Fake Newspapers Misleading Will, DuPage County Residents: State Senator

Newspapers distributed recently in Will and DuPage counties are actually political mailings funded by radio show host Dan Proft and Gov. Bruce Rauner.

According to 49th District State Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, who issued a news release warning residents, Proft and Rauner fund the papers through the Liberty Principles PAC.

Proft is chairman and treasurer of the Illinois Liberty Principles PAC. Proft, who hosts a radio show on AM 560 with Amy Jacobson, has long been a behind-the-scenes guy in Republican politics, working on Senate campaigns for Jack Ryan and Alan Keyes, gubernatorial campaigns for Patrick O'Malley and Steven Rauschenberger, and for several Republican municipal officials. Proft ran for governor himself in the 2010 GOP primary.

The papers, as listed by the Illinois Press Association, are Chambana Sun, DuPage Policy Journal, East Central Reporter, Kankakee Times, Lake County Gazette, McHenry Times, Metro East Sun, North Cook News, Rock Island Today, Sangamon Sun, SW Illinois News, West Central Reporter and West Cook News.

Not included in the IPA’s list is the Will County Gazette, but its website is nearly identical in layout and design to the other papers’ websites. It also lists the same publisher, Locality Labs.

The IPA issued a statement saying the papers are not members of the association, nor are they eligible for inclusion:

Obviously, the IPA respects the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and freedom of the press which allows each of us the right to speak freely, and publish newspapers or newsletters if we wish. While imitation is the highest form of flattery, the IPA cautions readers to become as news literate as possible; that is, to try to determine the source behind the news and information they receive and to question the legitimacy, integrity and intent of both the source and the message.

“I echo the IPA’s warning that everyone who receives these publications seriously question their integrity,” said Bertino-Tarrant in a news release. “This is not about the First Amendment, this is about a super PAC going to extreme lengths to mislead people in order to push a political agenda.”

The network of fake papers were found by the Illinois State Board of Elections to be in violation of the Campaign Disclosure Act for not including “paid for” attributions and in violation of Illinois law that prohibits Independent Expenditure PACs from colluding with candidates for the newspapers’ interviews with single-party candidates, Bertino-Tarrant said.

“Despite the Board’s rulings, the fake papers continue to conduct interviews with candidates and multiple print editions of the papers, including The Will County Gazette and DuPage Policy Journal, fail to list a ‘paid for,’” she said.

Locality Labs is reportedly run by Brian Timpone, who did not return a phone message seeking information on the newspapers. Emails sent to the Will County Gazette and the DuPage Policy Journal were not returned. The websites do not list a phone number. Timpone previously ran Journatic, which was fired by the Chicago Tribune for plagiarism and using fake bylines, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.

Will County Republican State Senate Candidate Michelle Smith has appeared in the Will County Gazette and the DuPage Policy Journal numerous times, according to Bertino-Tarrant.

Smith’s campaign spokesman, Jack DeMeulenaere, said it’s important to reach out directly to voters.

“Which is why our campaign conducts interviews with a variety of news organizations and citizens groups, in compliance with election laws," he said in an email to Patch.

Bertino-Tarrant is asking all candidates to sever any communications with the papers.

“Voters deserve integrity with their news, not political propaganda masquerading as news,” she said in a news release.

Complaint List

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Will County Gazette & Proft Papers Factsheet (Compiled by Bertino-Tarrant's campaign office)

Will County Gazette & Proft Papers Factsheet