 THE SCOOP A secretive local media network with ties to high-profile national Democratic operatives wants to convince regulators in Arizona that despite the political tilt of its stories, it is not a political entity and should not be subject to campaign finance disclosures. Star Spangled Media operates a series of left-leaning websites including the Morning Mirror, a difficult-to-find, barebones blog that for the last few months has periodically published a few unbylined stories about seemingly random topics. Its “About Us” page simply reads: “Welcome to the Morning Mirror—where reliability meets fresh insight. Stay informed with us as we deliver on the matters that impact your life.” Over the last few weeks, Star Spangled Media has started spending a modest amount to boost Morning Mirror stories on Facebook that tout the pro-abortion rights records of local Democratic candidates running for Michigan House seats. The site is low on content, but it has the backing of the law firm led by Marc Elias, perhaps the Democratic Party’s best known elections litigator and a central player in 2024’s politics. And Elias’ law firm is moving to ensure the odd blog is treated as a journalistic operation, not a political one. In a letter to the state’s campaign finance regulator, the Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission, in late May, Jonathan S. Berkon, an attorney at the Elias Group, asked the state finance regulator to opine on whether the state’s campaign finance law applies to Star Spangled Media. The company’s activities, argued Berkon, do not constitute campaign media spending, and it shouldn’t have to report extensive financial info to state or federal campaign finance regulators. “Star Spangled Media is a for-profit media company that is in the business of publishing and distributing original news stories, commentaries, and editorials,” he wrote. “Star Spangled Media accepts funds in the ordinary course of its business from grants from nonprofit organizations that are interested in funding the type of news coverage that Star Spangled Media undertakes and building an audience for the news coverage via targeted advertising. For tax purposes, this revenue is treated like any other revenue derived from a commercial transaction. “Because any funds that Star Spangled Media spends on content and news boosting are the monies it receives via these ordinary course commercial transactions,” Berkon concluded, the company is not a “covered person” under Arizona campaign finance law. Despite Berkon’s argument, it is clear that there are some ties between institutional Democrats and the Morning Mirror. Many of the articles on the site do not have author bylines, making it difficult to understand who is producing the content. But the site’s source code reveals a few clues about its ties to Democratic politics: The Morning Mirror was created in part by Lucas Anderton, a creative director for SBDigital, a progressive digital advertising firm. Cesar Vargas-Torrico, a former Democratic comms staffer working for a left-leaning Democratic PR shop, is listed as an author on stories. | 
