McGowan and Dubin co-founded Acronym in 2017[3][7] with the stated intention of "advancing progressive causes through innovative communications, advertising, and organizing programs".[8] Since then, Acronym has made significant investments in digital media campaigns that aim to register voters. Within just over a year of its founding, Acronym had raised tens of millions of dollars for digital advertising campaigns, running more than 100 ad campaigns and registering 60,000 voters.[9]
In 2019, Acronym launched the Courier Newsroom,[10] a digital for-profit media company which publishes what appear to be local pseudo-news outlets but which are actually Democratic Party propaganda efforts.[11][b][10][13] The creation and operation of Courier Newsroom has raised outrage and ethics questions about ACRONYM and about its financiers, who include billionaires Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs.[14]
In November 2020, Fast Company called Acronym "the Democrats' most advanced digital advertising project."[15]
Because of the substantial volume of money that it has raised, and because of its status as a 501(c)(4) political nonprofit organization that is not required to disclose the donations it receives, Acronym has been widely described as a dark money group.[23][24] Acronym has received criticism for the lack of transparency in its funding structure,[9][24] although McGowan and others have defended the 501(c)(4) funding structure as a useful innovation for progressive advertising groups to adopt.[9][25]
Relationships with other organizations
In 2019, the Iowa Democratic Party paid $63,000 to Shadow, Inc., a for-profit software company acquired by Acronym, to create a mobile application to tally results from the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses.[26][27] Shadow, Inc. was created[28][26] in 2019 by Acronym when they acquired the technology firm Groundbase from Gerard Niemira, who was then made CEO of Shadow, Inc.[29] Niemira had also previously served as chief operating officer and chief technology officer of Acronym prior to being CEO of Shadow, Inc.[7][30]
In the wake of Acronym's involvement in the 2020 Iowa Caucuses' vote tallying problems, McGowan downplayed Acronym's connection to the app Shadow that was responsible for delays and inconsistencies in reporting election results. A report in The Intercept, however, found that "internal company documents, a source close to the firms, and public records show a close and intertwined relationship between Acronym and Shadow."[29] ACRONYM later divested its interest in Shadow Inc.[6]
In addition to Shadow, Inc., Acronym has owned several for-profit corporations, including the digital strategy firm Lockwood Strategy and the media company FWIW Media.[9][10] Acronym planned to launch an apparel company called Rogue Swag,[9] and later ran an apparel campaign under that name.[31] Courier Newsroom, which describes itself as a "progressive media company", is also owned by Acronym.[32] Courier Newsroom acts as a parent company for local news websites.[32][33]
In November 2019, Acronym founder Tara McGowan announced that Acronym and its affiliated Super PAC, called Pacronym (and styled PACRONYM), would undertake a $75 million online advertising campaign targeting four potential swing states in the 2020 United States presidential election.[34][35] Pacronym received $2,407,208 in 2018 and spent $1,000,000 (43%) the same year in payments to Lockwood Strategy, also owned by Acronym.[36] Since the campaign of incumbentpresidentDonald Trump was reported to have a significant advantage in digital advertising during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, this large expenditure by a Democratic-aligned organisation was considered by many political strategists and media commentators to be a crucial safeguard for the Democratic Party against the risk of being outspent in digital advertising before their presidential nominee could be chosen.[34][37] Nick Fouriezos of Ozy magazine identified Acronym, and McGowan's efforts in particular, as "one of the major forces shaping the Democrats' general-election fight against Donald Trump".[9]
Acronym started a weekly newsletter called FWIW,[39][40] as well as in 2020 created an accompanying podcast called the FWIW Podcast.[41] Hosted by McGowan, the FWIW Podcast was a biweekly podcast about the digital race for the White House. Past guests included David Plouffe, Jeff Zeleny, and DNC CTO Nell Thomas.[41][42]
Notes
^"ACRONYM, "a new, digital-first political organization" co-founded by Michael Dubin, the Dollar Shave Club CEO"[3]
^Courier Newsroom, which Bloomberg called "a liberal, digital spin on local news."[12]
^Acronym's affiliated PAC and web of other organizations are funded with millions from high-profile Democrats including director Steven Spielberg and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman[2]
^ALEX THOMPSON (July 14, 2020). "Newsroom or PAC? Liberal group muddies online information wars". Politico. Retrieved September 5, 2020. Acronym — a sprawling digital organization whose programs include millions of dollars in traditional political advertising and voter engagement efforts, with financing from some of the deepest pockets in progressive politics, such as liberal billionaires Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, and Laurene Powell Jobs, the majority owner of The Atlantic — has stirred outrage and provoked debate about the ethics of such political tactics
^Jim Rutenberg; Matthew Rosenberg (March 30, 2020). "Trump Won the Internet. Democrats Are Scrambling to Take It Back". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2020. Another initiative went more smoothly, at least at first. It was called Acronym; among its backers were the Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Powell Jobs.
^Ari Levy (February 4, 2020). "Top Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley investors are linked to the app that failed in Iowa". MSN. CNBC. Retrieved May 3, 2020. Mimi Haas, who's not in tech but is a major Bay Area figure and the widow of Peter Haas of the Levi Strauss family [...] Director Steven Spielberg contributed $500,000 to Pacronym as did his wife, the actress Kate Capshaw. Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg [...] each put in $100,000.
^Soo Rin Kim (February 4, 2020). "What to know about Shadow Inc., the vendor behind Iowa Democrats' caucus app". ABC. Retrieved February 6, 2020. under the leadership of McGowan, who was also previously the director of strategy with Priorities USA, one of the largest Democratic-aligned outside groups, PACRONYM raised more than $7 million, receiving a series of eight-figure checks from wealthy supporters including financier Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman
^Anna Massoglia (May 22, 2020). "'Dark money' networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites". Open Secrets. Retrieved August 31, 2020. Democracy PAC, a super PAC created by George Soros in 2019 to influence the presidential election. FEC records show Democracy PAC shelled out $1.75 million to PACRONYM
