Records show lobbyists for Newsmax quietly worked with Republican lawmakers in Florida on an effort to choke off funding for firms that rate news outlets based on accuracy and ethics.
Outrageous indeed. Way over the line. Newsmax advertisers can now be called out for what they are: fascism enablers. Thank you Seeking Rents—always shining a light where it needs to go. Invaluable.
It’s not clear to me from the report as to why the state would be contracting for Newsguard’s services in the first place. Also, being a state contractor would seem to raise questions about the firm’s independence and reliability.
The legislation isn't meant to stop state agencies from contracting with NewsGuard. It's mean to stop agencies from contracting with any business that separately contracts with NewsGuard. Like, for instance, tech companies that use NewsGuard in search engines or AI models, or businesses that use NewsGuard to help guide ad placements.
Thanks! We need this service now more than ever! Authoritarians love this disinformation, how else will they rile up their followers to stop the steal! I'd love it if Democrat leaning organizations could more effectively lobby the legislators. And also, as a former resident of Illinois, I am disappointed by having a part time legislature that rams through whatever DeSantis or other Trump allies want in a very short legislative session. It needs to be at least 6 months or ideally, have a full time legislature. Thoughts?
“Newsmax — which has in recent months agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle defamation suits stemming from false claims it aired about the 2020 election — currently scores just 20 out of 100 on NewsGuard’s scale.”
Thank you! I was distracted as I read by the amounts of money defamation suits are scoring against MAGA allies. Trump isn't the only party that can sue, and payback is hell.
It's funny that Republicans scream "censorship" when all media outlets want is fact based reporting.
They know their business model is to say anything, print anything as long as Grandma and Grandpa start screaming at the sky! Furthermore they start buying whatever it is they are pitching on Newsmax.
I'm so grateful that you do the work of digging up these stories that most of us would never even know existed. I keep encouraging friends in other states who think their situation is dire to subscribe to you so they can understand the depths to which an utterly craven group of people elected to serve their constituents will do to serve ... what? an ideology?
Outrageous indeed. Way over the line. Newsmax advertisers can now be called out for what they are: fascism enablers. Thank you Seeking Rents—always shining a light where it needs to go. Invaluable.
Keep up the great work Jason. A lot of folks in Tallahasse are allergic to the sunshine.
Thanks for reporting this. Very important to know expose this public corruption
It’s not clear to me from the report as to why the state would be contracting for Newsguard’s services in the first place. Also, being a state contractor would seem to raise questions about the firm’s independence and reliability.
The legislation isn't meant to stop state agencies from contracting with NewsGuard. It's mean to stop agencies from contracting with any business that separately contracts with NewsGuard. Like, for instance, tech companies that use NewsGuard in search engines or AI models, or businesses that use NewsGuard to help guide ad placements.
Thanks! We need this service now more than ever! Authoritarians love this disinformation, how else will they rile up their followers to stop the steal! I'd love it if Democrat leaning organizations could more effectively lobby the legislators. And also, as a former resident of Illinois, I am disappointed by having a part time legislature that rams through whatever DeSantis or other Trump allies want in a very short legislative session. It needs to be at least 6 months or ideally, have a full time legislature. Thoughts?
So, what was the Newsmax rating for accuracy from Newsguard?
From the post:
“Newsmax — which has in recent months agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle defamation suits stemming from false claims it aired about the 2020 election — currently scores just 20 out of 100 on NewsGuard’s scale.”
Thank you! I was distracted as I read by the amounts of money defamation suits are scoring against MAGA allies. Trump isn't the only party that can sue, and payback is hell.
Sure thing! Sometimes it’s hard to find details in these articles since they are so full of info and comprehensive!
It's funny that Republicans scream "censorship" when all media outlets want is fact based reporting.
They know their business model is to say anything, print anything as long as Grandma and Grandpa start screaming at the sky! Furthermore they start buying whatever it is they are pitching on Newsmax.
I'm so grateful that you do the work of digging up these stories that most of us would never even know existed. I keep encouraging friends in other states who think their situation is dire to subscribe to you so they can understand the depths to which an utterly craven group of people elected to serve their constituents will do to serve ... what? an ideology?