Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily just loves playing victimhood when its years of dishonesty have consequences, and it has found a new way to do so. Bob Unruh detailed it in a Feb. 10 article:
A new report from the Washington Examiner has identified WND, a precedent-setter among online news sites that was founded back in 1997, is one among dozens of "conservative" news sites from which ad revenue is being blocked by a Microsoft subsidiary.
Among the false claims made against the sites is that they were peddling alleged "disinformation."
Other websites identified included the Washington Examiner itself, Daily Wire, Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Newsmax, Daily Caller, Tea Party, Life News, MRCTV, Breitbart, Redstate, The Blaze and more.
As part of a series about groups tracking supposed "disinformation" and then discriminating against conservative opinions and reporting, the Examiner explained how Xandr, an advertising company that "subscribes to a left-leaning 'disinformation' group's secret blacklist," has been flagging those with comments with which it disagrees.
And it's been actively "taking steps to defund and deplatform them."
[...]
WND’s longtime vice president and managing editor, David Kupelian, is not surprised at all, revealing more of the back story: “In late 2020, three major international online ad companies that had long served ads on WND – our main source of revenue and sustenance – all suddenly decided, at almost the exact same time, to cancel WND in the run-up to the most important presidential election of our lifetimes. The ad companies blacklisting WND – namely Xandr, TripleLift and Teads – all cited vague breaches of their terms of service, including, and I quote, ‘any content that is illegal or otherwise contrary to any applicable law, regulation, directive, guideline or order, including without limitation any misleading, unethical, obscene, defamatory, deceptive, gambling-related or hateful content,’ etc. So it has nothing to do with 'disinformation.' If they don’t like your politics, you’re cancelled.”
Kupelian is lying, of course. WND has distinguished itself as a reliable purveyor of disinformation, particularly about election fraud and COVID vaccines -- it has done more than enough to earn its place on a blacklist of discredited websites.
A few days later, Unruh wrote an article on how the Microsoft subsidiary apparently backed off the blackist, copying-and-pasting Kupelian's earlier quote into it. And it wouldn't be WND if Joseph Farah wasn't trying to monetize this victimhood, as he did in his Feb. 13 column:
The truth is, the onslaught of blacklisting, banning, demonetization and suppression by every means imaginable has been constant for eight years. What could we do in the face of such never-ending attacks on us?
We turned to our most important constituency – our beloved readers who turn to us for the truth.
And we continue to rely on reader support, but it's very difficult – because Google, by far the world's largest search engine, controls how many people SEE WND. So, as you can imagine, it's tough to survive the overwhelming forces arrayed against us.
Please consider helping WND to weather the ongoing attacks against us by making a generous tax-deductible donation to the nonprofit 501(c)(3) WND News Center.
[...]
Thank you so much for your past support – including those who were so generous toward the end of 2022, since you've kept us going through January. However, WND's financial needs continue to grow because of the kind of Biden-era, anti-conservative, anti-Christian Big Tech and woke advertising company bias toward us discussed above.
We feel sorry for any reader who thinks the only place they can turn to for "the truth" is WND.
Farah harped on the siguation again in his column two days later: "The situation is bleak – especially for a Christian company like WND. It's a double threat – conservative and Christian. Imagine!" It doesn't seem to have occurred to Farah that WND could avoid this situation by publishing factual information instead of fake news and conspiracy theories.
Unruh hyped other developments in the story that benefited right-wing media like WND:
- Senators demand probe into blacklists targeting conservative sites like WND
- Fed-funded nonprofit cutting ties with group blacklisting conservative news
Farah penned another freakout column in his Feb. 16 column:
The Department of State has funded a deep-pocketed "disinformation" tracking group that is secretly blacklisting and trying to defund conservative media.
The Global Disinformation Index, a British organization with two affiliated U.S. nonprofit groups, is feeding blacklists to ad companies with the intent of defunding and shutting down websites peddling alleged "disinformation," the Washington Examiner reports. This same "disinformation" group has received $330,000 from two State Department-backed entities linked to the highest levels of government.
Just a reminder – that's illegal in America.
Actually, it's not illegal to point out how some websites traffic in disinformation. Farah rehashed WND's victimhood in his Feb. 20 column:
For more than eight years, since 2014, I've told you how the Big Tech cabal – first and foremost Google – has been trying to kill off WND.
Now, as recent reports confirm, they are doing the same thing to other conservative media. You could say WND was the canary in the coal mine.
As a result, we have had to rely on reader support and prayers just to survive the continual blacklisting, censorship, cancel culture, demonetization, repression, defamation and demeaning of us, and the deprivation of our First Amendment rights.
And, of course, this sob story evolved into a money beg:
I pray every day for relief. God has provided us with daily bread as He has promised.
Government has held lots of hearings but, in the end, done nothing. And you have answered the call every time we have asked.
Still, it's been a nightmare for us.
We've lost more than 90% of our revenues since 2016. We are essentially operating on fumes.
If WND means something special to you, we continue to need your prayers and your financial blessings. While some of our friends in the independent media have billionaire patrons, you should know that we do not, and never have. We've always operated the old-fashioned way, earning our own way. We spend only what we take in through revenues and donations.
We do it because we love it. We always have. But we also love you for remembering us. Truly.
Most of all, we love God and trust Him for our daily bread.
So, please, don't forget to keep us in your prayers. We can feel their effectiveness. They give us great encouragement to keep fighting on.
These are tough and crazy times in America. I'm sure you see that. We thank you for recognizing our unique work, our determination and our fearlessness. And we thank you for yours.
Please consider helping us weather this very difficult time by making a generous tax-deductible donation to the nonprofit 501(c)(3) WND News Center.
"Unique work" is certainly one way to describe publishing fake news and conspiracy theories.
