The individual, who identified themself only as “Robert,” sent a trove of private documents from inside Donald Trump’s campaign operation to journalists at Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Beginning on July 22, Politico reported, it began receiving emails from an AOL email address that contained internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official and a research dossier the campaign had put together on Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. The dossier included what the Trump campaign identified as Vance’s potential vulnerabilities. Politico was also sent portions of a research document about Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who had been among the contenders to join Trump on the GOP ticket.

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Sure, there’s the ones bearing Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s faces, but the most popular baked snack is lime green, topped with the phrase “To the window, to the Walz,” a cheeky Walz-take on the millennial hit “Get Low” by Lil Jon, who made a cameo appearance Tuesday night at the Chicago convention.

In the creators’ lounge, digital influencers can sip on drinks, enjoy food, and have a dedicated workspace for the reason they’ve gathered at the DNC — posting on social media in support of Harris. Many creators, channeling more sophisticated broadcast outlets, have set up mobile lighting rigs to record selfies and group videos in the lounge.

For the first time, more than 200 influencers have been credentialed to attend the four-day Democratic convention and are being specifically catered to, with an exclusive lounge and creator platform section in the arena where they can record and post online. Party officials have assigned dedicated staff to help influencers get around, conduct interviews and create online content, arming the coconut-pilled creators with everything they need to create meme magic. Each night of the convention will also feature an influencer on stage as a speaker.

The Republican National Convention also invited digital content creators to attend its convention last month in Milwaukee and hosted a creator hub with more than 70 influencers participating in their official program.

With traditional television viewership dropping and news outlets struggling to reorient their businesses, political campaigns are increasingly leaning on influencers to get their message to voters.

Deja Foxx, a social media influencer from Arizona who spoke on the first night of the convention, told CNN’s Jim Acosta the 2024 election is a “historic vibe switch.”

“Not only are young people going to show their power at the ballot box, but young people are demonstrating the narrative power that we now hold,” said Foxx, who has amassed more than 140,000 followers on TikTok. “We are setting the narrative, even for traditional media — with our TikTok videos, with the things we create online.”

Ahead of the convention, DNC officials proactively reached out to online influencers, offering press credentials to attend the massive gathering. For the hundreds of creators who traveled to Chicago, many are either paying their own way or have secured funding from organizations or sponsors.

And it’s not just social media stars with millions of followers or politics-focused creators attending the convention.

‘They don’t watch the news’

Jeremy Jacobowitz is more likely to be seen on Instagram or TikTok stuffing his face with food than posting about the 2024 election. But, when he was approached by Democratic officials about the opportunity to attend, he decided to apply.

“The audience that I’m reaching, this is what they watch,” he told CNN. “They don’t have cable; they don’t watch the news; they don’t even read the news; they don’t even trust the news anymore. They’ll trust us more than mainstream media, unfortunately.”

Jacobowitz, who has over 500,000 followers on Instagram and 315,000 on TikTok, said he wants people to understand where the information he’s sharing is coming from, and then act on it – even though he realizes not everyone will.

“Even if 5% of people listen to me, that’s, that’s the election. It’s all margins,” he said. “So I don’t need everybody to listen to me or hear what I’m saying to cut through.”

Malynda Hale, who has more than 90,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, pushed back on any notion that the influencers are being controlled by the Democratic party, stressing that there were no restrictions on what they post.

“We’re the direct line to that demographic they’re trying to reach and getting [voters] involved. And if my content will get more people to vote and my content will get people to be involved in the issues and care more, then use me,” Hale said.

But that’s the big question. Will the party’s courting of social media influencers translate into votes?

Mia Logan, a senior vice president at the political consultancy Precision Strategies, said the efforts can have an impact if the campaign can sustain the excitement. Logan, who is also serving as a producer for influencer segments on the convention stage, told CNN she’s hoping the campaign will come up with more creative ways to turn viewers into voters.

“They’re going to have to continue to keep up that drumbeat and must continue engaging with them into the fall, doing things like interviews, bringing creators into the process,” Logan said. “I’d love to see a creator as a campaign embed, thinking of new and interesting ways to give people a different point of view.”

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A Hong Kong court found two former news editors guilty on Thursday of publishing seditious content on a shuttered pro-democracy media site, a ruling rights groups said was a further blow to press freedoms in the city as Beijing tightens its grip.

Chung Pui-kuen, former editor-in-chief of Stand News, and Patrick Lam Shiu-tung, the publication’s ex-acting editor, had been charged under a colonial-era law that has been increasingly used to target dissent following a wave of anti-government protests in 2019.

It was the first sedition case targeting journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Their convictions came nearly three years after hundreds of police officers descended on the independent news website’s office in December 2021 to seize journalistic materials and arrest staff members, forcing it to close days later.

Once a bastion of press freedom in China, Hong Kong has seen its once vibrant local media landscape wither since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020, with Chinese-language media hit particularly hard.

Outspoken local news outlets, such as Stand News and Apple Daily, were forced to shut down in recent years. Several foreign media and non-governmental organizations have also since chosen to relocate their headquarters elsewhere, citing the changing political landscape. However, many international media outlets still operate in the city – and it remains home to many foreign journalists.

Both Hong Kong and Beijing authorities say the national security law has helped restore stability in the financial hub following massive, and often violent, protests in 2019.

But critics counter that what China’s Communist Party views as national security offences are far broader and more sweeping, often ensnaring political criticism and dissent.

On Thursday, the Hong Kong District Court also convicted Best Pencil Hong Kong, the holding company of Stand News, of the sedition offence.

Colonial-era ordinance

During the trial, prosecutors accused the website of publishing 17 stories that disparaged the Beijing government, Hong Kong authorities and the national security law between July 2020 and December 2021.

The stories featured interviews with former opposition lawmakers and activists – most of whom are currently in jail or living in self-imposed exile, including Nathan Law, who is wanted by the city’s national security police.

Lawyers defending Chung and Lam argued that those 17 stories were part of a much broader news file, which included interviews with pro-government voices, and that the news organization had dedicated itself to carrying out balanced journalism.

In a summary of the judgment, Judge Kwok Wai-kin wrote at the time of the publication of the stories, Hong Kong was in a “heated political environment” and that “many citizens even opposed the Hong Kong government and central government [in Beijing].”

It ruled that 11 of the 17 stories in question were examples of seditious content.

“[The court] rules that Chung is aware and agrees with the sedition intent, and provides Stand News as a publication platform with an intent to incite hatred against the central and Hong Kong government,” it said, adding that the articles provoked citizens to resort to “illegal” acts and incited hatred against the judiciary.

Lam shared the similar culpability when he was the acting editor, the summary said. The pair will be sentenced at a later date.

Chung and Lam were found guilty on charges stemming from a colonial-era crimes ordinance, but the police involved with the case were national security officers.

Each had already spent a year in jail awaiting trial, a pattern seen in many national security cases, until they were bailed in late 2022. They face a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

During mitigation Thursday, Lam’s lawyer Audrey Eu read out a letter on his behalf in which the former editor said he regretted not telling the police one thing after his arrest.

“Journalists do not have to be loyal to anyone, support anyone or be enemies of anyone,” he wrote in the letter. “And if we really have someone to be loyal to, it will be the public and only the public because we believe in freedom of the press and freedom of speech.”

Press freedom concerns

In a separate case, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, known for his support of the city’s pro-democracy movement and criticism of China’s leaders, is on trial accused of several counts of colluding with foreign forces, a crime under the national security law, as well as a separate sedition charge. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

In March, Hong Kong legislated a second national security law, known as Article 23, which consolidated the sedition offences and raised its maximum jail terms from two years to a decade.

The move prompted further concern from media workers, according to Hong Kong Journalists Association, which unveiled its annual survey last week.

Its members said press freedom in the city was at its lowest-ever level since the association started collecting data in 2013.

“Press freedom in Hong Kong has continued its downward slide … with many reporters fearing further restrictions as a result of recently-introduced Article 23 national security legislation,” the trade union said.

The association has come under increasing pressure from authorities in recent years. Both Hong Kong officials and Beijing state media have accused it of siding with protesters during the 2019 protests, a charge the association has denied.

Its chairperson Selina Cheng said last month she was fired by the Wall Street Journal after she was elected to lead the association. The newspaper declined to comment on her case, but said it “continues to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.”

Hong Kong’s leader John Lee, a former police chief, has repeatedly denied media freedoms have faded, while urging both local and foreign press to “tell good stories” about the city.

In May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Hong Kong at 135 out of 180 places in its annual press freedom ranking. Its 2023 ranking was a big drop from 73rd in 2019 and 18th in 2002. China ranked 179, according to the press rights organization.

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