• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 21, 2023

I've been fascinated by dark pockets of the media universe -- especially the kind operated by nefarious, undisclosed sources -- for some time, because while they may not hit the radar screens of mainstream media, they can have a profound below-the-line influence.

We saw that with activities of Russia's Internet Research Agency in the lead-up to 2016, and more recently, with countless AI-generated "news" sites.

But there is a much broader array of media operatives utilizing sub-groups and communities on platforms from Reddit to 4Chan to 8kun to who-knows-what's-next?

Apparently, the what's next is a new ad network called Publir that has been using dark money to prop up "TheDonald," a rogue extremists' forum that purportedly helped organize the January 6 insurrection, which was kicked off of Reddit.

The forum -- which now operates via a patriots.win website -- is being funded through the Publir ad network, according to a report by independent media watchdog Check My Ads, which makes the case that RealClearPolitics.com is behind it.

According to the report, Publir has been "receiving a steady supply of ads from major exchanges, including Google" vis a vis "a series of mislabeled advertising accounts," which are being funneled to TheDonald.

And it certainly hasn’t stopped it from funneling ad revenues to The_Donald.

Read the report and judge for yourself.

Meanwhile, I wonder how many other similar dark pockets of media -- many tapping into and exploiting funding vis a vis the programmatic ad market -- actually exist?