Just when you thought the corporate media couldn’t get any worse, the Bucks County Courier Times’ parent company says not so fast.
USA Today Co. inked a deal with controversial defense contractor Palantir to “strengthen how we collect, connect and activate audience data”, the corporate media chain’s CEO announced in an earnings call on Thursday with investors.
“Every visit, every session, and every moment of attention creates a signal,” said USA Today Co. chairman and CEO Mike Reed, describing the value of the new partnership. “When we connect those signals, they become actionable intelligence that allows us to engage users more effectively and monetize those relationships faster and at much greater value.”
Palantir, founded by far-right tech oligarch Peter Thiel (a self-declared skeptic of democracy), is a controversial corporation. Its data mining tools have helped CE hunt down undocumented immigrants, been used by the IRS to look for “financial crimes”, and have aided the Trump administration collect data on Americans through use of its software by numerous government agencies.
USA Today Co. owns the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer locally, eight other newspapers in Pennsylvania, and more than 200 papers across the country. The company announced its monthly unique visitors fell by 22 million in the second quarter of the year.
READ: Does Hate Have a Home at Gannett’s Bucks County Courier Times?
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen’s Lab – which investigates threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem – thinks this deal raises a “huge red flag.”
“USA TODAY is partnering with Palantir to de-anonymize & ID readers across 200 newspapers. And turn them into ‘actionable intelligence.’ That spy language from @USATODAY is a huge red flag,” wrote Scott-Railton on X. “I’m sure they are trying to stay profitable. But media exists to hold power accountable. Not to partner with defense intelligence contractors. Or treat readers like intelligence targets.”
This should terrify readers and subscribers. However, CEO Reed inists there’s nothing to worry about – the data will remain his company’s property.
“All of our data remains our data,” CEO Reed said. “It’s our data. The actions and the intelligence that we utilize takes place on our platform. It’s our (intellectual property). It’s our outcomes.”
Poynter reported that USA Today Co. spokesperson Lark-Marie Antón wrote in an email that “the company’s editorial decisions would remain independent and that the company adheres to data protection and privacy laws and requires its partners to maintain strong data security standards.”
“Through our work with Palantir, we’re leveraging AI to create a unified intelligence layer to better serve our expansive audience, deepen engagement, and drive growth across subscriptions, advertising, and e-commerce,” Antón wrote.
Read the corporation’s full earnings report which highlights its work with Palantir here.
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