{"id":2156989,"date":"2024-01-23T13:53:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-outlet-tries-to-discredit-the-federalists-zuckbucks-reporting-because-it-makes-democrats-sad\/"},"modified":"2024-01-23T14:03:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T19:03:58","slug":"arizona-outlet-tries-to-discredit-the-federalists-zuckbucks-reporting-because-it-makes-democrats-sad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-outlet-tries-to-discredit-the-federalists-zuckbucks-reporting-because-it-makes-democrats-sad\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona outlet attempts to undermine The Federalist’s ‘Zuckbucks’ coverage, citing Democratic dissatisfaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

24<\/div>SHARES<\/span><\/div>

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Legacy \u200cmedia have given Americans plenty of reasons<\/a> to distrust their hack-tivist \u201cjournalism\u201d \u2014 and an Arizona outlet\u2019s \u200cattempt to discredit The Federalist\u2019s\u2062 reporting on Democrats\u2019 dark money elections scheme is just the latest example.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 8, \u200dThe Federalist \u200dpublished an article<\/a> detailing\u200c Coconino \u200cCounty, Arizona\u2019s collusion with\u200b the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence<\/a>, an $80\u2063 million venture<\/a> launched in 2022 by left-wing nonprofits<\/a>\u00a0to \u201csystematically \u200cinfluence every aspect of \u2063election administration\u201d and advance Democrat-backed voting policies in local election\u200d offices. The piece specifically examined internal communications between the Coconino recorder\u2019s office and the Alliance, and how\u2063 the two entities coordinated on election administrative issues and the \u2063crafting of election-related materials to distribute to voters ahead of Arizona\u2019s \u20632024 elections.<\/p>\n

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Rather than delve into\u200d the specifics of The \u200bFederalist\u2019s reporting, the Arizona Daily Sun\u2019s Adrian Skabelund penned<\/a> an\u2062 article on Sunday that \u2062reads more like a \u2064press release issued \u200dby the Coconino \u2064County recorder\u2019s office than a news article. Titled, \u201cLocal officials\u200c reject allegation of bias in\u2062 Coconino Elections office by conservative outlet,\u201d the article attempts \u2062to cast doubt on the notion that Coconino officials are colluding with \u201cleft wing dark\u2062 money\u201d groups \u2014 but it does so \u200cwithout \u2062actually digging into the background of such\u200c organizations or describing \u200cwhy conservatives are alarmed by their \u200bcoordination with local election offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoconino County Recorder Patty\u2064 Hansen, who helps lead the \u2062county election office, said she found the allegation humorous\u200b yet sad,\u201d the article reads before quoting Hansen, a Democrat, who downplayed her office\u2019s\u200d coordination with the Alliance as\u2063 nothing more than \u200dan effort to \u201cmake elections more secure.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s \u2064sad that they think there\u2019s this big conspiracy going\u2063 on,\u200b when what we\u2019re trying to do is to help the citizens in our county and \u200bthe voters,\u201d\u200c Hansen whined. (Because as everyone knows, soliciting<\/a> \u200dArizona\u2019s Democrat-caucusing senators to\u200b support provisions of President Biden\u2019s\u200b 2024 fiscal year budget at the behest of left-wing actors and \u200csmearing a Republican congressman as a so-called\u200c \u201c election denier<\/a>\u201d are just \u2064normal\u200d methods of \u201chelping voters.\u201d) <\/p>\n

The article also quotes Fred Solop, a political science professor<\/a> at Northern Arizona University, who baselessly\u2063 claimed\u200c that The Federalist\u2019s characterization of the Alliance as \u200d\u201cleft-wing\u201d is part\u200d of an attempt to foment a \u201cbroader narrative\u2062 that the \u2063election was stolen in 2020.\u201d \u2063Nowhere in its article did The Federalist claim the 2020 election \u200cwas \u201cstolen.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The Alliance\u2019s Left-Wing \u200dTies<\/h2>\n
Unsurprisingly, neither \u2062Skabelund, Hansen, nor Solop bothered to mention \u2062the Alliance\u2019s left-wing backer. As noted<\/a> by \u2064InfluenceWatch, the Alliance \u200bis sponsored\u2062 by \u200d The\u200c Audacious Project<\/a>, \u201ca project of\u2062 the TED Foundation\u201d that finances groups with \u201cleft-of-center policy goals, particularly related to environmentalism and \u200dsocial justice.\u201d <\/p>\n
While TED doesn\u2019t fund the Project, the initiative receives financing from \u201cat least 37 organizations, including many left-of-center grantmaking groups like the Bill\u2064 and Melinda Gates Foundation<\/a>, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation<\/a>, the Skoll Foundation<\/a>, the Oak Foundation<\/a>, and the Someland Foundation<\/a>.\u201d The Audacious Project is also reportedly \u201csupported\u201d by the Bridgespan Group<\/a>, \u201ca non-profit consulting firm\u200b which has\u200c worked for many major left-of-center organizations, including Planned Parenthood<\/a> and the Rockefeller Foundation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skabelund also conveniently \u200bfailed to inform \u200bArizona Daily Sun readers about the Alliance\u2019s ties to \u2064left-wing figures. The Alliance itself was \u200blaunched by the Center for Tech\u200c and Civic Life,\u2062 whose co-founder Tiana Epps-Johnson<\/a> was named as an \u200binaugural \u2064fellow at the Obama Foundation in 2018.\u2064 Prior to forming CTCL, Johnson also\u200b worked with CTCL co-founders Whitney May<\/a> and Donny Bridges<\/a> \u2063at the now-defunct New Organizing Institute<\/a>, \u201ca\u00a0left-progressive group that\u2063 trained digital organizers and campaigners for the Democratic Party and \u2064liberal political causes.\u201d \u200dThe Washington Post once referred to NOI as the \u201cDemocratic party\u2019s Hogwarts for digital wizardry,\u201d according to InfluenceWatch.\u2063 <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Center for Civic Design \u2062(CCD)<\/a> \u2014 the Alliance partner\u200c collaborating<\/a> with Coconino County on a 90-day notice to send to voters \u2014 was co-founded by Dana Chisnell and Whitney Quesenbery. While Chisnell previously worked in the\u2064 Obama administration, Quesenbery has \u200dco-authored reports about voting for the\u200d Brennan Center \u2063for \u2063Justice<\/a>, a legal advocacy group\u2064 that seeks\u200d to \u200badvance \u200c\u201cleft-of-center \u2063policy priorities.\u201d \u2064CCD has also worked with other left-wing\u2064 organizations, \u200cincluding the Brennan Center, \u200b Democracy Fund<\/a>, and\u2063 League of Women Voters<\/a>.\u200b <\/p>\n
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Other Alliance partners<\/a>, such as \u200b The Elections Group<\/a> and U.S. Digital Response<\/a>, also have ties to Democrat-leaning organizations\u2062 and figures. <\/p>\n
\u201cShow Me The \u2018Zuckbucks\u2019!\u201d<\/h2>\n
One of the more\u200c egregious aspects of Skabelund\u2019s\u200b article, however, is his decision to omit how CTCL interfered in the \u200c2020 election to Joe Biden and Democrats\u2019 benefit. During that contest, CTCL and \u200bthe Center\u200c for Election Innovation and\u2063 Research<\/a> \u2014 a nonprofit founded by left-wing activist David Becker \u2014 collectively received hundreds of\u200b millions of dollars<\/a> from \u200dMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. <\/p>\n
These\u2062 \u201c Zuckbucks<\/a>\u201d were\u200b poured into local election offices in battleground states around\u2063 the country to change how elections were administered, such as by expanding unsupervised election protocols<\/a>\u2064 like mail-in voting\u200c and the use of ballot\u2062 drop boxes. To make matters\u2063 worse, the grants were \u2064heavily skewed towards Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.<\/p>\n
With Arizona<\/a> and 26 other states<\/a> having passed measures restricting the use of\u200b private money in \u200delections in the years since,\u200b CTCL and other left-wing\u200d nonprofits devised the \u200dAlliance as a way to skirt these \u201cZuckbucks\u201d bans. Instead of providing \u2063services to participating election offices for free,\u2062 the Alliance \u2064\u201cpivoted\u201d\u200d to a fee-based membership model<\/a> \u2062to evade private election-funding bans. This new strategy, as the Honest Elections Project\u2019s Jason \u2064Snead previously noted<\/a>, means that counties allowed to accept private funds can typically have the\u200c fees waived, while other counties can still \u201cbuy their way in for a relatively small sum, allowing the Alliance\u2064 to \u200dspread its\u2063 influence even in states where lawmakers have \u2064tried \u2062to prevent it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrat Elections Lies<\/h2>\n
Skabelund\u2019s article wouldn\u2019t \u2064be complete without parroting Democrats\u2019 baseless claims that Republican voters everywhere are\u200b constantly threatening election workers across the country. \u201cSome election officials have received harassment \u200cand even death threats based on unfounded notions that elections offices\u2063 engaged\u200b in election fraud,\u201d \u200bthe article frets.<\/p>\n
Yet, Hansen admitted<\/a> to the \u2063Sun that she and her staff \u201chave received very little in the \u200dway of harassment and \u2064no death threats regarding their work.\u201d\u2062 Unsurprisingly, Skabelund neglected to mention data published by Biden\u2019s Department of Justice that further undermines<\/a> Democrats\u2019 \u2063bogus narrative.<\/p>\n
Why It Matters<\/h2>\n
Skabelund\u2019s failure \u200bto examine the Alliance and its\u200c partners\u2019 \u2063\u201cleft-wing\u201d nature \u2062isn\u2019t all that surprising. In the years since the 2020 election, legacy media have regularly ignored \u2014 or in some cases, defended<\/a> \u2014 CTCL\u2019s interference in the contest to obfuscate that it wasn\u2019t as squeaky clean as they\u2019ve portrayed it.\u200d <\/p>\n
Nonpartisan election administration is key\u2064 to maintaining confidence in America\u2019s electoral system. Election \u200dofficials\u2019 \u2064collaboration with outside\u2062 actors \u2014 particularly those engaging in partisan activism \u2014 and the \u200bmedia\u2019s neglect to provide Americans \u2063with the truth about such activities simply erodes that confidence.\u200d <\/p>\n
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rnrn <\/p>\n
Why did the Arizona\u2063 Daily Sun fail \u200dto provide\u200c background information\u200d on the left-wing organizations involved in the collusion and address conservative concerns?<\/h2>\n
Legacy media \u2064have\u200b consistently provided Americans with ample reasons to distrust their hacktivist “journalism,” and the recent attempt by an Arizona outlet to discredit The Federalist’s reporting on Democrats’ dark money elections scheme only adds to that list. In an article published on January 8, The Federalist revealed the collusion\u2062 between Coconino County, Arizona, and the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a \u2062venture launched by left-wing \u200bnonprofits to influence election administration and advance Democrat-backed voting policies.<\/p>\n
Instead \u2062of addressing the specifics of The Federalist’s reporting, the Arizona Daily \u2064Sun penned an article that reads more like a press release from the Coconino County recorder’s\u2064 office than a news \u200barticle. Titled “Local officials reject allegation \u2064of\u200b bias in Coconino Elections office by conservative outlet,” the article attempts to cast doubt on claims of collusion without providing any\u200b background information on these left-wing \u200borganizations or acknowledging why conservatives are concerned about their coordination with local election offices.<\/p>\n
The\u2064 article quotes Coconino\u2064 County Recorder \u2062Patty Hansen, a Democrat,\u2062 who \u2064dismisses the allegations as humorous and claims that\u200b their efforts aim to make\u2064 elections more secure. However, soliciting support from Democrat-caucusing senators and smearing a Republican \u200ccongressman as an “election denier” hardly seem like actions that prioritize the interests of voters.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, political science professor Fred Solop baselessly claims that The Federalist’s characterization of the Alliance as left-wing is \u200cpart of an attempt to propagate the narrative \u2062that the \u20622020\u200d election was stolen. However, The Federalist\u2062 never \u200dmade such a claim in their article.<\/p>\n
What the\u2063 Arizona Daily Sun conveniently fails to mention is that the Alliance is sponsored\u200c by The Audacious Project, a\u200b project of the TED Foundation that finances groups with left-of-center policy goals.\u200c The Audacious Project receives funding from various left-leaning grantmaking groups, including the Bill and Melinda \u2062Gates Foundation, the John D. and\u2064 Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation, among others.<\/p>\n
The article also fails \u200dto mention\u2064 the ties between the Alliance and left-wing figures. For example, the Alliance was launched by the Center for Tech and Civic Life, whose co-founder Tiana Epps-Johnson was named an inaugural\u2064 fellow at the Obama Foundation in 2018. Epps-Johnson previously worked with\u2062 co-founders Whitney May and Donny\u2062 Bridges at the New Organizing Institute, a left-progressive group that trained digital organizers for the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
Another Alliance partner, the Center for Civic Design, was co-founded by Dana Chisnell and \u200bWhitney Quesenbery. Chisnell previously worked in\u2063 the Obama administration, while Quesenbery has co-authored reports\u200c for the Brennan Center for Justice, a legal advocacy group with left-of-center policy priorities. The \u2064Center for Civic Design has also worked with other left-wing organizations,\u200c including the Democracy\u2064 Fund and the League of Women Voters.<\/p>\n
It is clear that \u200dthe\u2062 Arizona Daily Sun failed to provide readers with\u200b a comprehensive view of the Alliance and its ties to \u2064left-wing organizations. Instead, they focused on discrediting The Federalist’s reporting without addressing the substance of\u200c the allegations.<\/p>\n
One particularly \u200degregious aspect of the article is its omission of how the Center for Tech and Civic Life interfered in the 2020\u2064 election by receiving hundreds of millions of \u200cdollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. These funds were used to change how elections were administered, favoring Democrats and expanding\u2063 unsupervised election protocols such as mail-in\u2064 voting and the use of ballot drop\u2064 boxes. This \u2063massive Democrat get-out-the-vote\u200c operation was heavily skewed towards Democrat-majority counties.<\/p>\n
In response to measures passed by Arizona and 26 other states to restrict the use of private money\u2063 in elections, the Alliance devised a fee-based membership model \u2064to evade these bans. This strategy allows counties\u200b that can accept private funds to receive services for free, while \u200cother counties can\u2062 “buy their way in” for a\u200c small sum, enabling\u200b the Alliance \u2063to expand its influence even in states that have tried \u2064to prevent it.<\/p>\n
The Arizona Daily Sun’s article would not be complete without echoing baseless\u2064 claims that Republican voters \u200cconstantly \u2063threaten election workers. By ignoring the substantive issues raised by The\u2062 Federalist’s reporting and \u2063distorting the facts,\u200d the legacy media continues to erode trust in journalism and perpetuate a biased narrative. It is crucial\u200c for Americans to seek out\u200b alternative sources of news\u200b that prioritize \u200cobjective\u2064 reporting and provide a comprehensive view of the issues at hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Legacy media have eroded trust in their biased “journalism.” An Arizona outlet’s recent attempt to discredit The Federalist’s report on Democrats’ dark money elections scheme is another example. The Federalist exposed Coconino County’s collusion with the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence on Jan. 8. Americans have ample reason to doubt traditional media’s credibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2156990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2156989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2156989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2156990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2156989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2156989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2156989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}