The Good Information Foundation is a left-of-center nonprofit organization funded by multiple left-of-center donors and organizations formed in 2021 to combat “disinformation” and promote “fact-based reporting.” The group is the nonprofit foundation arm of Good Information Inc., which was launched in 2021 by Democratic political consultant Tara McGowan. Critics of the organization have expressed concern that McGowan, a well-known political operative, will exclusively support left-leaning media outlets and further polarize the public. The organization and its affiliated group are funded by left-of-center donors including George Soros, Reid Hoffman, and Ken and Jen Duda. ^{1 2}

Background

The Good Information Foundation was founded by Tara McGowan, a Democratic operative who headed political advocacy organization ACRONYM and previously worked at Priorities USA, NextGen Climate Action, and on President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. ³

In 2021 McGowan announced plans to launch Good Information Inc, which was referred to in the early stages of its founding as the Project for Good Information, and it was reported that the group was seeking $65 million in financial backing from wealthy left-of-center and Democratic donors. The Good Information Foundation is the tax-exempt arm of the organization with Good Information Inc. acting as a for-profit “public benefit corporation.” The Good Information Foundation’s role is to fund nonprofit news organizations and efforts while Good Information Inc. is intended to provide funding to for-profit media companies. ^{4 5}

Courier Newsroom

In 2017, McGowan launched her first media venture, Courier Newsroom, which received criticism for mimicking the appearance of objective local newspapers while actually spreading pro-Democratic messaging content in swing states. Prior to the 2020 election, McGowan’s ACRONYM invested $25 million into Courier Newsroom. ⁶

ACRONYM faced a FEC complaint that it was not transparent enough about Courier Newsroom’s financial backing. The complaint was filed by right-of-center watchdog group Americans for Public Trust. ⁷

In October 2021, it was revealed that Good Information Inc. would acquire Courier Newsroom from ACRONYM for an undisclosed sum. McGowan claims that she was recused from the negotiations due to her still being a member of ACRONYM’s board. Good Information Inc. also acquired ACRONYM’s “FWIW” newsletter, which covers digital political ad spending. ⁸

Activities

In addition to investing in nonprofit media organizations, the Good Information Foundation operates two main campaigns: Voting Counts and the Civic News Initiative. ⁹

The group’s Voting Counts campaign states that it intends to debunk conspiracies regarding the 2020 presidential election, citing polls that show 78 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of Trump voters believe that President Biden “did not legitimately win the election.” The program states a goal of attempting to “restore trust” in the U.S. electoral system and attacks what it calls “GOP efforts to restrict the right to vote and gerrymander their districts.” ¹⁰

The other main campaign of the Good Information Foundation is the Civic News Initiative. The initiative plans to hire a network of local freelance reporters that it will pay to distribute news and content to local communities and publish the reporting online or to provide to local media outlets free of charge. ¹¹

Funding

Reported funders of the Good Information Foundation include George Soros, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, Ken and Jen Duda, and Incite. ¹²

1. Schleifer, Theodore. “Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media.” Recode. February 23, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://www.vox.com/recode/22296522/acronym-democrats-courier-progressive-news-tara-mcgowan-project-for-good-information
2. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
3. ^[1] Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
4. Schleifer, Theodore. “Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media.” Recode. February 23, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://www.vox.com/recode/22296522/acronym-democrats-courier-progressive-news-tara-mcgowan-project-for-good-information
5. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
6. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
7. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
8. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan
9. ^[1] “Home.” Good Information Foundation. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://goodinfofoundation.org/
10. “Voting Counts.” Good Information Foundation. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://goodinfofoundation.org/voting-counts/
11. “Civic News Initiative.” Good Information Foundation. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://goodinfofoundation.org/civic-news-initiative/
12. Fischer, Sara. “Exclusive: Billionaires back new media firm to combat disinformation.” Axios. October 26, 2021. Accessed October 7, 2022.  https://www.axios.com/2021/10/26/soros-hoffman-disinformation-tara-mcgowan