Partisan Publication Hits Area Mailboxes: Local Coverage

The News-Gazette

On November 3, The News-Gazette published this article by  Ethan Simmons.  See this News-Gazette link for more details.  

A publication that presents as a regular newspaper has been appearing locally. The Chambana Sun runs overwhelmingly partisan far-right-leaning articles though it does not disclose its right-wing connections. Near identical editions under different mastheads appear in other Illinois communities.

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Illinois Public Media 

On September 27, 2022, Brian Mackey, host of The 21st Show, Illinois Public Media, discussed such publications, called ‘pink slime,’ with scholars and journalists: Alisa Kaplan, Executive Director, Reform for Illinois; Ryan Zickgraf, Freelance Journalist; and Melita Garza, Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media. Here's a link to the story.  “Why are ‘pink slime’ papers in your mailbox?”

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National Public Radio

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On October 31, 2022 NPR published an article and audio by David Folkenflik about "zombie papers". Full story is here.

The article, titled "Right-wing 'zombie' papers attack Illinois Democrats ahead of elections," begins with:
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​ "Since late summer, many Illinois residents have been receiving newspapers that they haven't paid for nor, in many cases, even heard of. Each paper bears a clear-cut tagline: Real data, real news. And each publication that shows up in driveways and mailboxes carries a partisan punch that's blatant, but not formally disclosed." 

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