I don't see any facts in the article that support that. The closest they have is that one of the people founding some of the networks also had a business where

I don't see any facts in the article that support that. The closest they have is that one of the people founding some of the networks also had a business where he employed overseas freelance journalists. I have looked at four sites in their map that are in my neighborhood, one was dead, others contained pretty standard boring local news. No sign of nefarious hyperpartisans masquerading as anything. I didn't analyze all the articles, so maybe they are biased, but not exactly uncommon in news business nowdays. They also make no claim about the location of their writers (and why would I care?) and disclose their affiliations. I could not see any "lying" involved.