Wisconsin website has ties to caucus app
MADISON - The company behind the problem-plagued Iowa caucus app was funded by a liberal group that recently launched websites in Wisconsin and other states meant to compete with newspapers.
The Iowa Democratic Party has faced a slew of criticism for its inability to promptly report results from Monday’s caucuses that kicked off the presidential nominating contest.
The party blamed the problems on a result-tabulating app by the company Shadow.
Shadow is funded by Acronym, a digital nonprofit organization that helps Democrats. Acronym is also behind UpNorthNews, a new outlet in Wisconsin that calls itself “a progressive news site.”
UpNorthNews launched in December. Acronym is the parent of similar websites in Arizona and Virginia. Plans are underway to launch sites in three more swing states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Acronym has drawn attention in recent days not for those sites but for its funding of Shadow.
The Iowa Democratic Party was unable to report results Monday. It released a little more than half the results Tuesday and as of Wednesday still had not released all of them.
In a tweet last year, Acronym CEO Tara McGowan wrote that Acronym was “launching” Shadow. On its website, Acronym until recently used the same phrasing, saying it had “launched” Shadow. Acronym changed the wording on its site Tuesday to instead say it had “invested” in Shadow.
Acronym spokesman Kyle Tharp in a statement Tuesday said Acronym was an investor in Shadow, adding that the company had other investors. The statement said Acronym “like everyone else” was waiting for more information about what happened.
UpNorthNews surfaced months after the launch of the Wisconsin Examiner, a liberal site that covers the state Capitol. The sites in part are a liberal answer to conservative outlets like the MacIver Institute that have operated in Wisconsin for years.