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{{Short description|U.S. conservative news network}}
{{Short description|U.S. conservative news network}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Promotional tone|date=May 2021}}
{{POV|date=May 2021}}
{{Weasel words|date=May 2021}}
}}
{{Infobox newspaper
{{Infobox newspaper
| logo =
| logo =
Line 10: Line 6:
| type = State and local government reporting
| type = State and local government reporting
| foundation = September 2009
| foundation = September 2009
| political = Conservative
| political = [[conservatism in the United States|Conservative]]
| language = English
| language = English
| website = {{Official URL}}
| website = {{official URL}}
| owner = [[Franklin News Foundation]]
| owner = [[Franklin News Foundation]]
|readership = 700,000 subscribers[https://www.franklinnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Franklin-News-Foundation-Annual-Report-2022-For-Web.pdf]
|readership = 700,000 subscribers<ref>{{cite web |url=https://franklinnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Franklin-News-Foundation-Annual-Report-2022-For-Web.pdf |title=Annual Report 2022 for Web |publisher=[[Franklin News Foundation]] |year=2023}}{{dead link|date=September 2024}}</ref>
}}
}}
⚫
'''The Center Square''', formerly '''Watchdog.org''', is an American [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] news website that features reporting on state and local government.<ref name="cjr20120913" /><ref name=":0" /> It is a project of the [[Franklin News Foundation]], an online news organization.<ref name=cjr20120913>{{cite news |last=Peters |first=Justin |title='Serious, point-of-view journalism'? A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you've never heard of |url=https://www.cjr.org/swing_states_project/serious_point-of-view_journalism.php |magazine=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |publisher=[[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]] |access-date=October 23, 2015 |date=September 13, 2012}}</ref> The Center Square distributes its content through a newswire service. The website broke the story of the phantom congressional districts in the wake of the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]].


⚫
'''The Center Square''', formerly '''Watchdog.org''', is a [[conservatism in the United States|conservative]] American [[online newspaper|news website]] that features reporting on state and local governments.<ref name="cjr20120913" /><ref name="about">{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://thecentersquare.com/site/about/about.html |publisher=The Center Square |access-date=2020-04-02}}</ref> It is a project of the [[Franklin News Foundation]], a conservative online news organization.<ref name=cjr20120913>{{cite magazine |last=Peters|first=Justin |title='Serious, point-of-view journalism'? A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you've never heard of |url=https://cjr.org/swing_states_project/serious_point-of-view_journalism.php |magazine=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |publisher=[[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]] |date=2012-09-13 |access-date=2015-10-23}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The Center Square distributes its content through a newswire service.
==Overview==
The Center Square says that it seeks to "fulfill the need for high-quality statehouse and statewide news across the United States. The focus of our work is state- and local-level government and economic reporting."<ref name=about>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.thecentersquare.com/site/about/about.html |publisher=The Center Square |access-date=2 April 2020}}</ref> The Center Square's content reflects a focus on government waste and public employee unions. ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' called it "perhaps the most ambitious conservative news organization you’ve never heard of", said its productivity was "impressive," and noted the original news reporting produced by websites it funds in 18 states.<ref name=cjr20120913/>


As Watchdog.org, it broke a story about website data inaccuracies for the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]] that appeared to show "phantom congressional districts".<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=2009-11-18 |title=Did "Phantom" Districts Get Stimulus Cash? |url=https://cbsnews.com/news/did-phantom-districts-get-stimulus-cash/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web |last=Abowd|first=Paul |date=2013-02-14 |title=Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states |url=http://nbcnews.com/news/investigations/koch-funded-charity-passes-money-free-market-think-tanks-states-flna1C8370335 |access-date=2023-08-05 |publisher=[[Center for Public Integrity]] |language=en |via=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>
⚫
The Center Square is a project of the [[501(c)(3)]] nonprofit organization the [[Franklin News Foundation]]. The Franklin Center received 95% of its 2011 revenue from mostly anonymous benefactors via the donor-advised fund [[Donors Trust]], which is a major source of funding for conservative groups.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Abowd|first1=Paul|title=Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/02/14/12181/donors-use-charity-push-free-market-policies-states|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=[[Center for Public Integrity]]|date=February 14, 2013}}</ref> In 2012, Watchdog.org had sites in 18 states.<ref name=nieman>{{cite web |title=Franklin Center |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/franklin-center-for-government-and-public-integrity/ |publisher=[[Nieman Foundation for Journalism|Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University]] |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref> In 2014, the Franklin Center said they had one reporter in each of 14 state capitols and two in Nebraska and Virginia. In 2015, most of the Watchdog sites had one staff reporter in addition to accepting contributions from [[Citizen journalism|citizen journalists]] via a platform called Watchdog Wire.<ref name=nieman/><ref name="ojr20100312"/>


==Background==
⚫
The [[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] of the [[Pew Research Center]] surveyed and analyzed nonprofit news organizations active on the state or national level in 2011 and again in 2013.<ref name=pew20110718>{{cite web |work=[[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |title=Assessing a New Landscape in Journalism |first1=Jesse |last1=Holcomb |first2=Tom |last2=Rosenstiel |first3=Amy |last3=Mitchell |first4=Kevin |last4=Caldwell |first5=Tricia |last5=Sartor |first6=Nancy |last6=Vogt |url=http://www.journalism.org/2011/07/18/non-profit-news/ |date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name=pew20130610>{{cite web |date=June 10, 2013 |title=Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing but Fragile Part of the U.S. News System |first1=Amy |last1=Mitchell |first2=Mark |last2=Jurkowitz |first3=Jesse |last3=Holcomb |first4=Jodi |last4=Enda |first5=Monica |last5=Anderson |url=http://www.journalism.org/2013/06/10/nonprofit-journalism/ |access-date=October 23, 2015 |work=[[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]}}</ref> The studies found that the most consistently ideological of the news outlets were those that were organized in networks, specifically the conservative Watchdog network and the liberal [[American Independent News Network]].<ref name=nfj20110718>{{cite web |last=Benton |first=Joshua |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/07/pew-nonprofit-journalism-doesnt-mean-ideology-free/ |title=Pew: Nonprofit journalism doesn't mean ideology-free |publisher=[[Nieman Foundation for Journalism|Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University]] |date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name=pew20110718/>
The Center Square is a project of the [[Franklin News Foundation]] (formerly called the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Andrea Suozzo, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Brandon |date=2013-05-09 |title=Franklin News Foundation, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/264066298/201843199349300909/full |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'' in 2012 called the Franklin Center "perhaps the most ambitious conservative news organization you’ve never heard of", said its productivity was "impressive," and noted the original news reporting produced by websites it funded in 18 states at the time.<ref name="cjr20120913" />


The Franklin Center, a [[501(c)(3)]] nonprofit organization, received 95% of its 2011 revenue from mostly anonymous benefactors via the donor-advised fund [[Donors Trust]], which is a major source of funding for conservative groups.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last1=Abowd|first1=Paul|title=Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/02/14/12181/donors-use-charity-push-free-market-policies-states|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=[[Center for Public Integrity]]|date=February 14, 2013}}</ref>
⚫
==Reporting on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act==
{{Undue weight section|date=May 2021}}
In 2009, ''Watchdog New Mexico'' analyzed data published on the $84 million website, Recovery.gov,<ref name="Michael Noyes Montana"/> regarding the stimulus expenditures authorized by the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]]. A series of articles were published on the stimulus topic, initially examining the number of jobs created and the cost per-job, but the conversation turned to the revelation that $6.4 billion in grants had been awarded in 440 non-existent congressional districts:<ref name="Scarantino 3"/><ref name="McMorris Stimulus"/>{{Third-party inline|date=July 2023|reason=needed per [[WP:PRIMARY]] and [[WP:PROPORTION]]}}


== Watchdog.org ==
Journalist Jim Scarantino found that stimulus spending had reached nearly $314,000 per job created in New Mexico.<ref name="Scarantino 1"/> He reported that millions of dollars of federal stimulus funds had been allocated to projects in congressional districts that did not exist; for example, to the twenty-second congressional district in New Mexico, although New Mexico has just three congressional districts.<ref name="nm20091116"/>{{Third-party inline|date=July 2023|reason=needed per [[WP:PRIMARY]] and [[WP:PROPORTION]]}}
⚫
In 2012, Watchdog.org had sites in 18 states.<ref name="nieman">{{cite web |title=Franklin Center |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/encyclo/franklin-center-for-government-and-public-integrity/ |publisher=[[Nieman Foundation for Journalism|Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University]] |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref> In 2014, the Franklin Center said it had one reporter in each of 14 state capitols and two in Nebraska and Virginia. In 2015, most of the Watchdog sites had one staff reporter in addition to accepting contributions from [[Citizen journalism|citizen journalists]] via a platform called Watchdog Wire.<ref name="nieman" /><ref name="ojr20100312" />


⚫
The [[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] of the [[Pew Research Center]] surveyed and analyzed nonprofit news organizations active on the state or national level in 2011 and again in 2013.<ref name=pew20110718>{{cite web |work=[[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |title=Assessing a New Landscape in Journalism |first1=Jesse |last1=Holcomb |first2=Tom |last2=Rosenstiel |first3=Amy |last3=Mitchell |first4=Kevin |last4=Caldwell |first5=Tricia |last5=Sartor |first6=Nancy |last6=Vogt |url=http://www.journalism.org/2011/07/18/non-profit-news/ |date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name=pew20130610>{{cite web |date=June 10, 2013 |title=Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing but Fragile Part of the U.S. News System |first1=Amy |last1=Mitchell |first2=Mark |last2=Jurkowitz |first3=Jesse |last3=Holcomb |first4=Jodi |last4=Enda |first5=Monica |last5=Anderson |url=http://www.journalism.org/2013/06/10/nonprofit-journalism/ |access-date=October 23, 2015 |work=[[Project for Excellence in Journalism]] |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]}}</ref> The studies found that the most consistently ideological of the news outlets were those that were organized in networks, specifically the conservative Watchdog network and the liberal [[American Independent News Network]].<ref name=nfj20110718>{{cite web |last=Benton |first=Joshua |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/07/pew-nonprofit-journalism-doesnt-mean-ideology-free/ |title=Pew: Nonprofit journalism doesn't mean ideology-free |publisher=[[Nieman Foundation for Journalism|Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University]] |date=July 18, 2011 |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref><ref name=pew20110718/>
A government official said that the stimulus recipients made these data entry errors and confirmed the $84 million budget for the Recovery.gov website.<ref name="Michael Noyes Montana"/> {{Third-party inline|date=July 2023|reason=needed per [[WP:PRIMARY]] and [[WP:PROPORTION]]}}''[[ABC News]]'' published a story targeting other states and territories, "Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist".<ref name="ABC News Stimulus"/>{{Synthesis inline|date=July 2023|reason=source does not appear to mention Franklin or Watchdog}}


⚫
=== American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ===
Jim Scarantino wrote a follow-up story,<ref name="Scarantino 3"/> referencing Watchdog reporter [[Bill McMorris]]' finding that $6.4 billion was distributed to 440 non-existent congressional districts. McMorris also found that nationally, just under 30,000 jobs had been created, at a cost of just under $225,000 each.<ref name="McMorris Stimulus"/>{{Third-party inline|date=July 2023|reason=needed per [[WP:PRIMARY]] and [[WP:PROPORTION]]}}
Watchdog.org sites scrutinized the [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009]] for evidence that it had misreported or overpaid for the number of jobs saved.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McGann |first=Laura |date=2010-05-01 |title=Partisan Hacks |url=http://washingtonmonthly.com/2010/05/01/partisan-hacks/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=[[Washington Monthly]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Scarantino 1" /><ref name="Michael Noyes Montana" /> According to the ''[[Washington Monthly]]'', such reports by Watchdog.org could be factual but also "thin and missing important context".<ref name=":2" />


Watchdog.org became known for stories about "phantom congressional districts" based on data entry errors on the stimulus website Recovery.gov.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> In November 2009, Jim Scarantino of ''Watchdog New Mexico'' wrote that data he found on the stimulus website showed millions of federal stimulus dollars marked for congressional districts that did not exist.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="nm20091116"></ref> The national Watchdog.org site said that nationally more than $6.4 billion had gone to such "phantom" districts.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="McMorris Stimulus" /> The reports were publicized by Republicans and conservative news outlets and think tanks,<ref name=":1" /> and [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] claimed the story as a "network exclusive".<ref name=":2" /> According to the [[Associated Press]], "Soon, the 'phantom' congressional district story became shorthand for government waste."<ref name=":1" /> Reporting by the Associated Press concluded that mistyping of [[ZIP Code|ZIP Codes]] on the stimulus website had caused the discrepancies; it found examples of funds that had been delivered to real districts but had been misreported on the website.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> It credited Scarantino with uncovering the inaccuracies, calling it "the latest discovery of problems in the massive database of stimulus spending", while noting that "anyone with a computer can still easily find out the name of the business or agency that received the money".<ref name=":1" />
The ''[[Associated Press]]'' confirmed that Scarantino's discovery and original reporting was correct. Scarantino stated, "I'm not going to say it went into a black hole," but adds that non-existent congressional districts are a "huge red flag," when asked if people are using the data discrepancy to suggest loss or misuse, "They should do some of their own research," he replied.<ref name="CBSNews - AP"/>


⚫
== References ==
''[[Reuters]]''' reporter James Pethokoukis independently validated the cost per stimulus job "saved or created" at $246,436. Pethokoukis calculated the average salary paid per stimulus job as $59,867 when annualized.<ref name="CostPerJob Rueters"/>{{Synthesis inline|date=July 2023|reason=source does not appear to mention Franklin or Watchdog}}

Writing for ''[[Washington Monthly]]'', Laura McGann inferred that ''ABC News'' scooped the "phantom congressional districts" story as an exclusive without attribution to Watchdog''; although similar, the ''ABC News'' story covered different localities.<ref name="wm2010"/>

⚫
==References==
{{Reflist|30em| refs =
{{Reflist|30em| refs =
<ref name="Scarantino 1">{{cite news|author1=Jim Scarantino|title=More Than 4,800 New Jobs Created in New Mexico in Less than a Month from Stimulus, According to Obama Administration Data|url=http://watchdog.org/151313/nm-more-than-4800-new-jobs-created-in-new-mexico-in-less-than-a-month-from-stimulus-according-to-obama-administration-data/|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Watchdog New Mexico|date=15 November 2009}}</ref>
<ref name="Scarantino 1">{{cite news|author1=Jim Scarantino|title=More Than 4,800 New Jobs Created in New Mexico in Less than a Month from Stimulus, According to Obama Administration Data|url=http://watchdog.org/151313/nm-more-than-4800-new-jobs-created-in-new-mexico-in-less-than-a-month-from-stimulus-according-to-obama-administration-data/|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Watchdog New Mexico|date=15 November 2009}}</ref>


<ref name="nm20091116">{{cite web |title=Updated: Obama Stimulus Creates New Congressional Districts and Promotes New Mexico from Banana Republic to Coconut Republic |first=Jim |last=Scarantino |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |url=http://watchdog.org/151314/nm-obama-administration-reports-25-jobs-saved-by-stimulus-in-nms-22nd-congressional-district-and-thats-not-the-only-whopper/ |publisher=Watchdog New Mexico}}</ref>
<ref name="nm20091116">{{cite web |title=Updated: Obama Stimulus Creates New Congressional Districts and Promotes New Mexico from Banana Republic to Coconut Republic |first=Jim |last=Scarantino |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |url=http://watchdog.org/151314/nm-obama-administration-reports-25-jobs-saved-by-stimulus-in-nms-22nd-congressional-district-and-thats-not-the-only-whopper/ |publisher=Watchdog New Mexico}}</ref>

<ref name="Scarantino 3">{{cite news|author1=Jim Scarantino|title=$6.4 Billion in Fed Stimulus Goes to 440 Non-Existent Congressional Districts|url=http://watchdog.org/151315/nm-6-4-billion-in-fed-stimulus-goes-to-440-non-existent-congressional-districts/|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Watchdog New Mexico|date=17 November 2015|quote=Michael Noyes, my Montana Watchdog colleague at the Montana Policy Institute, was able to get a telephone interview with Ed Pound, director of communications for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency board, which oversees the recovery.gov site. When asked about millions going to fictitious Congressional districts, Pound blamed it on the recipients not knowing in which congressional districts they live.}}</ref>


<ref name="McMorris Stimulus">{{cite news|authorlink1=Bill McMorris|title=$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes to Phantom Districts|url=http://watchdog.org/1530/6-4-billion-stimulus-goes-to-phantom-districts/|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Watchdog National|date=17 November 2009|quote=A reporter from the Montana Policy Institute confronted the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees the site, about these non-existent congressional districts on Monday afternoon. Ed Pound, Director of Communications for the board, said that the faulty information came from recipients of stimulus funds.}}</ref>
<ref name="McMorris Stimulus">{{cite news|authorlink1=Bill McMorris|title=$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes to Phantom Districts|url=http://watchdog.org/1530/6-4-billion-stimulus-goes-to-phantom-districts/|access-date=3 December 2015|publisher=Watchdog National|date=17 November 2009|quote=A reporter from the Montana Policy Institute confronted the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees the site, about these non-existent congressional districts on Monday afternoon. Ed Pound, Director of Communications for the board, said that the faulty information came from recipients of stimulus funds.}}</ref>


<ref name="Michael Noyes Montana">{{cite news|author1=Michael Noyes |url=http://watchdog.org/1526/stimulus-adds-13-congressional-districts-to-montana/ |title=Stimulus Adds 13 Congressional Districts to Montana |access-date=30 March 2017 |publisher=Watchdog Montana|date=16 November 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203062008/http://watchdog.org/1526/stimulus-adds-13-congressional-districts-to-montana/ |archive-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>
<ref name="Michael Noyes Montana">{{cite news|author1=Michael Noyes |url=http://watchdog.org/1526/stimulus-adds-13-congressional-districts-to-montana/ |title=Stimulus Adds 13 Congressional Districts to Montana |access-date=30 March 2017 |publisher=Watchdog Montana|date=16 November 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203062008/http://watchdog.org/1526/stimulus-adds-13-congressional-districts-to-montana/ |archive-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="wm2010">{{Cite news |date=May 2010 |title=Partisan Hacks; Conservatives have discovered the virtues of investigative journalism. But can their reporting survive their politics? |first=Laura |last=McGann |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1005.mcgann.html |magazine=[[Washington Monthly]] |access-date=October 23, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name="ABC News Stimulus">{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist |first=Jonathan |last=Karl |authorlink=Jonathan Karl |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=October 27, 2015 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jobs-saved-created-congressional-districts-exist/story?id=9097853 |agency=[[ABC News]]}}</ref>



<ref name="ojr20100312">{{cite web |title=The pros and pros of 'citizen journalism' |date=March 12, 2010 |first=Jason |last=Stverak |url=http://www.ojr.org/the-pros-and-pros-of-citizen-journalism/ |access-date=October 27, 2015 |publisher=[[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism|University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism]]|work=[[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism#Online Journalism Review|Online Journalism Review]]}}</ref>
<ref name="ojr20100312">{{cite web |title=The pros and pros of 'citizen journalism' |date=March 12, 2010 |first=Jason |last=Stverak |url=http://www.ojr.org/the-pros-and-pros-of-citizen-journalism/ |access-date=October 27, 2015 |publisher=[[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism|University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism]]|work=[[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism#Online Journalism Review|Online Journalism Review]]}}</ref>

<ref name="CBSNews - AP">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Did "Phantom" Districts Get Stimulus Cash?|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/did-phantom-districts-get-stimulus-cash/|access-date=4 December 2015|publisher=[[CBS News]]|date=18 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name="CostPerJob Rueters">{{cite news|author1=James Pethokoukis|title=Cost-benefit analysis of jobs stimulus|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2009/12/07/cost-benefit-analysis-of-jobs-stimulus/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209015056/http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2009/12/07/cost-benefit-analysis-of-jobs-stimulus/|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 December 2009|access-date=7 December 2015|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=7 December 2009}}</ref>


}}
}}

Latest revision as of 18:13, 24 October 2024

The Center Square
TypeState and local government reporting
Owner(s)Franklin News Foundation
FoundedSeptember 2009
Political alignmentConservative
LanguageEnglish
Readership700,000 subscribers[1]
Websitewww.thecentersquare.com Edit this at Wikidata

The Center Square, formerly Watchdog.org, is a conservative American news website that features reporting on state and local governments.[2][3] It is a project of the Franklin News Foundation, a conservative online news organization.[2][4] The Center Square distributes its content through a newswire service.

As Watchdog.org, it broke a story about website data inaccuracies for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that appeared to show "phantom congressional districts".[5][6]

Background

[edit]

The Center Square is a project of the Franklin News Foundation (formerly called the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity).[7] Columbia Journalism Review in 2012 called the Franklin Center "perhaps the most ambitious conservative news organization you’ve never heard of", said its productivity was "impressive," and noted the original news reporting produced by websites it funded in 18 states at the time.[2]

The Franklin Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, received 95% of its 2011 revenue from mostly anonymous benefactors via the donor-advised fund Donors Trust, which is a major source of funding for conservative groups.[4]

Watchdog.org

[edit]

In 2012, Watchdog.org had sites in 18 states.[8] In 2014, the Franklin Center said it had one reporter in each of 14 state capitols and two in Nebraska and Virginia. In 2015, most of the Watchdog sites had one staff reporter in addition to accepting contributions from citizen journalists via a platform called Watchdog Wire.[8][9]

The Project for Excellence in Journalism of the Pew Research Center surveyed and analyzed nonprofit news organizations active on the state or national level in 2011 and again in 2013.[10][11] The studies found that the most consistently ideological of the news outlets were those that were organized in networks, specifically the conservative Watchdog network and the liberal American Independent News Network.[12][10]

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

[edit]

Watchdog.org sites scrutinized the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for evidence that it had misreported or overpaid for the number of jobs saved.[13][14][15] According to the Washington Monthly, such reports by Watchdog.org could be factual but also "thin and missing important context".[13]

Watchdog.org became known for stories about "phantom congressional districts" based on data entry errors on the stimulus website Recovery.gov.[5][13][6] In November 2009, Jim Scarantino of Watchdog New Mexico wrote that data he found on the stimulus website showed millions of federal stimulus dollars marked for congressional districts that did not exist.[5][13][16] The national Watchdog.org site said that nationally more than $6.4 billion had gone to such "phantom" districts.[5][13][17] The reports were publicized by Republicans and conservative news outlets and think tanks,[5] and ABC News claimed the story as a "network exclusive".[13] According to the Associated Press, "Soon, the 'phantom' congressional district story became shorthand for government waste."[5] Reporting by the Associated Press concluded that mistyping of ZIP Codes on the stimulus website had caused the discrepancies; it found examples of funds that had been delivered to real districts but had been misreported on the website.[5][13] It credited Scarantino with uncovering the inaccuracies, calling it "the latest discovery of problems in the massive database of stimulus spending", while noting that "anyone with a computer can still easily find out the name of the business or agency that received the money".[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Annual Report 2022 for Web" (PDF). Franklin News Foundation. 2023.[dead link]
  2. ^ a b c Peters, Justin (September 13, 2012). "'Serious, point-of-view journalism'? A look at the most ambitious conservative news organization you've never heard of". Columbia Journalism Review. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  3. ^ "About Us". The Center Square. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Abowd, Paul (February 14, 2013). "Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Did "Phantom" Districts Get Stimulus Cash?". Associated Press. November 18, 2009. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Abowd, Paul (February 14, 2013). "Koch-funded charity passes money to free-market think tanks in states". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved August 5, 2023 – via NBC News.
  7. ^ Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, Brandon (May 9, 2013). "Franklin News Foundation, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved August 1, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b "Franklin Center". Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  9. ^ Stverak, Jason (March 12, 2010). "The pros and pros of 'citizen journalism'". Online Journalism Review. University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  10. ^ a b Holcomb, Jesse; Rosenstiel, Tom; Mitchell, Amy; Caldwell, Kevin; Sartor, Tricia; Vogt, Nancy (July 18, 2011). "Assessing a New Landscape in Journalism". Project for Excellence in Journalism. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  11. ^ Mitchell, Amy; Jurkowitz, Mark; Holcomb, Jesse; Enda, Jodi; Anderson, Monica (June 10, 2013). "Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing but Fragile Part of the U.S. News System". Project for Excellence in Journalism. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  12. ^ Benton, Joshua (July 18, 2011). "Pew: Nonprofit journalism doesn't mean ideology-free". Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g McGann, Laura (May 1, 2010). "Partisan Hacks". Washington Monthly. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  14. ^ Jim Scarantino (November 15, 2009). "More Than 4,800 New Jobs Created in New Mexico in Less than a Month from Stimulus, According to Obama Administration Data". Watchdog New Mexico. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  15. ^ Michael Noyes (November 16, 2009). "Stimulus Adds 13 Congressional Districts to Montana". Watchdog Montana. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  16. ^ Scarantino, Jim (November 16, 2009). "Updated: Obama Stimulus Creates New Congressional Districts and Promotes New Mexico from Banana Republic to Coconut Republic". Watchdog New Mexico. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  17. ^ "$6.4 Billion Stimulus Goes to Phantom Districts". Watchdog National. November 17, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2015. A reporter from the Montana Policy Institute confronted the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which oversees the site, about these non-existent congressional districts on Monday afternoon. Ed Pound, Director of Communications for the board, said that the faulty information came from recipients of stimulus funds.
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