Media files legal action against Kamala's campaign over misleading headlines

Kamala Harris' campaign may be embroiled in legal action after a report revealed they misleadingly edited headlines, using them in Google ads.

North Dakota-based WDAY Radio was one of the outlets from which the vice president's campaign allegedly twisted a headline, making it look like they were endorsing the presumptive nominee. They tried to contact the campaign to stop using the misleading ad, but did not hear back.

WDAY is operated by Flag Family Media, which discussed the incident at an interview on wednesday

“We feel insulted and violated by what was done here,” said Flag Family Media President and Managing Partner Steve Hallstrom. “A political campaign used our news brand and URL to lie to people about the headline we wrote.”

“We didn't write that headline. We didn't write anything close to it. We didn't write a story about it. They lied to every single person who saw that ad. It's misleading, it's dishonest, and it hurts our news brand so much.”

He said the campaign was objectively wrong and they are considering all options to move forward.

“And we're considering all of our options here, including legal action,” Hallstrom said. “What has been done here is wrong. This is not a matter of gray area.”

According to a bomb axes report, WDAY wasn't the only victim of this deceptive campaign tactic to make headlines look more favorable to the vice president.

“It's common practice in the world of commercial advertising that doesn't violate Google policies, but the ads mimic real news results from Search closely enough to catch the media off guard,” the outlet explained.

“Spokespeople for brands including CNN, USA Today and NPR, whose links appeared in the Harris for President ads, said they were unaware their brand was being presented in this way,” the report added.

It should be noted that former President Donald Trump's campaign has not used this tactic, although Axios says it has been used by other campaigns in the past.

“A source familiar with the Harris campaign's ad team said the campaign is buying search ads with news links to give more context to voters looking for information about Vice President Harris,” the article continues.

Harris campaign manipulated news headlines for Google ads to pretend top sites are pro-Kamala https://t.co/YmK5WllDWb road @BIZPACRevision

— Based on BPR (@DumpstrFireNews) August 14, 2024

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for truth in a world of fake news has brought her to BizPac Review.

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