Since it was discovered that the National Republican Congressional Committee is launching “faux” news sites to deceive voters, even more local and national media criticized national Republicans for their ploy over the weekend.
While the NRCC continues to peddle “vehicles for political propaganda,” that are overwhelmingly considered “deceptive” and “sleazy,” it’s clearer than ever that the fake news sites are nothing more than a desperate attempt to distract from House Republicans’ flawed priorities.
See for yourself:
New: GOP campaign arm launches fake news sites against Democrats.
“The National Republican Congressional Committee has launched more than 20 of these fake news sites to attack Democrats running for Congress, creating a media uproar and drawing protest from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRCC’s counterpart. […]The National Republican Congressional Committee has launched more than 20 of these fake news sites to attack Democrats running for Congress, creating a media uproar and drawing protest from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRCC’s counterpart.”
[Ames Tribune, 8/15/14]
New: Capitol Chatter: Politicians fake news sites for partisan propaganda.
“Some political organizations are setting up websites that look like they are run by news organizations, but instead of objective news they deliver heavy doses of partisan propaganda.”
[Morris Sun Tribune, 8/16/14]
New: Deceptive packaging in politics.
“The websites are made to look like legitimate news sites, Bump says, and he references a National Journal report that says ‘the NRCC is buying ads on Google for people searching for Democratic candidates to redirect them to these fake news sites.’ […] Beyond the obvious observation that if the information you are presenting is valid and defensible, such a tactic would be unnecessary, there is the question, posed by Bump, as to whether the practice is ethical. The answer to that is a resounding no. But ethics is not something this group of politicians (regardless of party) is known for. Remember the Gallup poll? Members of Congress ranked above only lobbyists as the least ethical.”
[Carroll County Times, 8/15/14]
New: Pam Byrnes among Democrats targeted by GOP’s fake news websites.
“Although the page pictured above looks a lot like a news site, it’s actually paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee, and it’s one of a few dozen pages the NRCC has created in congressional races around the country. This one is targeting Pam Byrnes, who is seeking to unseat Tim Walberg in the 7th Congressional District, which includes Lenawee County.”
[Adrian Today, 8/17/14]
New: GOP campaign arm launches fake news sites against Democrats.
“The National Republican Congressional Committee has launched more than 20 of these fake news sites to attack Democrats running for Congress, creating a media uproar and drawing protest from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the NRCC’s counterpart. […]This is not the first time the NRCC has been criticized for running misleading websites. Earlier this year, the organization came under fire for launching websites with URLs that appeared to support Democratic candidates. The homepage for nancypelosi2014.com, for example, calls for Pelosi to ‘never be Speaker again’ and includes a box to donate to the NRCC.”
[Los Angeles Times, 8/14/14]
New: Not Necessarily a Good Idea.
“The difference is, we know The Onion is fake news. The witty writers and editors at the publication are not trying to pretend that people will take it seriously – the whole point is not to take the news seriously for a brief relief period. Unfortunately, the National Republican Congressional Committee does not abide by the same fake-journalistic standards as The Onion. […] No one’s going to die because of the NRCC’s fake news sites. But they’re deceptive and sleazy nonetheless. And worse – just like some of the prescription drugs advertised on TV – they’re not even necessary.”
[U.S. News & World Report, 8/15/14]
New: The GOP is Launching Even More Fake Websites to Confuse Voters.
“Yes, it’s time for the standard onslaught of GOP fake websites. […]But as the sites are tiptoing along that very fine line between legal and illegality, that appears to be a place Democrats just have no desire to go. Republicans, meanwhile, appear to be growing very comfortable there.”
[Care2.com, 8/17/14]
New: Campaign outrage — and it’s only August.
“Folks surfing the Web for information about the targeted congressional races will learn, for example, that Democratic Rep. Ami Bera of Elk Grove (Sacramento County) ‘was elected as a doctor, but has no prescription to solve our problems’ or that Amanda Renteria, who is challenging Republican Rep. David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County), ‘continues to support Obamacare.’ […]E ven the most casual follower of politics would have to squint pretty hard to see the websites as anything other than partisan attacks, especially when the headlines atop the pages all read pretty much like the one aimed at Rep. Scott Peters, a first-term Democrat from San Diego: ‘Scott Peters Can’t Escape Criticisms of Hypocrisy, Self-Interest.’”
[SF Chronicle, 8/14/14]
New: GOP creates look-alike news sites targeting Minnesota Democrats.
“The new websites, even though they’re designed to look like local news sources, are actually advertisements – two of at least 20 targeting Democratic candidates for the U.S. House, and paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Journal reports. […]Politico described the sites as ‘legal, if ethically sketchy.’”
[BringMeTheNews, 8/14/14]
New: Election ‘news’ sites called ‘deception’.
“Beware of campaign news originating from unfamiliar websites that appear to be news outlets. […]The National Republican Congressional Committee has established campaign websites that a casual reader might mistake as a source of news about New York Democratic congressional candidates such as Martha Robertson and Sean Eldridge.”
[Poughkeepsie Journal, 8/16/14]
New: Fake news sites attack US Democrats.
“At first glance, the ‘Central Valley Update’, the ‘Augusta Update’ and the ‘Aurora Update’ appear to be doing what any news site would do: hold local candidates accountable. Problem is, they’re not real news sites. […] Readers only discover who is behind the website by scrolling to the bottom of the page, where a box indicates the NRCC is the sponsor, an FEC requirement for all political committee websites.”
[Sydney Morning Herald, 8/15/14]
New: Washington’s cynical misinformation game.
“The most recent evidence: a National Journal article about a new tactic used by the National Republican Congressional Committee to attack Democratic candidates. Earlier this year, the NRCC created several fake Democratic candidate websites. The organization’s latest effort is a brand new set of deceptive websites, this time designed to look like local news sources.”
[Yahoo.com,8/18/14]
The Register’s Editorial: Dirty tricks like these don’t belong in Iowa campaigns.
“It turns out, however, that these ‘news’ sites are, in fact, vehicles for political propaganda paid for by the National Republican Campaign Committee, a GOP organization that raises money and campaigns on behalf of Republicans running for the U.S. House. […]This might seem to fall into the category of campaign hijinks in the spirit of the infamous Dick Tuck, who played tricks on Richard Nixon when he campaigned for president (including reportedly signaling a train to pull out of the station while Nixon was delivering a speech from the back platform).But there is nothing humorous about dressing up political propaganda as legitimate news. It diminishes the credibility of legitimate news organizations as well as the Republican Party.”
[Des Moines Register, 8/15/14]
GOP Campaign Committee Headed By Rep. Greg Walden Once More Pushes Boundaries on Websites.
“The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is chaired by Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, is once again courting controversy over its internet attacks on Democratic congressional candidates. […] Earlier this year, the committee came under fire for running a series of websites that mimicked the appearance of the sites of several Democratic candidates. Critics accused the committee of deceptive advertising and Walden was hit with an ethics complaint (which his supporters say was politically motivated). The websites were later quietly changed.”
[Oregonian, 8/13/14]
Fake News Website Starts “Covering” John Tierney Race.
“As part of a new strategy in close races across the country, the National Republican Congressional Campaign (NRCC) has set up a phony community news site called ‘Middleton Update,’ that is actually a Republican attack site. […] The tactic is apparently legally permissible, although pretty ethically bankrupt. The gain might outweigh the harm in other parts of the country, but here in Massachusetts disdain runs high for the nasty, vacuous, hate-filled national GOP. Almost anything labeled with the words “National Republican” appearing in this race is bound to backfire on Tisei, and something as sleazy as this especially. If I were Tisei I’d be begging the NRCC to take it down.”
[Boston Magazine, 8/13/14]
House GOP posts fake ‘Aurora Update’ news site to attack Romanoff.
“There are no links, resource cites or quotes provided to readers to support any of the charges. […] As The National Journal reports, the fake news sites come in the wake of a similar campaign launched last year by the same House Republican organization. In that case, the NRCC set up campaign websites designed to appear as if they supported Democratic candidates and asked for donations that in fact went to Republicans. The group pulled down the sites after headlines spurred public outcry and threatened legal action.”
[Colorado Independent, 8/12/14]
Politics Notebook: Enyart Camp Says NRCC Websites ‘Mockery of Journalism’.
“A series of online ads designed by the National Republican Congressional Committee drew criticism Wednesday from U.S. Rep. Bill Enyart’s campaign, which says the ads deceitfully look like news websites. […] Enyart’s campaign adviser, Jason Bresler, said the websites look like content generated by local news sources, but the information on the sites is false or misleading. ‘One of our country’s greatest strengths is freedom of the press,’ Bresler said. ‘For the Republicans to mock that — it’s offensive. It’s a slap in the face to the military men and women who protect these freedoms each day.’”
[The Bellville News Democrat, 8/13/14]
NRCC Launches Fake News Sites to Attack Democratic Candidates:
“The House GOP campaign arm, previously criticized for phony Democratic candidate sites, is now in the faux-news game […] The National Republican Congressional Committee, which came under fire earlier this year for a deceptive series of fake Democratic candidate websites that it later changed after public outcry, has launched a new set of deceptive websites, this time designed to look like local news sources.”
[National Journal, 8/12/14]
CAMPAIGN OVERNIGHT: Is ‘fake news’ the way of the future?
“The GOP’s House campaign arm has come under fire for its ‘fake news sites’ — microsites designed to look like local news pages that dole out favorable information about GOP candidates and damaging information about Democrats. […]Some of the skepticism comes after the NRCC was under fire earlier this year for making mock Democratic sites asking for donations. After a complaint from a watchdog group, it tweaked the design to clarify that money was going to House Republicans and not the targeted candidates.”
[The Hill, 8/13/14]
Republicans Embrace Their Phoniness
“The Republican Party has finally admitted what has been fairly obvious for much of the last six years: It produces fake news. This is not an earthshattering revelation to anybody who has been paying attention, but, still, it’s an important step for the party to embrace the phoniness. […] Real attacks, but fake news: This is a fairly accurate summary of what the GOP’s scandalmongers have been purveying during the Obama years.”
[Washington Post, 8/13/14]
Republican Group Rolls Out Fake News Websites:
“The group drew criticism earlier this year over websites, including fundraising portals that confused some voters, which spoofed the websites of Democratic candidates. […] The new websites are being paid for and coordinated by the NRCC’s independent expenditure arm, which can raise unlimited sums of money but is not permitted to coordinate with candidates’ campaigns.”
[TIME, 8/13/14]
House Republicans unveil a new 2014 strategy: Repurposing press releases on a fake news site.
“Why bother noting things that don’t exist? Because each of those ‘Update’ Web sites was created by the National Republican Campaign Committee. They are meant to look like a real news site but really are intended to attack a Democrat who is running for Congress. […] The National Journal reported on the sites Tuesday, pointing out that the NRCC is buying ads on Google for people searching for Democratic candidates to redirect them to these fake news sites. Nor did the NRCC seem to be terribly concerned about the implications of misleading visitors. […] The 33-plus articles we found on the NRCC’s electionupdate2014.com are just the same old politics hoping to wring a bit of believability out of the news media’s already-diminished credibility.”
[Washington Post, 8/13/14]
Republicans and the fine art of fake news:
“It seems pretty obvious the National Republican Congressional Committee is trying to deceive the public, though an NRCC official characterized the fake-news initiative as simply ‘a new and effective way to disseminate information.’ […] This is the second time this year the NRCC’s efforts to push the limits of online propriety have caused a stir. In February, the Republican campaign committee created another series of misleading websites – the sites led visitors to believe they were financially supporting Dem candidates, when in fact the money was ending up in the NRCC’s coffers. But these fake-news websites are arguably more bizarre.”
[MSNBC, 8/13/14]
NRCC gets into the fake news business:
“The National Republican Congressional Committee is creating websites meant to look like local news sites that are actually attack sites targeting Democratic candidates, National Journal reports. […] The tactic is legal, if ethically sketchy.”
[Politico, 8/12/14]
NRCC Launches Fake News Sites to Attack Democratic Candidates:
“Earlier this year, the NRCC got in some trouble for creating deceptive fake campaign sites for Democrats that ask people to contribute in order to help ‘defeat’ the candidate. […] The stories appear on election2014update.com, and have site names like ‘Central Valley Update.’ The fake new sites begin stories by explaining that they will analyze the candidate’s position but take a critical tone.”
[Talking Points Memo, 8/12/14]
NRCC Says Democrats Are ‘Just Jealous’ They Didn’t Think of Fake News Sites First.
“Fake candidate websites are so winter 2014. If you’re looking for a hip new way to covertly attack political opponents, try creating fake news articles constructed to mislead voters. It’s like The Onion, but for people who have never heard of The Onion. […] The National Journal reports that the National Republican Campaign Committee has introduced more than 20 standalone websites designed to look like local-news hubs. But instead of serving up impartial articles, the stories devolve into one-sided criticism of democratic candidates.”
[New York Magazine, 8/13/14]
The National Republican Congressional Committee is getting into the news business, sort of.
“National Journal had a fascinating scoop Tuesday about how the committee is going after Rep. John Barrow, D-Augusta, and other vulnerable Dems by creating fake news sites and targeting local web searchers. […]The NRCC got in trouble last year for making fake campaign pages for their targeted Democrats, in apparent violation of campaign finance law.”
[Atlanta Journal Constitution, 8/13/14]
GOP Makes No Apologies for Ads Disguised As News Sites.
“House Republicans aren’t backing down from criticism that they’re disguising their political ads as fake news sites. […] The NRCC was criticized for a similar tactic earlier this year for making mock Democratic sites asking for donations. After a complaint from a watchdog group, they tweaked the design to clarify that money was going to House Republicans and not the targeted candidates.
[The Hill, 8/13/14]
Republicans Craft Fake News Websites, Building a New Weapon in Digital Campaigns.
“But quack healthcare manufacturers aren’t the only ones employing this backhanded tactic to sell their products. The Republican party has also been creating some fake news sites, with the sole purpose of publishing articles bashing Democrats under the guise of objectivity. […] In February the NRCC employed a similar online tactic, creating a slew of sites that appear to be the official webpage for a Democratic candidate, but present the lawmaker’s record in a negative light and solicit donations for the Republican party. The NRCC received major pushback for this campaign, including a complaint by the FEC that the webpages were tricking Democratic voters into donating to the Republicans.”
[InTheCapital, 8/13/14]
NRCC Uses Fake News Pages to Attack Democrats.
“The National Republican Congressional Committee is rolling out a new form of attack ads on Democratic candidates – one Democrats say is misleading and deceptive. […] The NRCC came under scrutiny earlier this year for websites that appeared to support Democratic candidates, but actually sent donor dollars to the NRCC. Officials eventually edited the sites to make them more transparent. Some of the sites, including NancyPelosi2014.com, are still operating, but if a user wants to donate, the donor page now makes it clear that the money will go toward helping Republicans.”
[MSNBC, 8/13/14]
GOP Launches Fake News Sites To Trick Voters and Blast Dems.
“Still, a campaign tactic being used (and defended) by the Republican Party may set the new standard for mendacious electioneering. That tactic? The creation of attack ads purposely designed to look like local news sites, and paying Google to ensure these fake sites show up as ads in Google search results. […] This isn’t the first time this cycle that the NRCC has pulled a move like this, either. Earlier last year, they launched a series of fake websites intended to look like they represented a Democratic candidate. Public outcry compelled them to abandon these forgeries, but evidently the NRCC still likes the strategy, overall.”
[Salon, 8/13/14]
GOP’s shady “news” websites: Republicans get into the propaganda game.
“The sites themselves are very, very shady. They are tailored to the district each Democrat is running in … […] This grossly unethical monstrosity does, however, represent something of a streamlining of the typical process for disguising GOP messaging as news. In the past, the NRCC would have had to rely on the lax ethics standards of certain cable news outlets to see their handiwork transformed into “journalism.” I guess they’ve decided to just cut out the middleman.”
[Salon, 8/13/14]
Beware of Fake Political News Sites.
“If you use the Internet to research political candidates before entering the voting booth, you’ll want to use a bit of extra caution this year. The National Journal is reporting that the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) has created and is promoting a series of fake news websites to spread negative information about select Democratic candidates and incumbents.”
[Techlicious, 8/13/14]