Publications under a variety of names that are all tied to conservative political operative Dan Proft have been mailed to thousands of homes throughout Chicago and the suburbs Sept. 8, 2022. - Todd Panagopoulos/Chicago Tribune/TNS
Campaign sleight of hand comes in many forms. Illinoisans are learning more about a particularly deceitful stratagem called Local Government Information Services — an innocuous name for what amounts to an affront to the institution of a free press and, more broadly, American democracy. During last year’s midterm election season, Illinois residents began seeing in their mailboxes mailings made to look like newspapers, with mastheads such as the “West Cook News,” “Chicago City Wire,” “Will County Gazette” and the “DuPage Policy Journal.” The mailings and their corresponding websites try to hoodw...
