00:00Journalist Taylor Lorenz is trending after her Wired report exposed a secret influencer program tied to Democratic politics.
00:07But the reaction isn't what you'd expect. Instead of political debate, Lorenz is facing backlash from the left for reporting on her own side.
00:15Taylor Lorenz is an American journalist who covers internet culture, social media, and influencer news.
00:21The 41-year-old has written for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and most recently, Wired.
00:27Widely considered liberal-leaning, Lorenz reports across politics, culture, and tech and is known for her work on online harassment, influencer marketing, and social media impacts on politics and culture.
00:38This week, her Wired article revealed a program called Chorus, allegedly funded by the 1630 Fund, a major progressive, quote, dark money group.
00:46Through the program, Lorenz found influencers were offered stipends, some as high as $8,000 per month, in exchange for posting political content.
00:54But there's a catch. Contracts reportedly required strict secrecy.
00:59According to contracts obtained by Wired, creators couldn't disclose payments and had to coordinate messaging with Chorus staff.
01:06Experts say this could effectively turn political content into undisclosed paid political propaganda,
01:12because followers may perceive the message as personal opinion rather than sponsored content.
01:16And while this seems like a big reveal that could spark backlash for the influencers involved, Lorenz instead finds herself at the center of the online uproar.
01:25Some had defended Chorus in the program.
01:28One Instagram comment read,
01:29They're being paid a stipend while they're part of a program to learn how to better use platforms to get their own message across.
01:36The creators aren't being forced to make specific content with specific opinions, so I'm confused by the angle of your reporting.
01:42While some feel like she's overly attacking the left, which is ironic because for years, the right has called her biased.
01:48One user stated,
01:50So much of the conversation is about the left eating itself, and this back and forth proves that point.
02:06Unfortunately for Lorenz, much of her story's message seems to have been lost,
02:10and now she's defending herself against accusations of being part of the quote dark money funding, claims she's now denied.
02:16But while Taylor faces backlash, the evidence in her original reporting can't be ignored.
02:21Calls for transparency on both sides are more important than ever,
02:24especially when it comes to the information that helps us decide who will sit in office next.
02:29But what's your take?
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