MENENDEZ CAMPAIGN CLASSIFIES ITSELF AS NEWS & MEDIA | “And on Facebook, the faux-news outlet’s page classifies itself as a ‘news and media website,’ at no point acknowledging that it is associated with the Menendez campaign. Its nascent Twitter account, too, uses a line of attack centered on greed and price gouging, but does not acknowledge the site’s ties to the campaign.” (Lev Facher, Stat News, “Read the fine print: N.J. senator sets up phony health news website to attack challenger Bob Hugin,” 07/13/18)

HYPOCRITE MENENDEZ BLASTS WEBSITE MEDDLING, CREATES OWN WEBSITE TO CONFUSE VOTERS | “Despite complaints from Congress about the Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign that included ‘fake news’ sites designed to sway voters, at least three members of Congress seeking re-election have posted similar sites designed to help them win re-election…Three sitting senators fighting tough re-election campaigns as well as at least one House member, have created sites that masquerade as internet news pages…The Menendez campaign issued a press release about the website July 12, saying the site would expose the “greedy” past of Hugin, the conservative executive chair of Celgene Corp., a biopharmaceutical company.” (Tim Johnson, McClatchy, “New tactic by politicians: Set up fake news websites as a campaign gambit,” 07/17/18)

MENENDEZ RELIES ON ANONYMOUS BYLINE | “The website links to several stories about Celgene’s controversies that appeared on legitimate news websites. But it also includes a lengthy article trashing Hugin that carries the byline ‘HealthNewsNJ Staff.’” (Matt Friedman, Politico, “Menendez’s anti-Hugin website comes under fire for its news-like format,” 07/17/2018)

ACTUAL FAKE NEWS — A growing trend from campaigns and political organizations | “Launching a website that masquerades as a news outlet. Following Rep. Devin Nunes’ (R-Calif.) campaign and another from the Missouri Democratic Party, now Sen. Bob Menendez (R-N.J.) is getting into the faux news business (if you know of any more, email me). Stat News’ Lev Facher: “It has headlines and bylines, an original story 834 words long, and links to 10 articles from other outlets concerning health policy and drug pricing in New Jersey. But readers expecting journalism from the upstart HealthNewsNJ.com may be in for a surprise: It’s fake news. In reality, it’s a campaign site run by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is facing a reelection challenge from Bob Hugin…” (Politico, Morning Score, 07/16/18)

‘IT’S FAKE NEWS’ | “…readers expecting journalism from the upstartHealthNewsNJ.com may be in for a surprise: It’s fake news. In reality, it’s a campaign site run by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).” (Lev Facher, Stat News, “Read the fine print: N.J. senator sets up phony health news website to attack challenger Bob Hugin,” 07/13/18)

MENENDEZ MANIPULATING MEDIA TO MISLED VOTERS | “Media manipulation has always been a part of the political playbook, but technology has enabled politicians to take the practice a step further by changing or mimicking real stories and news outlets to mislead voters. The latest on the left: New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez has set up a website called HealthNewsNJ.com that at first glance looks like an upstart health website, but is actually backed by the senator’s campaign, per STAT. “ (Sara Fischer, Axios, “Politicians are using fake news schemes to get elected,” 07/17/18)