Stephen K. Bannon welcomed The Star News Network’s CEO and Editor in Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Wednesday’s WarRoom: Pandemic to discuss the launch of The Connecticut Star to the family of online news outlets with The Star News Network and the appetite for hyperlocal media.
Bannon: I want to make sure people can get access to what you guys are doing because I think it’s important. Every day you get a great snapshot of what’s happening around the country, particularly at the local level – in local state legislatures and little county supervisors, of what’s happening at the local level of these key states. In key areas where really the future direction of the country is being driven every day. So walk us through The Star News. It’s like an AP, Associated Press for more local news. And then what are the states you’ve got?
Leahy: Yes, The Star News Network – and Steve, thank you for having me on – we’re now in 11 states around the country. We focus on state and local news that matters from a state and local perspective, not from a national perspective, but what’s going on in the state.
And so we just launched our 11th state. It’s our first blue state, The Connecticut Star. And Susan Berry’s up there, lives in Connecticut reporting there for us. And Brad Visoli is reporting as well. And we cover, really, what’s happening at the state level.
For instance, today at The Ohio Star, we’re reporting on the news that the leader in the Ohio GOP Senate race now is Mike Gibbons, who I think is one of the people that’s been on your program. He’s a Tea Party guy at his roots.
In Arizona, at the Arizona Sun-Times, the big story there is the Arizona Republican Party is suing the left-wing Democrat Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who’s running for governor because she has basically said, hey, we’re going to allow drop boxes and we’re not going to do anything to monitor them.
That is an invitation for fraud. And by the way, speaking of Arizona, that’s where our friend Dan Shawls, the guy behind the precinct strategy, is based. And you talked about going local and about the importance of running for state, for local offices, school boards, and county commissioner.
Dan has been championing that for well over 10 years. And I think now is the time for people to focus on that. Here in Tennessee, for instance, in Williamson County, it’s a suburb of Nashville. It’s a very affluent suburb of Nashville.
The left-wing has sort of taken over the school board. Well, they’re pushing back. This coming week, we have a story about John Rich, the country music performer.
He’s headlining an event for a slate of 19 candidates that are running for the school board and county commission in Williamson County. They’re really going to make a difference.
This is the first time that such a widespread effort has come to have real constitutional Conservatives run in Williamson County for local offices. That’s the kind of thing this hyperlocal effect is about, Steve.
Listen to the full interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
