Brian Timpone is an American

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

businessman and former journalist who operates a network of nearly 1,300 conservative local news websites. In 2012, Timpone stated that articles on his websites are partially written by

freelancers ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

outside of the United States, although he described the writing as "domestic" in a separate interview. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Timpone's "operation is rooted in deception, eschewing hallmarks of news reporting like fairness and transparency." His sites publish articles for pay from outside groups, and do not disclose it.

Education and early career

Timpone graduated from Marian Catholic High School in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geogra ...

. He received a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

; while attending, he covered sports and news for the University-owned

KOMU-TV KOMU-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Columbia, Missouri, United States, serving the Columbia–Jefferson City market as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station's studios and transmitter are located on US 63 southeast ...

. After school, he took a job at

KDLH KDLH (channel 3) is a television station in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Superior, Wisconsin–licensed dual NBC/CBS affiliate KBJR-TV, channel 6 (and its Chisholm, Min ...

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, which he worked for less than a year before taking another TV job in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. Timpone was hired as the personal spokesman to Illinois House Minority Leader

Lee A. Daniels Lee Albert Daniels (born April 15, 1942) is an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1975 until 2007 including two years as List of Speakers of the Il ...

in 1997.

News publishing

Timpone is involved with a number of interconnected media companies that post press releases and lightly copied content as news articles, at one point publishing under false bylines. The process has been described as "

pay for play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mus ...

", compared to the

content farming A content farm (or content mill) is a company that employs large numbers of freelance writers to generate a large amount of textual web content which is specifically designed to satisfy algorithms for maximal retrieval by automated search engine ...

Demand Media Leaf Group, formerly Demand Media Inc, is an American content company that operates online brands including eHow, livestrong.com, and marketplace brands Saatchi Art and Society6. The company also provides social media platforms to existing l ...

, and called pink slime' journalism". The companies include Local Government Information Services (LGIS), of which he is president, Metric Media, Franklin Archer, Locality Labs (formerly known as Journatic and LocalLabs), DirecTech LLC, Interactive Content Services, Newsinator, Blockshopper, and The Record Inc. The companies have received funding from

Liberty Principles PAC Liberty Principles PAC was a conservative, Illinois-based super PAC (political action committee). The PAC supported political candidates for state and local offices in Illinois who "are committed to the economic liberty policy agenda." The PAC is a ...

(substantially funded by

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein Richard Ellis Uihlein ( ; born 1945) and Elizabeth Uihlein are American billionaire businesspeople, founders of Uline and conservative donors. Richard is also an heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune.Illinois Opportunity Project Daniel K. Proft (born April 29, 1972) is an American political commentator and activist. A member of the Republican Party, he is a talk radio host for Chicago radio station WIND and was a candidate for Governor of Illinois in 2010. He voices a ...

, politician

Jeanne Ives Jeanne M. Ives (née Remmes, born October 4, 1964) is an American politician. A Republican, she is a former member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 42nd district. She has run for governor of Illinois, and for U.S. Representative ...

and hotelier

Monty Bennett Monty J. Bennett (born ) is an American businessman who founded and is the chairman and CEO of Ashford Inc., a hospitality real estate company. He is also the publisher of the ''Dallas Express'', a news website launched in 2021 in Dallas, Texas. ...

as customers.

The Record network

The Record network was started by Timpone in September 2004 with The

Madison County Record ''The Madison / St. Clair Record'', also called ''The Record'' and formerly called ''The Madison Record'', is a weekly legal journal covering the Madison and St. Clair County Civil Courts in the state of Illinois As of 2011, it is located at 301 N ...

, a legal journal for

Madison County, Illinois Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most popu ...

. It was silently funded by the

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...

Institute for Legal Reform The US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), founded in 1998, is a separately incorporated affiliate of the United States Chamber of Commerce. The organization advocates for civil justice reform, commonly referred to as tort reform. The pres ...

to oppose lawsuits against businesses and to support

tort reform Tort reform refers to changes in the civil justice system in common law countries that aim to reduce the ability of plaintiffs to bring tort litigation (particularly actions for negligence) or to reduce damages they can receive. Such changes a ...

. The Chamber later funded a site run by The Record called Legal Newsline. , The Record's network included: Cook County Record, Florida Record, Legal Newsline, Louisiana Record, Madison - St. Clair Record, Northern California Record, Pennsylvania Record, SE Texas Record, Southern California Record, St. Louis Record, and

West Virginia Record The ''West Virginia Record,'' founded in 2005, is a weekly legal publication funded by the United States Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbyist group in the United States, and distributed in the state of West Virginia. The Record is a product o ...

. The

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

s for the eleven websites at

App Store (iOS/iPadOS) The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...

shows the seller to be The Record, Inc. and the copyright holder is Newsinator, LLC.

Journatic and BlockShopper

Journatic (a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words was founded by Timpone in 2006. According to Timpone, Journatic used news data processed by workers in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, but he states that the writing is "domestic". Journatic's job listings in the Philippines advertised a $0.35–0.40 pay rate per article for "writers to work on events stories" who are "able to commit to 250 pieces/week minimum". Journatic managed ''TribLocal'', a

hyperlocal Hyperlocal is information oriented around a well-defined community with its primary focus directed toward the concerns of the population in that community. The term can be used as a noun in isolation or as a modifier of some other term (e.g. new ...

news branch of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' that targeted suburban neighborhoods around

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, in the spring of 2012. In a June 2012 episode of ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'', Timpone disclosed that Journatic was

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

its writing to over 300

using fake "Anglo-sounding"

bylines The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably ''Reader's ...

in several geographic areas outside of the United States, including the

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, Brazil, and Africa. Following the release of the episode and the discovery of plagiarism in Journatic's articles, the ''

'', ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'', and Gatehouse Media suspended their relationships with the company. While Hearst's ''Houston Chronicle'' ended its partnership, Hearst's ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' reviewed its use of the service and continued using it. BlockShopper, also founded by Timpone in 2006, though it was merged into Journatic in 2008, was said by Timpone to be "a nod to the days when newspapers included real estate, graduations and marriage announcements". After BlockShopper published high dollar real estate sales and purchases by several high-profile people, and in some cases tied in their employer in the announcement, several anti-BlockShopper websites popped up and lawsuits were filed. Some of the targeted people said it would " ncreasethe risk that baddies will rob them, steal their identities or kidnap their children." Journatic rebranded as "Locality Labs" in 2013.

Locality Labs and Metric Media

In 2019, Locality Labs delivered the ''Hinsdale School News'' to residents of

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

. The paper appropriated the logo of the local school district and had a heavy focus on articles opposing the upcoming referendum, which would have raised the school's budget. Officials from the district sent

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

letters to several companies in the Timpone network, stating that the use of its logos were deceptive and an instance of

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may o ...

. Building up to the 2020 elections, the network increased from 450 sites to over 1,200 sites. Out of 50,000 articles, 15,000 of them were unique stories, with only about 100 with human bylines. Many automated sources included federal programs (

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

) and the fuel price site Gas Buddy. Articles with heavy conservative and Republican biases would also appear in targeted areas. In 2021, a report by

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

further exposed Timpone's network of companies including Metric Media LLC, Newsinator/Franklin Archer, Local Government Information Services (LGIS), Pipeline Media, and Locality Labs (formerly known as Journatic and Blockshopper). Also disclosed were some of the financial relationships between the entities, certain individuals involved, and several political and advocacy organizations which have funded the network, all under the guise of "local news". Some of the large

organizations donating included

Donors Trust Donors Trust is an American nonprofit donor-advised fund. It was founded in 1999 with the goal of "safeguarding the intent of libertarian and conservative donors". As a donor advised fund, Donors Trust is not legally required to disclose the id ...

Donors Capital Fund Donors Capital Fund is a nonprofit United States donor-advised charity that distributes grants to conservative and libertarian organizations. Donors Capital Fund is associated with Donors Trust, another donor-advised fund. Background Donors Ca ...

Uline Uline is a privately held American company which offers shipping and other business supplies. It was founded in 1980 by Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. It has more than 8,000 employees and is headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. It has ...

and its owners

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein Richard Ellis Uihlein ( ; born 1945) and Elizabeth Uihlein are American billionaire businesspeople, founders of Uline and conservative donors. Richard is also an heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune.CatholicVote.org CatholicVote.org is a conservative, non-profit political advocacy group based in the United States. While the organization acknowledges the authority of the Magisterium, it is independent of the Catholic Church. Structure CatholicVote.org is di ...

. Opining what effect this network of 'pay for play' websites has had, "Increasingly, we are seeing political campaigning which uses news as a cloak for campaigning activities potentially further undermining trust in legitimate local news outlets." Dan Kennedy of GBH News wrote, "Metric Media ... is a political play. Right-wing interests give money through a series of interlocking organizations in return for publishing indoctrination disguised as local news."

Judd Legum Judd Legum (born December 8, 1978) is an American journalist, lawyer, and political staffer. Early life Legum was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Legum earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy analysis from Pomona College and a Juris Doctor ...

Popular Information Judd Legum (born December 8, 1978) is an American journalist, lawyer, and political staffer. Early life Legum was born in Annapolis, Maryland. Legum earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy analysis from Pomona College and a Juris Doctor ...

pointed out that the Timpone network, including 28 'local news' websites in Virginia, helped elect a Republican as next governor of Virginia by pushing a false narrative about

critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is a cross-disciplinary examination, by social and civil-rights scholars and activists, of how laws, social and political movements, and media shape, and are shaped by, social conceptions of race and ethnicity. Goa ...

(CRT) "infiltrating schools" in Virginia, which had not happened. Legum also reported that the same anti-CRT content was being automatically pushed out to Timpone's other 'local news' websites around the country in anticipation of the 2022 election cycle. Metric Media's websites, printed papers, robocalls, and text messages were linked to the 2022 election, notably among right-wing PACs including Tim Dunn's Defend Texas Liberty PAC, Uihlein's Illinois-centered People Who Play by the Rules PAC (run by

Dan Proft Daniel K. Proft (born April 29, 1972) is an American political commentator and activist. A member of the Republican Party, he is a talk radio host for Chicago radio station WIND and was a candidate for Governor of Illinois in 2010. He voices a ...

), and Restoration PAC, partly funded by Uihlein. Tim Dunn is also linked to Pipeline Media. The network's printed newspapers were mailed to voters in Arizona, Kansas, and Illinois. Several publications claiming to be Catholic, with such titles as ''Arizona Catholic Tribune'' and ''Michigan Catholic Tribune'', are unaffiliated with the Catholic dioceses in the areas they were printed. The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay ( la, Diocesis Sinus Viridis) was established on March 3, 1868, by Pope Pius IX. It covers the city of Green Bay, as well as Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, Kewaunee, Lan ...

further noted that the ''Wisconsin Catholic Tribune'' used content from its in-house publication, ''The Compass'', without permission in violation of copyright law.

References

External links

Metric Media
(website)
The Record, Inc.
(website)
BlockShopper
(website)
Metric Media, LLC — List of associated sites

Spreadsheet of Metric Media-sponsored URLs/domains as of October 2020
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timpone, Brian American businesspeople American male journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of Missouri alumni