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Who Paid for the Outrage? Following the Money Behind Capone and Tobacco’s Attacks An investigation into how local media, campaign spending, and Facebook amplification shaped public messaging in a BOE election.

(apologies in advance for the self promo but) yes, the local R's have an entrenched system there. Here's an example from the Middletown school board race medium.com/@publicrecor...

Middletown is comprised of many named neighborhoods and confusing postal designations. Don't be fooled by the Whole Foods in "Red Bank", it's actually Middletown. Parts of town even have a Rumson mailing address.

The story missed the opportunity to reference Middletown's Nut Swamp Road. Perhaps that is a good thing.

Boosting this for visibility. This is the beginning of our look into local party-networks. What are shocked at how far these manufactured dynamics extend in New Jersey.

Stay tuned for more. 👀

Mapping Influence and Information Flow: The Convergence of Party Spending and Political Media in… A Case Study in Financial–Informational Coordination within Local Party Networks.

This is just one illustrative example of from our research into local party-network spending: Mapping Influence and Information Flow: The Convergence of Party Spending and Political Media in Monmouth County

None of the content contains "paid for by" disclosures. To readers, it appears as organic news from a local community source.

Business records identify the Substack editor as a vendor that is used by many, local Republican candidates. Campaign payments align with post dates.

One local Substack regularly wrote positive articles about the candidates, while espousing anti-trans ideology and verbally attacking state officials.

Those articles became Facebook posts, which were then pushed to local community groups.

Voters would never know the content was paid for.

The 2023 election in Middletown was the center of the "parental rights" movement in New Jersey.

The Attorney General had sued the school district for adopting an anti-trans measure that violated state policies.

Board members took their re-election campaign to the media, appearing on Fox News.

Who Paid for the Outrage? Following the Money Behind Capone and Tobacco’s Attacks An investigation into how local media, campaign spending, and Facebook amplification shaped public messaging in a BOE election.

NEW: Our look at campaign filings appear to show county Republican party coordinating with school board candidates to push anti-trans messaging through an "independent outlet" with undisclosed ties.

Those stories were then pushed into local Facebook groups, fueling outrage.

A THREAD:

A handful of fluff stories on a Substack may not seem like much at first. Yet, it is the foundation of a distribution network with digital amplification that is never disclosed to voters. In the coming days, we illustrate how the partisan network injects itself into school board races.

How a Local Media Network Quietly Amplified Scott Fegler’s Campaign An investigation into how local media, campaign spending, and Facebook amplification shaped public messaging around Scott Fegler.

Lastly, Scott Fegler failed to win his long shot bid for Congress in 2024, but he did receive glowing press while threatening Frank Pallone with a lawsuit.

How a Local Media Network Quietly Amplified Sean Di Somma’s Campaign An investigation into how local media, campaign spending, and Facebook amplification shaped public messaging around Sean Di Somma.

While running for mayor of Belmar, Sean Di Somma received favorable press before the campaign listed expenses to that vendor.

How a Local Media Network Quietly Amplified Paul Kanitra’s Campaign An investigation into how local media, campaign spending, and Facebook amplification shaped public messaging around Paul Kanitra.

Tonight, we published three examples showing how campaigns received favorable media coverage while listing expenses to the vendor behind the independent media outlet.

First is Paul Kanitra's 2023 campaign for NJ Assembly.

Mapping Influence and Information Flow: The Convergence of Party Spending and Political Media in… A Case Study in Financial–Informational Coordination within Local Party Networks.

The findings highlight a transparency gap where political messaging and local news overlap, falling between journalism and campaign disclosure law.

Full study: Mapping Influence and Information Flow: The Convergence of Party Spending and Political Media in Monmouth County.

Using data from NJ ELEC and the FEC, the analysis connects vendor payments to the timing of politically favorable articles on a regional Substack that described itself as independent.

Many articles appeared within weeks of related campaign disbursements.

New Research Examines Overlap Between Campaign Spending and Undisclosed Political Media in… Public Record NJ is an independent research project focused on the intersection of money, media, and influence in New Jersey politics.

Tonight we published our first study, an independent analysis of how campaign spending and digital media activity intersect in Monmouth County, NJ.

The report examines approximately $280,000 in local Republican party expenditures connected to a single vendor and related, undisclosed media content.

From Bumper Sticker to Ballot Box: Middletown’s Outrage Was No Accident Public filings reveal that a GOP-linked consulting firm and its allies turned outrage into campaign fuel ahead of the 2025 election.

Public filings reveal that a GOP-linked consulting firm and its allies turned outrage into campaign fuel ahead of the 2025 election.

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