Trends of Pink Slime Journalism Advertisement Expenditure and Spread on Facebook from 2019-2024

Pink slime journalism is a practice where news outlets publish low-quality or inflammatory partisan articles, claiming to be local news networks. This paper examines the spread of pink slime sites on Facebook using public posts from Pages and Groups. We evaluate the trends of sharing pink slime sites on Facebook and patterns regarding the advertisements purchased by the parent organizations of the pink slime news networks. Our analysis discovers that while the number of pink slime posts on Facebook pages have decreased over the years, advertising dollars have increased. The increase in advertising dollars influences an increase in Facebook group posts. Further, the advertising expenditure increases during election years, but contentious topics are still discussed during non-election years. By illustrating the patterns and themes from US election years of 2020, 2022, and 2024, this research offers insights into potentially dangerous journalism tactics, and provides predictions for future US Presidential Elections.