Researchers say partisan sites posing as local news are growing before the Nov. 3 US midterms. NewsGuard has identified 1,179 “pink slime” outlets; it says two networks spent at least $801,500 on Facebook and Instagram ads in the first eight months of 2026.
NewsGuard said the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) apparently launched The North Carolinian in July. The site said it was paid for by SLF and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee; it appeared focused on opposing Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper and boosting Republican Michael Whatley. Through late August, SLF spent $34,700–$46,715 promoting the site’s articles on Meta platforms, generating at least 3.6 million views, NewsGuard said. SLF did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
NewsGuard said the two networks were One Nation on the right and the American Independent on the left. Popular Information says One Nation, an SLF affiliate, launched six sites presenting themselves as independent news portals in states with key Senate races: Georgia, Alaska, Maine, Iowa, Ohio and New Hampshire. NewsGuard’s Sam Howard warned that readers may mistake such sites for independent local news, undermining trust. Neither network responded to AFP’s request for comment.
