January 26, 2021
One media expert told Newsy more and more news sites with local-sounding names only masquerade as a local news organization.
SHOW TRANSCRIPT
As part of National News Literacy Week, we re looking into different ways misinformation and hyperpartisan content is making its way into our everyday lives.
For months, a top story at the Michigan Star has been “The Biden Family Scandal.” The Tennessee Star and Minnesota Sun kept the same story profiled in large font in their banner headlines.
Look deeper at each of the sites, and the majority of the other news stories are also the same.
What some might miss with the very local-sounding names of the news sites: Much of their original content comes from Tennessee, the base of Star News Digital Media, a company whose chief executive officer helped form the National Tea Party.