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The Center Square claims to be a news wire service that was founded to fulfill the need for high-quality statehouse and statewide news with a taxpayer sensibility. In reality, its just the latest iteration of an existing propaganda machine that dresses up a biased conservative spin as reliable news. And some local news outlets around the country are distributing its propaganda.

In 2019, conservative news site Watchdog.org reinvented itself as a wire service, called The Center Square. The Center Square claims to produce the highest quality of news coverage and investigative work and provides its content for free to other media outlets. But in reality, The Center Square publishes misleading stories with a heavy right-wing bent. As Watchdog.org, the organization was known for propagating misinformation andlies that benefited Republican politicians.

The Center Square receives funding from right-wing sources through dark money groups. The organization is largely funded by the ultra-conservative billionaire Koch family through the dark-money group Donors Trust, which provides money to The Center Squares publisher, the Franklin News Foundation (previously known as the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity).

Along with its affiliates, The Center Square helps promote right-wing legislative priorities. The Franklin News Foundation is listed as an associate of the conservative State Policy Network and its affiliates sometimes publish content promoting the agenda of the American Legislative Education Council (ALEC), which pushes right-wing legislation in state government. Some of the policies ALEC has promoted include legislation to end paid sick leave, laws that halt Medicaid expansion for low-income residents, and the infamous Stand Your Ground law in Florida that George Zimmerman used to justify killing unarmed minor Trayvon Martin in 2012.

Targeting local news is a cunning strategy for The Center Square, as polls show Americans trust local news over national media. By offering its so-called wire stories at no cost, The Center Square is taking advantage of local media, at a time when many local news outlets are underfunded and struggling,to launder its far-right perspectives and present them as legitimate news stories. Some local media have fallen for the scheme, republishing Center Square content that often twists the truth, parrots right-wing talking points, and excludes left-leaning perspectives.

Here are some recent examples of how The Center Squares conservative propaganda has worked its way into media outlets across the U.S.:

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A dark money-fueled conservative group rebranded its effort to infiltrate local politics and local media outlets are falling for it - Media Matters...