Butler Dispatch

Butler Dispatch
Limited liability company
Industry News media
Founded April 23, 2017 in Butler County, Pennsylvania
Founder Austin Ayers
Headquarters Evans City, Pennsylvania, United States
Area served
 Butler County, Pennsylvania
Owner Austin Ayers
Website thebutlerdispatch.com

Butler Dispatch is a local news media outlet in Western Pennsylvania.[1] Based in Butler County, Pennsylvania - Butler Dispatch provides nightly content for CBS News, located in Evans City, PA.

History

Founded in 2014, Butler Dispatch started originally as the Facebook page of the "Butler County, PA 911 Notifications". The Facebook page grew largely within the first few months. Within the first year, the page became the largest Facebook page in Butler County, PA.

Shortly at the end of 2016, the "Butler County, PA 911 Notifications" page merged into "Butler Social". Butler Social lasted for a few months until a 2nd name change occurred to become "Butler County News". After several local discrepancies from several smaller news outlets, the decision to form the company as "Butler Dispatch" was agreed upon.

Assets

Butler Dispatch operates on their website, 2 of their Facebook pages, along with a Twitter account and Instagram account.[2]

Additional Organizations

Butler Dispatch also owns the Pennsylvania Weather Authority,[3] an online forecasting website. In addition, the Butler County Weather Authority[4] is also owned by Butler Dispatch.

Butler Dispatch was featured and trending on Google News during the 2017 Solar Eclipse.[5] featured on 1812Blockhouse in August 2017.[6] In the announcement of the 2024 solar eclipse, WDAD Radio of Indiana, PA featured Butler Dispatch.[7]

Controversies

Since its founding in 2014, Butler Dispatch and its founder Austin Ayers have been involved in numerous controversies and scandals that have since called into question its legitimacy as a news outlet.

Fake Tornado Drill
In June 2015, while the page was being called "Butler County PA 911 Notifications", Ayers posted a fake warning about a tornado as a way to conduct a drill. After causing confusion and complaints to be filed with the National Weather Service and Butler County emergency officials, Ayers removed the post.[8]

Fake "likes"
In October 2017, claims were made that the majority of Butler Dispatch's 100,000+ "likes" on their Facebook page appear to be fake.[9]

Fake Editors
In November 2017, it was exposed that the pictures and names that Butler Dispatch is using for the majority of their staff appear to be fake.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Homepage - Butler Dispatch | Local Breaking News". butlerdispatch.com. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  2. ↑ StormChaser Productions (2017-05-02), May 1st, 2017 - Butler County, PA Tornado Warning Storm Intercept, retrieved 2017-07-05
  3. ↑ "Pennsylvania Weather Authority". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  4. ↑ "Butler County Weather Authority". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
  5. ↑ https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=butler%20dispatch
  6. ↑ http://1812blockhouse.com/community/eclipse-day-celebrated-mansfields-real-event-coming-in-2024/
  7. ↑ http://wdadradio.com/local-news/
  8. ↑ http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/8654747-74/county-emergency-butler
  9. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/stopfakenewsbutlerpa/posts/479652309074938
  10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/stopfakenewsbutlerpa/posts/494089804297855
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