Champion City (false) News

I haven't forgotten.

Back in February, I used this blog to float a theory that EF Hutton launched Champion City News as a platform to spread false news. Specifically, Champion City News targeted LGBT+ people with false stories and unbalanced coverage in favor of the repeal of Springfield's recent LGBT+ anti-discrimination protections.

For a full history of this situation, you can read the first post, entitled "I Saw What You Did, EF Hutton," and the second post, "Proof that EF Hutton Owns Champion City News?"

Since then, the posting of new, original content on Champion City News seems to have slowed down. Most of the content is aggregated from third party news sites, with some content about local sports, local businesses, and other pieces.

Also, the Terms of Service page, featured heavily in my last blog post, disappeared within days of my writing. (Whoops!)

Perhaps page not "exsit"

I have not been obsessing over the site, mainly because I already made my point. And now that the repeal effort failed, it does not seem important to deliver a running commentary on their activities.

But I am still watching.

Why would I care? What does it matter?

Three Quick Reasons I am Still Keeping an Eye on Champion City News:
 
1) The stories targeting LGBT+ people are all still up on the site, including the vile piece about EF Hutton's alleged policy changes related to restrooms. Last I checked, the incendiary piece about LGBT groups "demanding" action against Amazon still pops up on the first page.

2) It's not cool that a company attempted to disseminate false news in our community. Not okay.

3) The previous attempts to stir up strife fell flat, but that does not mean there will not be any future attempts. If the "news" site tries any of this nonsense again, I want to be aware of it.

I got online recently to read EF Hutton's latest financial reports/disclosures because I was curious if Champion City News would be listed in some way as a subsidiary. Nope. Nothing listed. Although, they were late on their March filings and have filed for an extension...(UPDATE as of 5/31, those filings are now available)

Speaking of disclosures, I also uncovered some information that I chose not disclose in past posts. Well, "uncovered" is a strong word since all of this information is easily accessible on the internet. I'll admit, I have known this from the beginning, but I chose not to share it. 

Here's what I left out...

The editor of Champion City News is employed by EF Hutton. 

Disclaimer: I'm about to mention a specific writer/editor by name. This blog does NOT endorse or advocate the sharing of private social media content without the permission of the owner. Every screenshot below is public information and is readily available through a few simple internet searches.

This publicly available information is provided solely so readers can evaluate whether or not Champion City News is a reliable source. Although a specific individual is named in this post, this author does NOT endorse the harassment, interrogation, pestering, attacking, trolling, or otherwise inconveniencing involved persons in any way. DO NOT take this information as an opportunity to carry out any action which might negatively affect any person.

Here's the rundown:

1) Meggalife is EF Hutton's main platform of products. The Meggalife platform of services includes an e-magazine and an online news site, called Meggamag and Megganews.

Meggalife website, May 26, 2018

2) Meggamag and Megganews are both owned by EF Hutton, just like Meggalife.

Meggamag Terms of Service Page, May 26, 2018

Megganews Terms of Service, May 26, 2018

3) Blake Haley is an author/editor for all three websites.

Here is a page listing all of his articles for Champion City News:

championcitynews.com/author/bhaley on May 26,2018

Here he is writing for the EF Hutton e-magazine, Meggamag:

meggamag.com/author/blakehaley on May 26, 2018

And, here he is writing for the EF Hutton news website, Megganews:

megganews.com/author/blakehaley on  May 26, 2018

4) Blake Haley lists both Meggamag and Champion City News as his employer on social media.

Twitter, as of May 26, 2016:



Articles from Champion City News and Meggalife are tweeted side by side:



Facebook, listing positions at Champion City News and EF Hutton's Meggamag, as of May 26, 2018:




Blake and I interacted via email back when he was writing the Amazon/LGBT Groups article. Using the same email address where we previously corresponded, I sent the below email over a month ago.

I have received no reply.