Newsrooms across the country are dwindling. So what are some news outlets doing? They're oftentimes copying and pasting content provided by third party sources. Who are these sources? “Hyperpartisan sites…masquerading as local news." And that came from Harvard.

Montana's Solicitor General says we're seeing that right now with fake news outlets like "The Daily Montanan."

Over a month ago, the Solicitor General for the State of Montana joined us on the radio, exposing this hyper partisan website pretending to be news here in Montana.

The Daily Montanan is an affiliate of what is known as the "States Newsroom." What is that? As Solicitor General Christian Corrigan noted, a nonprofit called OpenSecrets published a a story that focused on States Newsroom, among others:

“At a time when trustworthy journalism is more important than ever, political operations are pouring millions of ‘dark money’ dollars into ads and digital content masquerading as news coverage.” OpenSecrets further reported that “multiple States Newsroom affiliates fail to meet ‘basic standards of credibility and transparency’ according to NewsGuard.”

The state's Solicitor General added this:

Alarmingly, Axios reported just last year that “[t]he number of partisan-backed outlets designed to look like impartial news outlets has officially surpassed the number of real, local daily newspapers in the U.S., according to a new analysis….Many of those sites are targeted to swing states — a clear sign that they're designed to influence politics.” As of June 2024, Axios reported there are 10 “dark money or misleading local news sites” in Montana, including from States Newsroom.
In 2020, the Nieman Foundation at Harvard, whose mission is “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism,” referred to States Newsroom as one of many “hyperpartisan sites…masquerading as local news.”

Who is funding outfits like the States Newsroom?

Hans Wyss is one of the big ones. You should know that name. He is the same far Left Democrat megadonor who funds several of the Democrat party front groups. He's also supported the APR and the effort to kick ranchers off the land here in Montana. And he's not even a US citizen.

What prompted the Solicitor General to speak out?

Basically, the partisan Democrat blog known as the Daily Montanan started demanding special access privileges of our state officials. That prompted our entire Congressional delegation, the Attorney General, and the Governor's office to issue a formal response calling out The Daily Montanan.

Click below for our full chat with Solicitor General Christian Corrigan and political strategist Jake Eaton from back in June.

DOJ Response to Daily Montanan Demand Ltr 6.19.25 250304 LETTER States Newsroom

2025-03-24 - Daily Montanan - Demand Ltr.