This week, I dig into a pay-for-likes social media scheme that’s found a new home on the websites of local newspapers. Plus, new media Miss poll results just dropped — and y’all are very worried about political misinformation.
Media Mechanics
You could make a few friends — or you could pay someone to like all the cat photos you’ve uploaded to Facebook.
And if you’re on the search for a bunch of spammy bot accounts that’ll praise your cat for being so adorable, look no further than this 152-year-old newspaper in Buffalo, New York.
The Buffalo News has been serving its community with breaking news and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalism since December 1873. Now, in the digital era, its website offers tips and tricks about shady, backdoor schemes to “gain algorithm favor” with leading social media companies like Instagram and TikTok.
In my deep dive this week, I dig into a social media scam that’s long dominated illicit marketplaces and dark web forums, but has now made its way to the websites of local newspapers nationwide.
The ads, which are designed to look like news articles, offer a solution to internet fame — or at least something that looks like it. Buy those X likes, TikTok followers and YouTube views — starting at the doorbuster price of $0.01.
People have been buying social media followers and engagement for years. In fact, it’s led to some embarrassing situations for celebrities, presidents and journalists who’ve been called out for buying fraudulent online clout.
But the articles in mainstream news outlets risk providing the appearance of legitimacy to fraudulent platforms called social media marketing panels, experts told Straight Arrow. SMM panels rely on architecture from cybercrime, including vast networks of computers compromised by viruses, and can be used to perpetuate phishing schemes and other scams.
I hope you’ll read my latest story, and don’t forget to reach out with your two cents. Got dirt? Email tips to my secure line at mark.keierleber@protonmail.com or on Signal at MarkKeierleber.01.
Miss Spotlights
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Left Media Miss
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images DOJ says states must report undocumented immigrants to DHS or they could lose federal funding
15% left coverage56% right coverage
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A new opinion issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel says states that participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs have to report any undocumented immigrants to the Department of Homeland Security. Each of the 50 states participates in TANF and SSI. Previously, only specific state agencies that gave out TANF or SSI were required to give information to federal immigration authorities. The DOJ’s legal opinion is expected to face pushback from several states.
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Right Media Miss
Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images Election officials have concerns with Trump’s proposed mail voting rules
43% left coverage10% right coverage
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Election officials are expressing concerns about President Donald Trump’s proposed mail voting rules, with some saying they could lead to delays and disenfranchisement. Some election officials said vendors told them there’s not enough time to print the millions of envelopes that have to be redesigned because of the rule, and court filings show that it’s possible that there’s not enough paper stock to do so. In addition, training and authorizing local election administrators in a portal set up to upload lists of mail voters would take thousands of hours.
Midterms are right around the corner and, in last week’s Media Miss newsletter, we asked you to share your concerns about the spread of political misinformation on social media. Either our reader poll isn’t nationally representative (OK, it isn’t) or the country is very, very, alarmingly worried.
In fact, almost 86% of respondents said they’re “very concerned” about fake news flooding their feeds this election season. Oof.
One reader asked why the government isn’t “stepping in to police obviously false political messaging,” and another asked if there is “any hope” for social media companies to rein in mis- and disinformation.
Unbalanced Headlines
What happened:
At least four people were killed and more than 60 injured when a U.S. munition struck a building during a wedding in Iran.
🟦 LEFT HEADLINE:
War crime accusations fly at Trump admin after wedding bombed in Iran — Reported by Raw Story on Sept. 2, 2026.
🟥 RIGHT HEADLINE:
US ‘looking into’ reports from Iranian state media that US missile hit wedding — Reported by Washington Examiner on Sept. 2, 2026.
Competing narratives
Left-leaning coverage focuses on civilian casualties and describes the strike as a possible U.S. attack on a wedding, with some headlines using terms like “war crime.”
Right-leaning coverage emphasizes uncertainty around Iranian accounts, U.S. claims that it does not target civilians, and the possibility that the strike was a mistake.
Both agree that people were killed and injured, including a child.
Essential Reads
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Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images Denial of G20 press access highlights how bureaucrats control the news the public receives
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Flavio Coelho/ Getty Images How eager-to-please AI chatbots create an echo chamber for narcissism
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Getty Images Scholar slop? How hallucinated research citations pollute crucial academic databases
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Antranik Tavitian for Straight Arrow The bookseller using AI to battle back against Big Tech’s digitize-and-destroy campaign
- Denial of G20 press access highlights how bureaucrats control the news the public receives
- How eager-to-please AI chatbots create an echo chamber for narcissism
- Scholar slop? How hallucinated research citations pollute crucial academic databases
- The bookseller using AI to battle back against Big Tech’s digitize-and-destroy campaign
To read past editions of the Media Miss Newsletter, click here.
