The Center Square

U.S. right-leaning

Background

The Center Square traces its roots to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, founded in January 2009 with seed money from the Sam Adams Alliance, a conservative think tank. The Franklin Center was described by the Associated Press as 'a government watchdog group led by former Republican staffers'; its founding executive Jason Stverak had previously served as executive director of the North Dakota Republican Party. The organization launched Watchdog.org, a network of state-level news sites that pushed accountability-style reporting with a clear small-government orientation. In 2017, the Franklin Center acquired the Illinois News Network from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, with IPI chief John Tillman subsequently becoming board chair of the Franklin organization. In May 2019, Watchdog.org was rebranded as The Center Square, repositioned as a wire service that provides state-government-focused stories at no charge to cash-strapped local outlets across the country. Media watchdogs — including Media Matters, PR Watch, and Accountable Northwest — have documented that the service distributes stories with conservative framing on immigration, taxes, and spending, and that many subscribing local outlets do not disclose The Center Square's ideological funding background. Media Bias/Fact Check rates the outlet Right-Center with mostly factual reporting, citing loaded language favoring conservative causes and limited funding transparency; AllSides rates it Lean Right. Funding audits show millions of dollars flowing annually from DonorsTrust, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and related conservative philanthropies to the Franklin News Foundation.

Sources

1. The Center Square – Wikipedia
2. Franklin News Foundation – Wikipedia
3. The Center Square – Bias and Credibility (Media Bias/Fact Check)
4. The Center Square Media Bias (AllSides)
5. A dark money-fueled conservative group rebranded its effort to infiltrate local politics (Media Matters)
6. Franklin's Right-Wing Watchdog.org Rebrands as The Center Square (PR Watch)
7. How a Stealth Conservative News Service, Called Center Square, Infects Local Media Across America (Colorado Times Recorder, April 2026)
8. News With an Agenda: The Story of The Center Square (Accountable Northwest)
9. Local news outlets subscribing to The Center Square's wire service are pushing right-wing talking points (Media Matters)

Profile compiled 2026-06-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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