The Right Online Koch-heads won't be in Providence this year, but billionaire-funded wingnuts never give up, and evidently never run out of money for the political equivalent of junior-high-school pranks.
The Heritage Foundation, the legacy wingnut-welfare outfit, and the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, a Wisconsin-level wingnut propaganda outlet, will hold the Future of Journalism Summit today at the Marriott in Providence, a coupla blocks from NN12.
The alleged purpose of this "summit" is to present the inaugural Breitbart Awards to three far-right propagandists who are deservedly unknown outside lizard-brain bizarro world.
It's all bullshit -- conjured up as something allegedly real by Heritage, probably with Koch money, but with no registration information about it on either the Heritage or Franklin sites.
More, below.
This brand-new "summit" purports to provide an NN-like experience, bringing "conservative news outlets and bloggers together for meetings, panels and training sessions."
For something announced in Politico Wednesday, and not promoted on the Heritage and Franklin websites to attract paying customers, who exactly is going to be there?
Other than a dozen or so Heritage staffers flown up from DC, and a dozen or so local wingnuts offered a free dinner.
The Providence Journal picked up the Politico story, and got some telling quote from wingnut-welfare profiteer Erick Telford of the Franklin outfit:
The Future of Journalism Summit deliberately "clashes with left-wing Netroots Nation summit."
"Certainly, timing-wise," it's no coincidence, said Franklin Center spokesman Erick Telford. "In no way are we taking them [Netroots] on or trying to compete with them head-on. It's more just serving as a leverage point for contrast."
Hopefully, the PJ will send someone who can count a room over to this BS event, and report accurately about this patently ridiculous attempt to attract media attention away from the largest gathering of online progressive activists.
And if Telford wants contrast, then be sure to contrast a few dozen Heritage employees and local Heritage donors, all of them comped and/or paid to be there, with the 2,000 or so NN12 attendees.
Most of whom paid for their registrations, hotel and travel.