Iowa city scraps its news site that some saw as propaganda

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The city of Davenport, Iowa, has pulled the plug on its taxpayer-funded news website, which faced a backlash from critics who called it propaganda but also won praise for its innovative approach to communications.

[...] it was attacked by critics as an inappropriate jump into the media by government and a misuse of taxpayer money that could be better spent fighting fires and fixing potholes.

Staffers wrote about everything from road closings to business openings and high school sports.

Davenport was among the first U.S. governments to launch what it called a news site amid cutbacks in the newspaper industry.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence abandoned a proposal last year to create a similar website that would offer prewritten stories to the media, amid criticism that it would blur the line between government and an independent press.

"Why pitch it to a newspaper when you can develop the content yourself and have a more controlled media channel for your own purposes?" said Glen Cameron, a University of Missouri journalism professor.

Andrew Seaman, chairman of the Society for Professional Journalists' ethics committee, said government-funded news sites may contain accurate information, but they don't examine themselves critically.