Trends of Pink Slime Journalism Advertisement Expenditure and Spread on Facebook from 2019-2024
Christine Sowa Lepird, Lynnette Hui Xian Ng, Kathleen M. Carley
TL;DR
This paper investigates pink slime journalism—non-local, algorithmically produced local-news content—and its dissemination on Facebook across 2019–2024. Using CrowdTangle-derived Facebook post data and Facebook Ad Library expenditures, the study characterizes per-state ad spend, target demographics, and the relationship between paid advertising and online conversations, including the dynamics during US election years. The findings show a rising ad-spend trend, a decline in page-post activity, and varying group-activity patterns by organization, with demographic targeting differing by ideology and a weak but positive link between ad spend and organic discussion ($R^2 = 0.35$, $p<0.05$). These insights illuminate potentially dangerous journalism tactics and offer predictions about how pink slime networks may scale their influence in future elections, highlighting the need for monitoring and transparency in political advertising on social platforms.
Abstract
Pink slime journalism is a practice where news outlets publish low-quality or inflammatory partisan articles, claiming to be local news networks. This paper examines the spread of pink slime sites on Facebook using public posts from Pages and Groups. We evaluate the trends of sharing pink slime sites on Facebook and patterns regarding the advertisements purchased by the parent organizations of the pink slime news networks. Our analysis discovers that while the number of pink slime posts on Facebook pages have decreased over the years, advertising dollars have increased. The increase in advertising dollars influences an increase in Facebook group posts. Further, the advertising expenditure increases during election years, but contentious topics are still discussed during non-election years. By illustrating the patterns and themes from US election years of 2020, 2022, and 2024, this research offers insights into potentially dangerous journalism tactics, and provides predictions for future US Presidential Elections.