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I know others here read articles on the charlottestories.com site.  Does anybody know who is behind it?  The reason I ask is that it is increasingly looking to me like a propaganda tool for Charlotte boosters, rather than a reliable news source.  The reason I am bringing this up today is because of an article they published this week, which gives the impression that Zagat "recently" rated Charlotte the 9th best food city in the nation.  One of our readers on this site -- AuLukey -- posted a comment pointing out editorial sloppiness in that article as that Zagat survey was not actually stating that Charlotte is the 9th best food city, but rather a significantly improved.  I followed AuLukey's comment with on pointing out that this Zagat survey isn't recent at all -- it's from 2016 (!) -- and there is in fact a more recent Zagat survey, from 2017, that doesn't even include Charlotte.  I have no problem with CharlotteStories writing about the 2016 Zagat survey, but I do have a problem with them ignoring the fact that it's not their most recent food survey, and also misrepresenting what that 2016 survey was actually revealing.

Anyway, AuLukey posted his criticism and I posted mine, and I checked today and found that CharlotteStories has deleted both of our comments!  The fact that CharlotteStories deleted our comments, rather than reply to them or just let them stand, signals to me that 1) our comments were accurate (they are incapable of countering them); 2) they are thin-skinned and unable to take criticism; and 3) they are propagandists who do not have the courage to allow contrary opinions.  I've been skeptical of this publication for awhile, especially after an article they posted in January about Amazon's selection of its 20 finalist cities.  CharlotteStories wrote (and this is an exact quote) "Amazon chose 20 significantly worse cities than Charlotte as finalist" (see http://www.charlottestories.com/amazon-just-announced-20-finalist-cities-5-billion-hq2/ ).  No credible news organization would write such a thing!  Unless CharlotteStories has been sitting in on meetings with the Amazon selection committee, they are in no position to say all those 20 cities are "significantly worse" in Amazon's eyes.  It's a completely laughable statement.

I have no problem at all with a publication promoting positive news about Charlotte.  There is plenty they can put on their website, that is truthful, to do just that.  What I do have a problem with is them seemingly twisting facts, not attempting to be fully accurate, or making nakedly biased statements like they did about Amazon.  CharlotteAgenda seems to do a good job of providing positive (and still truthful) news about Charlotte without resorting to these CharlotteStories tactics.   So does anyone know who is behind this website?

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4 minutes ago, JacksonH said:

The reason I ask is that it is increasingly looking to me like a propaganda tool for Charlotte boosters, rather than a reliable news source. 

I don't think it's as nefarious as you suggest.  IIRC they have been called out for stealing content and posting old content.  It's just a garbage blog trying to make money via clicks.  

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You can just read their headlines and tell it’s a bunch of clickbait garbage. Also, they rehash articles from YEARS ago and try to pass them off as “new”. Just recently they posted an article on what the Charlotte skyline would look like by 2025. It featured the Trump Tower from like ‘09 and 210 Trade back when it was supposed to be 50-something floors.

They’re straight up clowns.

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Thank you all for your comments.  I just recently discovered the site.  I had found a lot of their articles over the top, or made up of things found from Google searches, but I noticed one of the writers (Scott Jensen) posting Youtube videos, so thought maybe there was some legitimacy, but I guess not.

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