Posted on 10/27/2021 5:53:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new public benefit corporation backed by billionaires Reid Hoffman, George Soros, and others is launching Tuesday to fund new media companies and efforts that tackle disinformation.
Why it matters: Good Information Inc. aims to fund and scale businesses that cut through echo chambers with fact-based information. As part of its mission, it plans to invest in local news companies.
The group will be led by Tara McGowan, a former Democratic strategist who previously ran a progressive non-profit called ACRONYM.
ACRONYM invested in for-profit companies that built media and technology solutions for progressive causes. It ran one of the largest digital campaigns to defeat President Trump in the 2020 election, totaling $100 million. One of the companies it invested in, called Shadow, made headlines last year for contributing to the delayed reporting of the Iowa caucus results. Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, backed ACRONYM. Details: Good Information is launching with a multi-million seed investment led by Hoffman and joined by investors Ken and Jen Duda, Incite Ventures, and George Soros.
"We are disclosing our investors, because we believe — especially right now in this environment of mistrust — that transparency is really important," McGowan said. ACRONYM faced a FEC complaint last year that alleged it wasn't transparent enough about Courier's backing. The complaint was eventually dropped. "If I could do things differently, I would have been more transparent," McGowan said. Good Information Inc. will invest in new businesses and solutions that tackle the disinformation crisis. That could mean funding new or existing companies that boost news from existing news outlets. Although backed and launched by progressives, McGowan says the group could make investments in entities across the political spectrum so long as their editorial standards support fact-based information.
She points to The Bulwark, a center-right news site founded in opposition to Trumpism, as an example of the type of center-right news outlet it could fund. "The information crisis we're in is so much bigger than politics," McGowan said. McGowan will sit on the company's five-person board, which will be announced by the end of the year. It will include two investor-appointed members and three management-appointed members. Good Information Inc. will acquire Courier Newsroom from ACRONYM for an undisclosed sum as part of the deal.
Courier Newsroom is a local news group with a progressive perspective. There are currently over 60 people that work across eight local newsrooms full-time. McGowan says she was recused from Acronym's negotiations to sell Courier because she was still on the board of Acronym when the purchase was being negotiated. Deal terms aren't being disclosed. Good Information Inc. will acquire ACRONYM's "FWIW" newsletter, which covers digital political ad spending. The company's advisory committee consists of nearly two dozen political, media and tech experts, including former White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, Civic Signal Founder Eli Pariser, Check My Ads co-founder Nandini Jammi, former Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times Editor Mark Jacob, Accountable Tech co-founder Nicole Gill and others.
Between the lines: In February, Recode reported on leaked materials suggesting the group would include a non-profit arm. McGowan told Axios there's no plan to launch a non-profit.
The Recode article said McGowan was looking to raise $65 million for the effort. McGowan did not confirm that number to Axios. The big picture: It's the latest example of investments by billionaires targeting disinformation.
Craig Newmark, the founder of CraigsList, has invested millions to support factual reporting through his non-profit, Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, founded USAFacts, a non-profit designed to make accurate data accessible and understandable, in 2017. Laurene Powell Jobs has invested in several journalism organizations, including Axios, through her investment group, Emerson Collective. What's next: McGowan says that the group's goal in the next year is to raise more awareness about immediate solutions to counter disinformation before it spreads.
George Soros Announces New Venture That Will Have a Huge Impact on Local News Outlets
"A new group has been formed to fight against what it calls disinformation, using a model one activist said would “erode the public’s trust in media.”
https://www.westernjournal.com/george-soros-announces-new-venture-will-huge-impact-local-news-outlets/
Anything connected to Soros is worth avoiding.
Why create a new Propaganda outlet? Soros already controls the current ones.
This is just the NEXT STEP to TOTAL INFORMATION CONTROL............Goebbels taught him well......................
Soroz is driven by hatred of his fellow man, and I’m convinced that he has been that way since his youth. Was his parents mean to him? Was he an ugly runt that neighborhood boys bullied?
Whatever the case he had to have a dislike for his fellow man to help destroy them as an assistant to the Nazis.
Because sites like this one still exist.
LOL, Soros. His idea of disinformation is anything that goes against his agenda. This organization will be no more interested in facts than any other leftist run and leftist backed media mouthpiece.
...it plans to invest in local news companies.
Translated: we have successfully co-opted all the national news organizations, now we're coming to your home town to ensure you have no way to hear anything but the messaging we want you to hear.
Well this confirms to me just who Harry and Markle are willing puppets of. Many already had an inkling. It helps make sense of much of their words and actions, including her over the top self importance.
“public benefit corporation” run by an actual Nazi George Soros.
Pure evil.
Oh yeah, Soros and disinformation don’t go together. NO, no not at all.
Tell us the name so we can avoid it like the Covid.
“She points to The Bulwark, a center-right news site founded in opposition to Trumpism”
Has anyone even heard of this “news” company?
If they want a compliant media they already have it. The only logical next step is to illegalize websites like Breitbart, Zero Hedge, The Federalist, etc.
“This is just the NEXT STEP to TOTAL INFORMATION CONTROL...that no person with an IQ over 50 trusts or believes.
Even the Millennials at Reddit see thru the obvious media lies, manipulation and disinformation.
Yes, the evil globalists do own all the big outlets, now they want to buy up all the smaller ones. Remember; all politics is local. People will believe their local propaganda outlet more than a national or international one.
We truly cannot coexist with these evil subhumans much longer and still stand on our feet. Those that do will do so from their knees.
Openly admitted now. Big democrat money is funding media and social media. They don’t have to worry about actually turning a profit now. soros’ money will provide income for them.
So the world’s current king of dispensing disinformation is claiming he and his ilk want to stop disinformation so they are building a platform to dispense truth but in reality it will dispense their lies. Do not be appeased and do not be deceived!!
His master, $atan, is keeping him on this side of the grass.................
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