States with the most dark money or misleading local news sites, by 2020 presidential vote margin

As of June 6, 2024; Includes dark money or misleading news sites from Metric Media, Dougan, Local Report, States Newsroom, Courier American Independent, LGIS and AZ FREE NEWS

A scatter plot of States with the most dark money or misleading local news sites vs. their 2020 presidential vote margin. Most states have between 5-20 of these sites, but a group of key swing states including Georgia, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin hold an outsized proportion of these sites, between 40 and 70.
Note: Dark money or misleading local news sites are defined as a site that presents as a neutral outlet, but publishes content reflecting a partisan perspective and either has undisclosed partisan funding or ownership or unknown funding or ownership, but with convincing evidence of ties to partisan groups. Of 1,265 dark money or misleading local news sites, 508 did not have a verified location.