Courier Newsroom

Courier Newsroom is a digital media company that operates news outlets and sponsors political content intended to support Democratic candidates. The goal of Courier Newsroom publications, according to an internal memo obtained by Vice News, "is to create shareable viral pseudo 'news content' to boost its preferred candidates." The Chief Editor is Lindsay Schrupp. Courier's founder is Tara McGowan, who used to work for the Obama campaign and for the SuperPAC Priorities USA. History Courier Newsroom was founded in 2019 by Tara McGowan. As of May 2020, Courier Newsroom websites had a budget of $11 million, a staff of 60 reporters and 12 editors, and aimed to publish approximately 300 articles and videos a week. Courier Newsroom raised $15 million in the first half of 2022 from donors including Reid Hoffman and George Soros. The outlet spent over $5 million on Facebook and Instagram advertising designed to promote Democratic candidates and members of Congress. Mark Zuckerberg's concern that the Courier Newsroom was not a real news outlet sparked a 2020 change in policy at Facebook. Facebook now limits the reach of partisan sites by restricting their access and curtailing their advertising. The Courier Newsroom was originally owned by liberal dark money group ACRONYM, but ACRONYM later divested its stake in the company in April 2021. The Courier Newsroom owns local digital newspapers in eight battleground states. In June 2021, the company acquired a progressive political news site, Iowa Starting Line, which the New York Times called "the best political journalism you've never heard of." Starting Line's founder, Pat Rynard, announced that as a member of Courier Newsroom's network, the outlet would update its mission to "combat disinformation."