According to Alpha News, they are "not responsible" for Alpha News

The secrecy surrounding a new media organization called Alpha News continues to grow, as staff connected to a media-shy Republican donor are attempting to work quietly behind the scenes.

In a post for the Star Tribune last month, I wrote about the mysterious launch of Alpha News. The first news of Alpha News came from a post by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance on Facebook. Many of the initial news stories from Alpha News covered issues which have been advocated by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance.

Please do not be surprised or concerned, as according to the "Website Terms and Conditions of Use Agreement" for Alpha News, "Alpha News is not responsible for the content of postings and comments" on Alpha News.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly.

Public filings with the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, still show the address for Alpha News as a mailbox in a UPS Store in Minnetonka. It must be a big mailbox to fit all of the staff working for Alpha News.

I interviewed Julia Erynn, the chief capitol reporter for Alpha News, last month and she said the organization employs a writer, researcher, and additional staff to edit and record video. Erynn also said Alpha News would be publishing the membership of their board of directors, to "ensure everything would be accessible" to the public.

Since my post last month, Alpha News has not released any new information about their board of directors or staff. I attempted to speak with Erynn to check the progress on the release of information about Alpha News she said would be released.

Erynn also said Alpha News would be receiving press credentials from the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate, but they have not been issued to Alpha News.

On Monday, I spoke with Erynn and scheduled a phone-interview for later that same day. Erynn did not call at the time scheduled for the interview. In response to a message about the missed interview, Erynn said she would call the following day around 9 AM - "schedule permitting" - but she did not call again. Erynn has not responded to any additional requests for an interview.

Erynn's response to interview requests is confusing, as just two weeks ago, she complained about staff at the Minnesota House of Representatives not responding to her requests to interview Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Kurt Daudt (R-Crown).

If you are going to publicly gripe about not being granted an interview, you should make yourself available for interviews, especially if you schedule the interview.

Last month, Erynn said "a number of private donors" were providing financial support to Alpha News. While Alpha News has not publicly released information about their staff, board of directors or donors, one prominent Republican donor is connected to the organization.

Robert Cummins, President and CEO of Plymouth-based Primera Technology, has a long history of being a generous financial contributor to Republicans in Minnesota. Staff working directly with organizations connected to Cummins have been assisting Alpha News.

Cummins, who is well-known for rarely speaking with the media, did not respond to a request for comment. Kharam and Mathisen also did not respond to repeated requests for comment about their work with Alpha News.

Erynn may have the title of "chief capitol reporter" for Alpha News, but the majority of posts for Alpha News have no byline, which makes determining who wrote the posts impossible. Evidence shows the posts for Alpha News are written by more than one author and some of the content is repurposed from other media outlets without attribution.

On Monday, Kharam wrote a post for Alpha News which appeared on his personal Facebook page. Moments after publishing the post, it was deleted. The exact same post later appeared on Alpha News' Facebook page, but without Kharam listed as the author.

When asked last month about Kharam's involvement with Alpha News, Erynn said Kharam had previously consulted on the initial start of Alpha News. Kharam's authorship of posts for Alpha News contradicts Erynn's comments about his current involvement with the organization.