century PAC spending:
https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/american-
bridge-21st-century/C00492140/summary/2022
https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/133/202202209491895133/202202209491895133.p
df#navpanes=0
https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?
committee_id=C00492140&two_year_transaction_period=2022&cycle=2022&lin
e_number=F3X-29&data_type=processed
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/08/secret-donors-are-already-
pouring-dark-money-into-2022/
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/03/american-bridge-biden-ads-
battleground-states-00013754
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/599412-democratic-super-pac-
launches-ukrainian-language-ad-buy-in-key-states/
AB PAC payments to David Brock:
https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?
cycle=2022&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00492140&recipient_name
=david+brock&two_year_transaction_period=2022&line_number=F3X-29
Elias law firm: https://www.elias.law/about
American Independent Media registered in April 2022:
https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov/Home.aspx/ProcessRequest
Payments to Elias Law Firm
https://www.fec.gov/data/disbursements/?
data_type=processed&recipient_name=Elias+law+group&two_year_transaction_
period=2022&min_date=01%2F01%2F2021&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022
Katherine LaBeau https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-labeau-88ab9b14/

Content
Typical articles:

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https://arizonaindependent.com/arizona-republicans-nominate-racist-venture-
capitalist-blake-masters-for-senate/
https://wisconsinindependent.com/2022/09/08/ron-johnson-says-funding-for-
social-security-and-medicare-should-be-optional/
https://pennsylvaniaindependent.com/vital-pennsylvania-dam-will-receive-
repairs-upgrades-thanks-to-biden-infrastructure-law/

Credibility
AP:
https://ohioindependent.com/2022/07/26/ford-plans-to-add-6200-jobs-in-
ohio-michigan-and-missouri/
Original:
https://arizonaindependent.com/legislative-officials-and-their-opposition-
towards-reproductive-rights/
https://arizonaindependent.com/arizona-republicans-out-of-touch-with-
constituents-on-abortion-rights/
Pro-Biden stories:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220914190726/https://pennsylvaniaindependent.
com/biden-administration-sends-billions-to-upgrade-airports-after-trump-
failed-to-help-them/
https://web.archive.org/web/20220914190731/https://arizonaindependent.com/11
8-million-from-bidens-american-rescue-plan-allocated-to-support-arizona-
schoolchildren/
https://web.archive.org/web/20220914190755/https://michiganindependent.co
m/2022/06/28/epa-allocates-millions-under-biden-infrastructure-law-for-
tribal-water-access-projects/
Anti-Republican articles:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220914190853/https://ohioindependent.com/202
2/07/26/gop-ohio-senate-nominee-j-d-vance-has-supported-cuts-to-social-
security-and-medicare/
https://arizonaindependent.com/2022/06/16/republican-kari-lakes-campaign-
for-arizona-governor-is-built-on-lies/

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https://web.archive.org/web/20220914190850/https://pennsylvaniaindependent.
com/oz-defends-price-gouging-oil-companies/

Transparency
https://arizonaindependent.com/contact/
https://pennsylvaniaindependent.com/contact/
https://ohioindependent.com/13-2/
https://michiganindependent.com/contact/
https://wisconsinindependent.com/contact/

History
AZ (2020) https://whois.domaintools.com/arizonaindependent.com
Pennsylvania (2017)
https://whois.domaintools.com/pennsylvaniaindependent.com
Michigan (2013) https://whois.domaintools.com/pennsylvaniaindependent.com
Wisconsin (2016)
https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?
checkAvail=1&domain=wisconsinindependent.com
Ohio (2022)
https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?
© 2022 NewsGuard Technologies, Inc.
checkAvail=1&domainName=ohioindependent.com

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