Topic: WorldNetDaily
Who does Joseph Farah think he's fooling?
His Oct. 13 WorldNetDaily column is yet another exercise in pretending that WND is a legitimate news organization that doesn't have a political agenda. Taking exception to an article by the Huffington Post's Thomas Edsall in the Columbia Journalism Review listing WND among the "conservative media" that are "explicitly ideological," Farah writes:
WorldNetDaily has disavowed the label "conservative" more times than I can count. Nowhere has WND ever proclaimed itself with such a label. And this apparently bears repeating and further explanation.
[...]
WND is a news agency – the largest independent source of news on the Internet.
It was founded by me – a lifelong journalist with a career spanning four decades and including stints in which I ran daily newspapers in major markets, none of which included any of the "conservative" media mentioned in Edsall's list.
The journalists working at WND all have similar qualifications and experience in the so-called "mainstream media." None of them has ever worked in "conservative media," if that is not an oxymoron.
The label "conservative" has been one placed on us, mainly by our competitors as a way of marginalizing us. Understandable, of course, but hardly "objective" and "neutral."
That's not to say WND doesn't have a unique worldview of its own amid the cacophony of those who like to think of themselves as "mainstream."
We do.
It's no secret.
We've explained it a thousand times.
We believe in doing good, American-style journalism the old-fashioned way – seeking the truth without fear or favor. We believe the highest calling of a free press in a free society is to serve as a watchdog on government and other powerful institutions. That's what American journalism was intended to do. That's why the Founding Father of this great country established for the first time in world history special protections for the free press in the First Amendment of our Constitution – so my colleagues serve as yet another check and balance on government power.
That's what we do – and, I think, we do it uniquely well and with the highest standards.
We've been through Farah's little song-and-dance before. Farah, as he has previously done, is obscuring the fact that he's trying to avoid answering relevant questions.
Farah denies being "conservative," even though his website unambiguously promotes a conservative agenda. The fact is that "conservative" is too mild a term for Farah and WND. They promote a far-right Christian agenda, and Farah himself may best be labeled a Christian reconstructionist -- after all, he supports the blacklisting of actors and condones the killing of adulterers.
Notice that at no point does Farah deny that WND is "explicitly ideological" -- he merely reframes it by claiming WND has a "unique worldview." Also notice that he's careful not to explain what that "unique worldview" is, even though any casual WND readers can see that it is obviously "explicitly ideological."
The "good, American-style journalism the old-fashioned way" boilerplate is pure, unadulterated horsepuckey. "Seeking the truth without fear or favor"? A total lie. WND is afraid to tell its readers about birther lawyer Orly Taitz's increasingly erratic courtroom antics.
A "watchdog on government and other powerful institutions"? Only if it's controlled by Democrats -- WND has little interest in exposing the wrongdoing of Republican politicians.
"The highest standards"? Don't make us laugh. Clark Jones knows all about WND's so-called "standards" -- it took seven years and a libel lawsuit before WND finally admitted it published numerous false claims about him. And, of course, WND has told lie after lie about President Obama and liberal policies.
Farah's delusions to the contrary, WND has long been a journalistic joke, and it remains so today. He's just trying to pander to the folks who haven't figured that out yet.
