Topic: WorldNetDaily
Cheryl Chumley has been promoting conspiracy theories about the death of Antonin Scalia as "news" at WorldNetDaily. Why doesn't she get to wildly speculate about it at WND as well?
Instead, Chummley does this at some website called People's Pundit Daily, which can't be bothered to disclose who runs it (its "Meet [the] Team" page is "under construction"), is filled with right-wing ranting, and is seemingly desperate for content while also offering the opportunity for sponsored content and advertorials. It's a glorified content mill, basically.
So Chumley has plenty of space to rant:
Justice Antonin Scalia’s death leaves questions.
There – it’s said.
Others put it differently. Comedian and social justice activist Dick Gregory put it this way: “You know they murdered him, right? … One of the most powerful people in the world and he ain’t got no bodyguard, man?”
Radio giant Michael Savage put it this way: “Was Scalia murdered? We need a Warren Commission-like investigation. This is serious business.”
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump put it this way, first on a Savage show that was later widely quoted: It’s “pretty unusual” Scalia was found with “a pillow on his face.”[...]
Look, Scalia’s sudden and shocking death could be nothing more than that – a sudden and shocking albeit natural death. But the fact that so many questions have gone unanswered, and that those in position to answer those questions are shrugging their shoulders –a la “Questions? What questions?” – is suspicious in and of itself. An autopsy could have quieted all the whispers. Unfortunately, historical accounts of Scalia’s life and his considerable list of accomplishments, both in and out of court, are now going to be marked with a giant asterisk that overshadows and prods: But was his death really natural?
And rightly so.
Chumley actually has nearly 40 articles posted at People's Pundit Daily -- most of which appearing after she joined WND in March 2015. Strange that she's putting so much content outside the outlet she's ostensibly being paid to write for. And these opinion pieces aren't drastically different that what can be found on WND -- headlines like "The Rise of Bernie Sanders – the Fall of America," "Obama Tears? Watch the Video — My Bet’s On Menthol" and "Churches, Be Warned: Gay Activists Now Likely to Demand Chapel Weddings" are right in line with your standard fringe-right WND fare.
The only reason we can think of is that WND wants to maintain the fiction that there's a difference between "news" and "opinion" on its website and that Chumley, as a "news" reporter, shouldn't be seen writing "opinion." Yet that doesn't hold water either, as Chumley currently has a piece in WND's opinion section lauding Donald Trump for "tapping into a surging conviction of the American voter that expresses both disgust with and distrust of Capitol Hill."
Or maybe Chumley thinks every word she writes is so important that it must have an outlet. If so, she may be forgetting the historical relationship between quantity and quality.
UPDATE: Chumley points out that her Scalia-death piece was also posted at the Glenn Beck-operated The Blaze and the right-wing News With Views, where many of the same pieces she posted at People's Pundit Daily also appear. That's a lot of extra media outlets for someone who is employed by a different one.
