Farah, J wjc wnd

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</div><div>=</div><div>see also main WJC/WND</div><div>=</div><div>=<a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/08/15/white-house-plants-pro-trump-conspiracy-theorists-among-reporters-briefing-room/">https://theintercept.com/2020/08/15/white-house-plants-pro-trump-conspiracy-theorists-among-reporters-briefing-room/</a>IN  AN APPARENT effort to make his daily news conferences even more like campaign events than they already are, the White House press office has been packing the briefing room with supporters of President Donald Trump from far-right media outlets who can be relied on to toss him softball questions and initiate attacks on his political rivals.Clearly in on the plot, Trump solicited a question each day this week from one of the guests invited by his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, to stand at the back of the room — where representatives of One America News, The Epoch Times and Gateway Pundit compromised the health of reporters by violating social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines.On Monday, Trump called on Chanel Rion, a far-right Republican operative and <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/seth-rich-conspiracy-theory/one-america-news-network-hires-seth-rich-conspiracy-theorist-chanel" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">conspiracy theorist</a> now working as a correspondent for One America News, a San Diego cable channel dedicated to spreading lies <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/12/18/impeachment-alone-wont-stop-trump-inflicting-lasting-damage-ukraine/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">about Joe Biden</a> and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/06/16/trumps-new-favorite-channel-oan-keeps-lying-buffalo-protester-assaulted-police/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">elderly protesters battered by the police</a>.Rion gave Trump the opportunity to unleash a familiar riff from his pre-pandemic rallies by <a href="https://twitter.com/M2Madness/status/1292957600364077056" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">suggesting to him</a> that Biden might have been considering President Barack Obama’s former national security adviser, Susan Rice, as his running mate because, “she can best cover up a lot of the Obamagate surveillance crimes that have taken place during your campaign.” Trump responded by accusing Obama and Biden of “probably treason.”The next day, Rion triggered another familiar Trump diatribe by <a href="https://twitter.com/C_L_I_C_K/status/1293311161153269766" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">asking for his take</a> on the resignation of Carmen Best, the first Black woman to lead Seattle’s police force, after the city council voted to cut her department’s budget. “What does this say about our country?” Rion asked Trump. “And what does this say about the Defund Police movement?” The president replied by repeating the lie that Seattle’s Democratic mayor had let “a radical left group, Antifa and others, take over a big portion of the city.”On Wednesday, Rion <a href="https://twitter.com/Woj_Pawelczyk/status/1293681114238910467" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">drew Trump’s attention to</a> what looked like a fairly lame conservative prank — the fact that the obscure website antifa.com was suddenly <a href="https://twitter.com/GrahamAllen_1/status/1293674194753003520" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">redirecting traffic</a> to Biden’s campaign site. Suggesting that this stunt might somehow indicate support for Biden from the loose network of antifascist groups Trump has falsely portrayed as a shadow army, Rion asked if the president thought Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, should “publicly denounce the Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization?”[twt]<div data-reactid="227" style="box-sizing: border-box;">They should,” Trump replied. “I think they’re afraid to. In my book, it’s virtually a part of their campaign: Antifa.” There was nothing remotely surprising in Trump making the absurd argument that Biden, a centrist Democrat, is secretly part of an antifascist subculture, but Rion’s play-acting as a White House correspondent is not intended to elicit any new information from the president. The point of these exchanges is to shield Trump from what tough questions about his failure to lead a coordinated federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to give him an opportunity to repeat lines he has already rehearsed, delivered as if they were answers to questions of vital importance.Rion, who has been attending briefings as a guest of the White House press secretary since April, previously <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/12/18/impeachment-alone-wont-stop-trump-inflicting-lasting-damage-ukraine/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">traveled to Ukraine</a> with the president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, <a href="https://www.oann.com/one-america-news-to-debut-special-featuring-exclusive-interviews-with-former-ukrainian-officials-and-rudy-giuliani-debunking-schiffs-impeachment-narrative/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">to promote false accusations about Biden</a> spread by the pro-Russian lawmaker <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/rudy-giuliani-and-russia-pay-close-attention-to-ukrainian-conspiracy-peddler-andriy-derkach" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Andriy Derkach</a>. An American <a href="https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/item/2139-statement-by-ncsc-director-william-evanina-election-threat-update-for-the-american-public" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">intelligence assessment</a> released last week concluded that Derkach was involved in a Russian plot to undermine Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party by “spreading claims about corruption — including through publicizing leaked phone calls” from 2016 between the former vice president and Ukraine’s president.On Thursday, shortly after Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1294033658068770820" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">praised the crackpot legal scholar</a> who invented a racist conspiracy theory that Harris was not eligible to be vice president, even though she was born to immigrant parents in Oakland, he turned again to Rion. This time, however, she asked if he would, instead, take a question from Emel Akan of The Epoch Times, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/two-sites-that-amplify-hoaxes-given-special-treatment-at-trumps-briefings-despite-restrictions/2020/08/14/8579032e-de6e-11ea-809e-b8be57ba616e_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">another of his press secretary’s guests</a> from an equally rabid pro-Trump media outlet.When Trump agreed, Akan asked him how the U.S. would respond to “the recent attack on press freedom in Hong Kong,” specifically <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/chinas-arrest-of-a-free-speech-icon-backfires-in-hong-kong" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the arrest</a> of the publisher of the popular Apple Daily tabloid news site, Jimmy Lai, who has been an outspoken critic of the pro-Beijing leadership in the semiautonomous Chinese city. Lai could be charged with “collusion” with the United States for meeting Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington last summer to discuss Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest movement.Although Trump began by saying, “Well, I think it’s a terrible thing,” he appeared to have little familiarity or interest in the subject of press freedom, or democracy in Hong Kong, pivoting quickly into his stock complaints about China’s trade policies. He even seemed to gloat a bit when he said that, as a result of the U.S. withdrawing the “tremendous financial incentives” for businesses based in Hong Kong, American companies might profit from the crackdown on the territory.“We’ve now withdrawn all of those incentives. It’s going to be very hard for Hong Kong to compete,” Trump said. “And I will tell you that the United States… will end up making a lot more money because of it, because we lost a lot of business to Hong Kong,” he added. “We made it very convenient for people to go there, for companies to go there. We’ve withdrawn all of that and the United States will be a big beneficiary from an economic standpoint.”While Trump’s answer was not the kind of stirring endorsement of press freedom Akan might have expected from an American president, inciting an attack on China’s government was probably gratifying to the owners of The Epoch Times. The paper is owned by members of the dissident Chinese Falun Gong spiritual movement who have spent heavily to promote Trump as a useful battering ram against their ultimate enemy: the Chinese Communist Party that considers the banned sect a cult. An Epoch Times <a href="https://youtu.be/uchUFah2dBQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">coronavirus explainer video</a> echoes Trump’s rhetoric that China is to blame for the global pandemic, but urges people to call it not “the China Virus,” as Trump does, but the “CCP Virus.”The White House press secretary’s invitation to the Epoch Times writer to participate in the briefing alongside reporters and photographers from some of America’s leading news organizations is remarkably brazen given that last year, when The Epoch Times was <a href="https://youtu.be/uchUFah2dBQ" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the largest buyer of pro-Trump ads on Facebook</a> outside of the president’s own campaign, the site <a href="https://twitter.com/RonaldKlain/status/1124378944952729603" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">spent heavily</a> to promote <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/05/10/rumors-joe-biden-scandal-ukraine-absolute-nonsense-reformer-says/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the baseless conspiracy theory</a> that Biden had abused his power as vice president in 2016 to protect his son’s business interests in Ukraine.Since then, the site has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/technology/facebook-ads-epoch-times.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">banned from advertising on Facebook</a>, after <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/20/behind-the-facebook-fueled-rise-of-the-epoch-times.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">NBC reported</a> that the newspaper had secretly placed Facebook ads promoting President Trump. Last week, Facebook also <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-removes-troll-farm-posing-african-american-support-donald-trump-n1236056?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">removed 303 fake accounts</a> linked to The Epoch Times for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and pro-Trump conspiracy theories about supposedly shadowy figures behind the ongoing racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.On Friday, after Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/c972b0201ba3eab039daecefe44ecc92" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">twice refused to answer</a> a question from The Associated Press about whether he believes the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/technology/qanon-tea-party.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">QAnon conspiracy theory</a> in which he is a central figure, he <a href="https://youtu.be/MU7Ehnz79BI?t=1046" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">solicited one</a> from Alicia Powe, <a href="https://youtu.be/u0e0DAieGxA?t=4295" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">a proponent of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory</a> who writes for the far-right Gateway Pundit blog.Powe, who has claimed that the Clinton Foundation controls the FBI and is stifling investigations of child sex-trafficking rings and the murder of Seth Rich, asked Trump to comment on the accusation that Biden had claimed credit for the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.[vid]powe’s question was based on <a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/08/lies-joe-biden-praises-israel-uae-peace-deal-takes-credit-deal-nothing-cant-remember/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">a blog post</a> by the founder of Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft, which amplified <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/497961-biden-uae-israel-trump/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">an attack on Biden</a> from the Kremlin-owned site Russia Today. Hoft’s post also quotes the analysis of Heshmat Alavi, a supporter of a militant Iranian cult called the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, who, as my colleague <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/09/heshmat-alavi-fake-iran-mek/" style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Murtaza Hussain revealed last year</a>, is a fictional character.</div><div data-reactid="232" style="box-sizing: border-box;">McEnany did not respond to a question about whether she or someone else in her office invited Powe to the briefing on Friday, but Powe is a former blogger for WorldNetDaily, the far-right website that helped create the racist “birther” conspiracy theory to undermine President Barack Obama. Alyssa Farah, the White House director of strategic communications, is <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2019/08/top-pence-aide-alyssa-farah-moves-to-defense/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">the daughter of Joseph Farah</a>, who founded WorldNetDaily. In the 1990s, Joseph Farah was <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/joseph-francis-farah" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">a leading proponent</a> of the conspiracy theory that deputy White House counsel Vince Foster might have been murdered.The presence of Rion, Akan and Powe also infuriated the White House Correspondents Association, whose members have agreed to send only 14 reporters a day during the pandemic, to maintain safe social distance.The WHCA, which normally decides which accredited journalists are allowed in to the briefing room on a given day, also wants the aisles at the sides and the back of the room to be open for photographers and video crews to operate safely. “It is outrageous that the White House continues to invite ‘guests’ to press briefings, putting the health and safety of everyone in that workspace at greater risk,” the WHCA president, Zeke Miller, said in an email. “The WHCA’s social distancing guidelines were crafted in consultation with the White House based on the recommendations of the CDC and the nation’s leading public health professionals. Trampling on those guidelines endangers the critical work of reporters who have maintained independent press coverage of the presidency throughout the pandemic.”Until April, OAN was a member of the correspondents’ association but the cable channel was expelled after Rion kept showing up at briefings when it was not her turn. Since then, she has attended press events as a guest of the White House press secretary.Unlike the original, freewheeling coronavirus task force briefings — which came to a sudden halt in April <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/04/24/quack-chief-donald-trump-asks-bleach-injections-tanning-cure-covid-19/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">when Trump mused</a> that doctors should “check” to see if injecting patients suffering from Covid-19 with bleach or isopropyl alcohol, or exposing them to ultraviolet light, might cure them — the president’s current news conferences are much shorter and seem designed mainly to get his lengthy, written opening statements on the air and get him out of the briefing room after taking just a handful of questions.Trump’s opening statements at the latest briefings are often <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/08/14/trump_biden_continues_to_politicize_pandemic_shows_appalling_lack_of_respect_for_the_american_people.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">nakedly political</a> in nature, featuring crude, jarring attacks on Biden and other Democrats. “Today, we saw Joe Biden continue to politicize a pandemic and to show his appalling lack of respect for the American people. That’s what it is,” Trump said at the start of Thursday’s briefing. “At every turn, Biden has been wrong about the virus, ignoring the scientific evidence and putting left-wing politics before facts and evidence.”After then blatantly lying about Biden’s suggested response to the pandemic in the most idiotic terms — “Sleepy Joe rejects the scientific approach in favor of locking all Americans in their basements for months on end” — Trump concluded, with a stunning lack of self-awareness: “To Joe, I would say: Stop playing politics with a virus. Too serious. Partisan politics has no place here. It’s a shameful situation for anybody to try and score political points while we’re working to save lives and defeat the pandemic.”Trump’s prepared remarks at these briefings almost always feature highly misleading health and economic statistics intended to convey the false impression that the federal government’s pandemic response is the envy of the world.At Tuesday’s briefing, for example, Trump said in his opening statement: “Since the end of July, the seven-day average for cases in the United States has fallen by nearly 20 percent, but the virus continues to increase in nations across the globe. Last week, France and Germany both recorded their highest daily number of new cases in three months — not that I want to bring that up, but might as well explain it to the media.” While those statistical measures of the increase by percentage of new cases in Europe and decrease by percentage in the U.S. were accurate, what they hid was the fact that, in raw numbers, the pandemic is obviously far less under control here than there.[shillenberger pat m cherrypick]The day Trump made those remarks, 53,315 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed by testing in the U.S. Germany’s highest number of daily infections in three months, recorded this week, was 1,445. Cases are down more in the U.S. but from a very high level to a slightly less high level. In much of Europe, cases are rising but from very low baseline. Adjusted for population, the U.S. recorded 154 new cases per million <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/new-covid-cases-per-million?tab=chart&country=DEU_FRAUSA" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">on Friday</a>, while France had 41 and Germany 17.[graf]While the pandemic is resurgent in many parts of the world, Trump has been unable so far to brow-beat the public into accepting his obviously false claims that things are better in the United States than in Europe or Asia. A new poll released by Monmouth University on Thursday <a href="https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_081320/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">showed</a> that 52 percent of Americans “think the United States’ handling of the pandemic is worse than other countries,” while just 15 percent feel the U.S. is doing a better job than others and 29 percent say it is doing about the same.Having complained on Wednesday about what <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1293680879466950658" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">he called</a> “a wiseguy question” from a reporter who noted that <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2020/08/12/boston-federal-reserve-chief-says-states-that-rushed-to-reopen-slowed-the-u-s-recovery" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">two top Federal Reserve officials</a> “said that the economy hasn’t recovered strong enough because the country hasn’t contained the virus,” Trump devoted part of his opening remarks <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-press-briefing-august-13-2020/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">at Thursday’s briefing</a> to falsely complaining that Biden, who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNSjdb2W4Tw" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none;">held a news conference two weeks ago</a>, “never takes questions.”“I take questions; he never takes questions,” Trump continued. “And you sort of wonder what’s going on, because they’re not that difficult. Some can be nasty, but they’re not that difficult.”</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">=</div></div><div></div><div>At the very least, Scaife’s funding produced an echo effect that amplified the voices of critics and conspiracists targeting Clinton, creating the illusion that these ideas had widespread support at a time when they did not. Credulous media coverage of scandal mongering then helped create a broader base of support than the original relatively small base in the Christian Right and populist right. There was much inbreeding. For instance, Scaife funded Gingrich projects, and Gingrich raised questions about the death of Vincent Foster, a pet project of Scaife’s. There were circles within circles. Anti-Clinton authors and publications funded by Scaife gave coverage and favorable reviews to other anti-Clinton authors and publications funded by Scaife. Nontheless, there were a substantial number of Clinton critics and conspiracy peddlers who did not receive funds from Scaife.
WESTERN JOURNALISM CENTERThe Western Journalism Center (WJC) is a project of Joseph Farah, former publisher of the ultra-conservative Sacramento Union—once owned by Scaife. The Carthage Foundation, controlled by Scaife, is one of the largest funders of the WJC. Founded in 1991, for several years the major product of WJC was a small newsletter, Dispatches, once billed as “from the front lines of the culture war.” According to reporter Trudy Lieberman, Farah has assembled for the Western Journalism Center:a high-profile board of advisers to help with fund-raising, including such conservative luminaries as Sally Pipes, president of the Pacific Research Institute, Marvin Olasky, a professor of journalism at the University of Texas, and Arianna Huffington. Both Olasky and Huffington are senior fellows at Newt Gingrich’s Progress & Freedom Foundation. Scaife also funds the Pacific Research Institute and GOPAC.The Center placed some 50 ads reprinting reporter Christopher Ruddy’s anti- Clinton stories—first published in Scaife’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review—in the Washington Times. WJC then repackaged the articles as a packet titled “The Ruddy Investigation,” which sold for $12. Farah also bought full page ads publicizing Ruddy’s allegations that appeared in papers including The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. The ad campaign brought in over $500,000, half from individual donors— many of whom bought Foster conspiracy materials—and half from foundations, including $100,000 from Carthage.WJC circulated a video featuring Ruddy’s claims, “Unanswered—The Death of Vincent Foster,” that was produced by ultra-conservative James Davidson, chairman of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU) and co-editor of the Strategic Investment newsletter. NTU’s research arm receives funds from Scaife. Davidson is a large financial contributor to Farah’s Western Journalism Center, which gave its first “Courage in Journalism Awards” to Ruddy, reporter David Brock of the Scaife-funded American Spectator, and ABC correspondent John Stossel, whose reports often repackage themes from conservative and libertarian think tanks.In 1997 Farah started a daily Internet newspaper WorldNetDaily.com, which featured anti-Clinton stories. In a three-page interview in the John Birch Society’s magazine The New American, Farah claimed that by March 1998 the website was receiving 20,000 to 30,000 hits per day. In the April 17, 1998 issue of Dispatches, Farah claimed 150,000 hits per day. That issue carried a lead story rife with anti-communist redbaiting aimed at Barbara Lee, an African- American elected to Congress from California. She is described as filling the seat of retiring “Ron ‘Red’ Dellums.” Christopher Ruddy is listed as a Contributing Editor.
AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARDThe work of British journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is a mix of industrious investigative reporting and irresponsible rumor-mongering. His book, The Secret Life of Bill Clinton: The Unreported Stories, is an example of material that should remain unreported by the general media until it is corroborated with further documentation. A significant number of footnotes track back to rightist anti-Clinton sources, especially to the American Spectator, a neo conservative magazine that ran articles on Clinton with allegations that often lacked adequate corroboration.
The Secret Life of Bill ClintonOne chapter in The Secret Life of Bill Clinton alleges official misconduct and a cover-up in the death of Vincent Foster, tracing the conspiracy all the way to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Other assertions in Evans-Pritchard’s book include the claimed assassination of two teenagers who, Evans-Pritchard says, stumbled across a major drug delivery tied to Clinton. Other deaths attributed to Clinton or his operatives are discussed: “Already, people associated with the case were beginning to die in what amounted to a reign of terror among young people in…Arkansas.” Evans-Pritchard tells the story of one parent who “joined up with a California film producer named Pat Matrisciana to make a documentary on the deaths.” Matrisciana runs Jeremiah Films, which produces hard right Christian apocalyptic videos riddled with conspiracy theories, and made a widely circulated anti-Clinton video,The Clinton Chronicles.Evans-Pritchard uses James Davidson of the rightist newsletter Strategic Investment to introduce the idea that Clinton’s actions mirror those of Nazi totalitarians. In his role as a far right prophet of financial doom, Davidson has written a book, The Story of a One-Term President, which forecasts a vast economic collapse and “bloodbath in US stocks and bonds” under Clinton. Davidson’s in-house “muckraker” for Strategic Investment is Jack Wheeler, described in his bio as a “veteran of six anticommunist guerilla wars [and] anti-Soviet insurgencies, including those in Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique, Cambodia, and Laos.”Evans-Pritchard cites Davidson’s Strategic Investment several more times, noting that Davidson financed examinations by several handwriting experts of the Foster suicide note. Claims that the suicide note was a forgery were later debunked, and one “expert” was later revealed as having misrepresented his credentials. Hard-right ideologue Joe Farah from the Western Journalism Center is introduced as a dispassionate media ethics expert.According to the 1995 White House memo, Evans-Pritchard was a crucial link in taking hard right conspiracism and publishing it in the Sunday Telegraph of London where it was picked up and reported on by mainstream US media. Another British journalist who played a similar role was William Rees- Mogg of The Times of London.
CHRISTOPHER RUDDYChristopher Ruddy, the most energetic of the journalists claiming vast Clinton conspiracies, left the New York Post after his early 1994 stories on the death of Vincent Foster were heavily criticized in other media outlets. Hired by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Ruddy was assigned by publisher Scaife to pursue stories about Clinton. Scaife learned of Ruddy through the Western Journalism Center, a Scaife grantee, which had placed ads consisting of republished Ruddy articles on Foster.Some of the most interesting information on Ruddy comes from his ally, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. While praising Ruddy in his book, Evans-Pritchard details how Ruddy was an activist in a nationwide right-wing network:He waged war on the airwaves, broadcasting night after night across the country on the radio talk circuit where he soon became a folk hero. He gave speeches, endlessly. He lobbied on Capitol Hill. He lobbied at the Christian Roundtable meetings in Tennessee. He lobbied wherever people would listen. He built alliances: with Reed Irvine’s Accuracy in Media in Washington; with Jim Davidson’s Strategic Investment; with the Western Journalism Center in California; with Jeremiah Films (which made the Clinton Chronicles). He signed up with Richard Scaife, writing about the Foster case for The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It was a modest little brigade. But it was enough for insurgent warfare.Evans-Pritchard also discusses the crucial role played by the Internet: “What was bothering the White House most about the Internet was the enormous amplification it gives to newsletters like Strategic Investment,” or articles by Evans-Pritchard or Ruddy. According to Evans-Pritchard:In the 1980s our stories would not have gained any traction. Now they are “posted” within hours of publication, and are then perused by the producers of radio talk shows, who surf the Net in search of avant-garde material. A good scoop may be picked up….[and] read on the air by G. Gordon Liddy, Paul Harvey, or Chuck Harder. It might be featured by Blanquita Column, or by Rush Limbaugh, with his 20 million “ditto heads.”Ruddy has become a commodity. The Strange Death of Vincent Foster: An Investigation by Christopher Ruddy, was published by the mainstream Free Press in 1996. Ruddy even started a monthly newsletter, Vortex, and solicited subscriptions in a letter headed, “Investigative reporter Chris Ruddy, the man who blew the whistle on the Clinton cover up of Vincent Foster’s death has an urgent message for you.” The message was simple:Our country is in crisis…Monica Lewinsky and her mother…could be murdered if details of her relationship with Clinton ever got out….This man and his wife have abused the power and trust of their office…. Slick Willie earned his nickname because his lack of integrity governed his actions as a family man, lawyer, and politician.In his style of demonizing rhetoric, Ruddy goes on: “Clinton is the quintessential slippery lawyer. Just as a weasel sucks the blood from its prey, so Clinton sucks the ordinary meaning out of words to deceive others…Clinton is a filthy-minded, self-centered man who fits the criteria of a sociopath….” Ruddy reveals that “In recently released grand jury testimony, Linda Tripp, who worked as Foster’s secretary, said she knew of one Clinton ‘body count’ list of some 40 people who have died suspiciously.” Vortex, claims Ruddy, will bring you the truth, “Stories too hot for the Clinton-compliant, Establishment media to handle.”Subscribers to Vortex get “FREE BONUSES” including a new video, “The Death of Ron Brown,” with vivid death-scene photos suggesting a bullet hole in the brain. With the warning, “THIS FREE TAPE IS GRAPHIC,” the video suggests Brown may have been murdered, a theory covered in Ruddy’s own “special report on the Ron Brown case…a $15 value.” Ruddy also sells a report on the TWA Flight 800 explosion “cover-up” by a former naval officer, and an audiotape interview by Ruddy of Larry Nichols, a former aide to Governor Clinton.In addition to Vortex, Ruddy started an Internet news site at www.NewsMax.com. Its breathless, near hysterical tone is common to the genre. And don’t think the failure of the impeachment drive has stopped Vortex. A March 5, 1999 ad in Human Events announces that Vortex, “America’s most controversial Journal,” now features “special reports by Chris Ruddy, Carl Limbacher, Jr., Jeffrey Nyquist and many others.”
MATT DRUDGE</div><div></div><ul>

<li>
</li><li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Western_Journalism_Center" title="Western Journalism Center">Western Journalism Center</a> - This organization was owned and operated by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Farrah&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Joseph Farrah (page does not exist)">Joseph Farrah</a> (Executive Director) and financed by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Smith" title="John Smith">John Smith</a>. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media_fairness#cite_note-7" title="">[8]</a> It was supposedly:</li>

</ul>

...dedicated to the ideals of "free enterprise, limited government and American values [as a] nonprofit, conservative organization which aims to be "a vehicle for changing the culture of America's newsrooms and for returning the press to its traditional role as watchdog of government."

</blockquote>

Farrah and his associate Christopher Ruddy were the fanatics behind the claims that the Clintons had murdered Vince Foster.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media_fairness#cite_note-8" title="">[9]</a> As the B-M document says:

Recently the WJC has been involved in investigative projects surrounding the deal of Vince Foster and the Lippo Group financial controversy.

WJC does accept corporate donations, and the company (ie Philip Morris) could benefit by being involved with a forum, seminar or internship sponsorship. The company has already donated over $100,000 in unrestricted grants over the past three years. However, the fact that the WJC does exhibit a conservative bias could affect the credibility of its research[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Citation_needed" title="SourceWatch:Citation needed">citation needed</a>]

</blockquote>

This <a href="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bqu53a00" class="external autonumber" title="http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bqu53a00" rel="nofollow">[2]</a> only tells a fraction of the story. As part of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Arkansas_Project&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Arkansas Project (page does not exist)">Arkansas Project</a> Philip Morris passed extra money via its think-tank paymaster <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Roy_Marden" title="Roy Marden">Roy Marden</a>, to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pacific_Legal_Center&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pacific Legal Center (page does not exist)">Pacific Legal Center</a>, then to the Western Journalism Center, and on to the journalist Ruddy.

===THIS IS A NODE, tag sim name

----

memo victim claim:

Both the American Spectator and the Western Journalism Center were later victims of audits by the Internal Revenue Service. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has halted its once prolific coverage of cover-ups and scandals in the Clinton administration. The American Spectator has gone soft. Of the three news organizations originally targeted, only one -- this one -- is still hammering away, day in and day out, exposing the corruption, fraud, waste and abuse of this White House and, indeed, the entire federal government.

Read more: <a href="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14581#ixzz1CpknJWTk" style=" color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Return of the Clinton enemies list</a> <a href="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14581#ixzz1CpknJWTk" style=" color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=14581#ixzz1CpknJWTk</a>

</div>

=

WORLDNET DAILY

WorldNetDaily (WND) is an internet news and commentary site founded in May 1997 by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Farah" title="Joseph Farah">Joseph Farah</a>, a former editor of several major-market daily newspapers and a founder of the conservative non-profit <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Western_Journalism_Center" title="Western Journalism Center">Western Journalism Center</a>. The site became a for-profit arm of the Center in October 1999.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a>

The WND mission statement describes its role as a watchdog on government: "We remain faithful to the traditional and central role of a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Free_press" title="Free press">free press</a> in a free society – as a light exposing wrongdoing, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Corruption" title="Corruption">corruption</a> and abuse of power. We also seek to stimulate a free-and-open debate about the great moral and political ideas facing the world and to promote freedom and self-government by encouraging personal virtue and good character."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a>

WND operates the <a href="http://g2.wnd.com/" class="external text" title="http://g2.wnd.com/" rel="nofollow">G2 Bulletin</a> website, a subscription-only website described as an "intelligence resource" for "insights into geo-political and geo-strategic developments." It also operates a book-publishing division, WND Books, which has published books by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Savage" title="Michael Savage">Michael Savage</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Katherine_Harris" title="Katherine Harris">Katherine Harris</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Farah" title="Joseph Farah">Joseph Farah</a>, and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jerome_Corsi" title="Jerome Corsi">Jerome Corsi</a>, among others. In January 2008, WND announced it had acquired its publishing partner, World Ahead Publishing.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="javascript:toggleToc()" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>]</div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Libel_lawsuit">1 Libel lawsuit</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Anti-Global_Warming_Contest">2 Anti-Global Warming Contest</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Personnel">3 Personnel</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Staff.5B12.5D">3.1 Staff[12]</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Columnists.5B13.5D">3.2 Columnists[13]</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Contact_information">4 Contact information</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Related_SourceWatch_Resources">5 Related SourceWatch Resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#References">6 References</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#External_links">7 External links</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#General_Information">7.1 General Information</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Articles_posted_by_WND">7.2 Articles posted by WND</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#Articles_.26_Commentary">7.3 Articles & Commentary</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Libel lawsuit</h2>

On September 20, 2000, WND published an article<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a> claiming that Clark Jones, a Tennessee car dealer and fund-raiser for then-Vice President <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Al_Gore" title="Al Gore" class="mw-redirect">Al Gore</a>, had interfered with a criminal investigation, had been a "subject" of a criminal investigation, was listed on law enforcement computers as a "dope dealer," and implied that he had ties to others involved in alleged criminal activity. In 2001, Jones filed a lawsuit<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-4" title="">[5]</a> against WND; the reporters, Charles C. Thompson II and Tony Hays; the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Public_Integrity" title="Center for Public Integrity">Center for Public Integrity</a>, which had underwritten Thompson and Hays' reporting on the article and related ones<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-5" title="">[6]</a>; and various Tennessee publications and broadcasters who he accused of repeating the claim, claiming libel and defamation. The lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial in March 2008<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-6" title="">[7]</a>, but on February 13, 2008, WND announced that a confidential out-of-court settlement had been reached with Jones.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-7" title="">[8]</a> A settlement statement jointly drafted by all parties in the lawsuit states in part:

"Discovery has revealed to WorldNetDaily.com that no witness verifies the truth of what the witnesses are reported by authors to have stated. Additionally, no document has been discovered that provides any verification that the statements written were true.

"Factual discovery in the litigation and response from Freedom of Information Act requests to law enforcement agencies confirm Clark Jones' assertion that his name has never been on law enforcement computers, that he has not been the subject of any criminal investigation nor has he interfered with any investigation as stated in the articles. Discovery has also revealed that the sources named in the publications have stated under oath that statements attributed to them in the articles were either not made by them, were misquoted by the authors, were misconstrued, or the statements were taken out of context."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-8" title="">[9]</a>

</blockquote>

<h2>Anti-Global Warming Contest</h2>

In 2008 WND Books -- formerly known as World Ahead Publishing -- sponsored what was dubbed "'The Sky's Not Falling" video/essay contest'", named after the book by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Holly_Fretwell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Holly Fretwell (page does not exist)">Holly Fretwell</a>, The Sky's Not Falling: Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming. "The two grand prize winners in both categories will receive $200. Second place winners will receive $100, and third place winners will receive $50. Plus, all 6 winners will receive copies of "The Sky's Not Falling: Why It's OK to Chill About Global Warming" to donate to their child's classroom and school library, and a copy of the hard-to-get DVD "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Great_Global_Warming_Swindle" title="The Great Global Warming Swindle">The Great Global Warming Swindle</a>," World Ahead stated on their website.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-9" title="">[10]</a> WorldNetDaily stated that the DVD prize was being sponsored by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Junkscience.com" title="Junkscience.com" class="mw-redirect">junkscience.com</a>, the website run by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_J._Milloy" title="Steven J. Milloy">Steven J. Milloy</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-10" title="">[11]</a>

<h2>Personnel</h2>

<h3>Staff<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-11" title="">[12]</a></h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Farah" title="Joseph Farah">Joseph Farah</a>, Editor and CEO</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Farah&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Elizabeth Farah (page does not exist)">Elizabeth Farah</a> - Senior Vice President for Marketing and Administration</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Kupelian&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="David Kupelian (page does not exist)">David Kupelian</a>, Managing Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joe_Kovacs&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Joe Kovacs (page does not exist)">Joe Kovacs</a>, Executive News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Les_Kinsolving" title="Les Kinsolving">Les Kinsolving</a>, White House Correspondent</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Aaron_Klein" title="Aaron Klein">Aaron Klein</a>, Jerusalem Bureau Chief</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jerome_Corsi" title="Jerome Corsi">Jerome Corsi</a>, Senior Staff Writer</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chelsea_Schilling&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chelsea Schilling (page does not exist)">Chelsea Schilling</a>, Staff Writer</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jay_Baggett&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jay Baggett (page does not exist)">Jay Baggett</a> - News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Art_Moore&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Art Moore (page does not exist)">Art Moore</a> - News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Unruh&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bob Unruh (page does not exist)">Bob Unruh</a> - News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Felicia_Dionisio&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Felicia Dionisio (page does not exist)">Felicia Dionisio</a> - News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Drew_Zahn&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Drew Zahn (page does not exist)">Drew Zahn</a>, News Editor</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ron_Strom&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ron Strom (page does not exist)">Ron Strom</a>, Commentary Editor</li>

</ul>

<h3>Columnists<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_note-12" title="">[13]</a></h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Joseph_Farah" title="Joseph Farah">Joseph Farah</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Ackley&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Michael Ackley (page does not exist)">Michael Ackley</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Doug_Powers&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Doug Powers (page does not exist)">Doug Powers</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Craig_R._Smith&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Craig R. Smith (page does not exist)">Craig R. Smith</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barbara_Simpson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Barbara Simpson (page does not exist)">Barbara Simpson</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chuck_Norris&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chuck Norris (page does not exist)">Chuck Norris</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ellen_Ratner&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ellen Ratner (page does not exist)">Ellen Ratner</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pat_Buchanan" title="Pat Buchanan" class="mw-redirect">Pat Buchanan</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Janet_Folger&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Janet Folger (page does not exist)">Janet Folger</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Les_Kinsolving" title="Les Kinsolving">Les Kinsolving</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Limbaugh" title="David Limbaugh">David Limbaugh</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mychal_Massie&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mychal Massie (page does not exist)">Mychal Massie</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Prager&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dennis Prager (page does not exist)">Dennis Prager</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dave_Ramsey&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Dave Ramsey (page does not exist)">Dave Ramsey</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ann_Coulter" title="Ann Coulter">Ann Coulter</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nat_Hentoff" title="Nat Hentoff">Nat Hentoff</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burt_Prelutsky&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Burt Prelutsky (page does not exist)">Burt Prelutsky</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Roy_Moore&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Roy Moore (page does not exist)">Roy Moore</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ben_Shapiro&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ben Shapiro (page does not exist)">Ben Shapiro</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Walter_Williams" title="Walter Williams">Walter Williams</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jill_Stanek&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jill Stanek (page does not exist)">Jill Stanek</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jack_Cashill&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jack Cashill (page does not exist)">Jack Cashill</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jane_Chastain&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jane Chastain (page does not exist)">Jane Chastain</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Larry_Elder&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Larry Elder (page does not exist)">Larry Elder</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rebecca_Hagelin" title="Rebecca Hagelin">Rebecca Hagelin</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Craige_McMillan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Craige McMillan (page does not exist)">Craige McMillan</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hal_Lindsey&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hal Lindsey (page does not exist)">Hal Lindsey</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ilana_Mercer&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ilana Mercer (page does not exist)">Ilana Mercer</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Melanie_Morgan" title="Melanie Morgan">Melanie Morgan</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Press&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Bill Press (page does not exist)">Bill Press</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Phyllis_Schlafly" title="Phyllis Schlafly">Phyllis Schlafly</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pat_Boone&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Pat Boone (page does not exist)">Pat Boone</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jonathan_Falwell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jonathan Falwell (page does not exist)">Jonathan Falwell</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Lamb" title="Henry Lamb">Henry Lamb</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Greg_Laurie&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Greg Laurie (page does not exist)">Greg Laurie</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Star_Parker&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Star Parker (page does not exist)">Star Parker</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ellis_Washington&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ellis Washington (page does not exist)">Ellis Washington</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Savage" title="Michael Savage">Michael Savage</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alan_Keyes" title="Alan Keyes">Alan Keyes</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_Sowell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Thomas Sowell (page does not exist)">Thomas Sowell</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Contact information</h2>

PO Box 1627

Medford, OR 97501

Phone: (541) 474-1776

FAX: (541) 474-1770

Website: <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/" class="external free" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.worldnetdaily.com/</a>

Website: <a href="http://www.wnd.com" class="external free" title="http://www.wnd.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.wnd.com</a>

<h2>Related SourceWatch Resources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Repent_America" title="Repent America">Repent America</a> / <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Marcavage" title="Michael Marcavage">Michael Marcavage</a> (see articles)</li>

</ul>

<h2>References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17207" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17207" rel="nofollow">World's 'No. 1 website' goes for-profit</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/resources/about_WND.asp" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/resources/about_WND.asp" rel="nofollow">"About WND"</a>, WorldNetDaily, accessed March 20, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-2" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59826" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59826" rel="nofollow">WND acquires World Ahead Media</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-3" title="">↑</a> Thompson II, Charles C., and Hays, Tony. <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=4260" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=4260" rel="nofollow">Officials say Gore killed drug probe</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-4" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/graphics/wndlawsuitdocs/jonessuit.pdf" class="external text" title="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/graphics/wndlawsuitdocs/jonessuit.pdf" rel="nofollow">Second Amended Complaint</a>. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-5" title="">↑</a> Krepel, Terry. <a href="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2007/wndlawsuit.html" class="external text" title="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2007/wndlawsuit.html" rel="nofollow">WorldNetDaily on Trial</a>. ConWebWatch. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-6" title="">↑</a> Unruh, Bob. <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59844" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59844" rel="nofollow">Future of reporting scheduled for trial</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-7" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56353" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56353" rel="nofollow">WND settles $165 million libel case</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-8" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56353" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56353" rel="nofollow">WND settles $165 million libel case</a>. WorldNetDaily. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-9" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldahead.com/titles/sky_contest_2.php" class="external text" title="http://www.worldahead.com/titles/sky_contest_2.php" rel="nofollow">"Kids & Globaloney Contest"</a>, undated, accessed May 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-10" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62598" class="external text" title="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62598" rel="nofollow">"Al Gore's global warming debunked – by kids!: Winners announced in 'The Sky's Not Falling' video-essay contest"</a>, WorldNetDaily, April 26, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-11" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Who%27s%20Who%20at%20WND" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Who's%20Who%20at%20WND" rel="nofollow">"Who's Who at WND"</a>, WorldNetDaily, accessed March 26, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=WorldNetDaily#cite_ref-12" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/WND%20Columnists" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/WND%20Columnists" rel="nofollow">"WND Columnists</a>, WorldNetDaily, accessed March 26, 2008.</li>

</ol>

<h2>External links</h2>

<h3>General Information</h3>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily" class="external text" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldNetDaily" rel="nofollow">WorldNetDaily</a> in the Wikipedia.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Articles posted by WND</h3>

<ul>

<li>Aaron Klein, <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52747" class="external text" title="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52747" rel="nofollow">"Mideast terror leaders to U.S.: Vote Democrat. Withdrawal from Iraq would embolden jihadists to destroy Israel, America,"</a> WND, November 2, 2006.</li>

<li>Jim Rutz, <a href="http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327" class="external text" title="http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327" rel="nofollow">"Soy is making kids 'gay',"</a> WND, December 12, 2006.</li>

</ul>

<h3>Articles & Commentary</h3>

<ul>

<li>Pete M., <a href="http://darkwindow.blogspot.com/2004/11/world-net-daily-explains-sex.html" class="external text" title="http://darkwindow.blogspot.com/2004/11/world-net-daily-explains-sex.html" rel="nofollow">"World Net Daily Explains Sex,"</a> The Dark Window Blogspot, November 9, 2004.</li>

<li>Terry Krepel, <a href="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2005/wndphilly2.html" class="external text" title="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2005/wndphilly2.html" rel="nofollow">"Soft-Hitting Journalism,"</a> ConWebWatch, February 7, 2005: "Why doesn't WorldNetDaily want to tell the full story of the lead protester in the 'Philly 5' case? Plus: Joseph Farah flip-flops on what should happen to people who blame America for 9/11, and what to expect from WorldNetDaily's new Jerusalem bureau."</li>

<li>PseudoCyAnts, <a href="http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/30109" class="external text" title="http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/30109" rel="nofollow">"World Net Daily: 'Google has 'Liberal' Bias',"</a> TPM Cafe, May 24, 2006.</li>

<li>Joseph Watson, <a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2006/180806issueretraction.htm" class="external text" title="http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2006/180806issueretraction.htm" rel="nofollow">"World Net Daily Forced To Issue 9/11 Hit Piece Retraction,"</a> PrisonPlanet.com, August 18, 2006.</li>

<li>Terry Krepel, <a href="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2007/wndbackers.html" class="external text" title="http://conwebwatch.tripod.com/stories/2007/wndbackers.html" rel="nofollow">"Who's Behind WorldNetDaily?"</a> ConWebWatch, March 1, 2007.</li>

</ul>

----

When my colleague Justin Elliott explained <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/04/11/trump_palin_two_million_birther">how WorldNetDaily invented</a> the "Obama spent $2 million fighting birther lawsuits" claim (short version: $2 million is what the Obama campaign paid a law firm in total, and in WND's imagination the only thing a presidential campaign needs a law firm for is hiding birth certificates), WND's founder got mad and <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/04/11/joseph_farah_wnd_misinformation">called him names.</a> (All of this was right after they published Jack Cashill's <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/04/07/birther_photoshop_fail">embarrassing Photoshop follies</a>.)

WND was, I guess, not happy with my colleague's coverage of its unhappiness, because today it attempted to smear him in two separate but equally amusing articles. The first, by Farah himself, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=286329">is just a lot of words calling Elliott a punk</a> while never once actually acknowledging that WND's "$2 million" figure is false. No, WND is right because its "investigation" into the matter is a three-part series, and no one can possibly be wrong at such great length.

The best part of Farah's commentary is when he argues that Elliott is wrong and WND's reporter is right because of their respective bios. While Elliott has merely written for various places, WND's reporter was in the Army and is "one of the most remarkable young women I have ever met." Take that, Justin: Joseph Farah doesn't think you're remarkable!

The real meat of WND's response, though, is in <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=286713">this post that "reveals" Justin Elliott's ties to ...  George Soros.</a> See, Elliott contributed to CampusProgress.org, which is published by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank founded with money from George Soros. So ... Soros! Ooga booga!

This investigation was written by Aaron Klein, who is WND's Jerusalem Bureau Chief. Oh, and: "With research by Brenda J. Elliott." It took two people, one of them a foreign correspondent, to Google Justin. Just like how it took two people to edit Barack Obama's Wikipedia page to include birther conspiracy theories and then write a story accusing Wikipedia of bias after people removed those edits, which is something <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/03/wikigate-1/">Mr. Klein and a "researcher" did in 2009.</a>

(Besides his Wikipedia misadventures, Klein is most famous for constantly repeating the stunt of interviewing members of Hamas and reporting that they "support" or "endorse" various American liberals, which proves conclusively every single time that Democrats are terrorists, by the law of transitive Islamofascism.)

So, let's talk about WorldNetDaily for a minute.

WorldNetDaily is a magnet for the dumbest, dullest wingnuts in America. Even its lawyer is a buffoon. Last year, WND <a target="blank" href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/04/worldnetdaily_wants_respect.html">sued the White House Correspondents' Association</a> because WND's disreputable conspiracy website was only given one table at the Correspondents Dinner. (They do have a White House correspondent, actually. It's Les Kinsolving, a tragicomedy of a man who is invited to briefings solely to be called on when the press secretary wants to answer a stupid question about who wrote the president's memoir instead of a serious question about reality.) Anyway, their lawyer <a target="blank" href="http://uk.gawker.com/5516996/birther-conspiracy-site-sues-dc-press-corps-for-permission-to-attend-party">was Larry Klayman</a>, who <a target="_blank" href="http://gawker.com/#%21297675">is not allowed to appear before courts in much of the United States</a> because of his "total disregard for the judicial process."

Here is a story from WorldNetDaily: <a target="blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327">"Soy is making kids 'gay.'"</a> It is in six parts. The original headline was <a target="blank" href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1752578/posts">"A devil food is turning our kids into homosexuals."</a> WorldNetDaily demands your respect! It is a serious news organization!

In 2008, <a target="blank" href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77508">WND "reported" on shocking emails</a> exchanged between Obama and a Kenyan politician. You should really go look at them. <a target="blank" href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Breaking_Obamas_native_language_not_actually_English.html">"I will kindly wish that all our correspondence handled by Mr Mark Lippert,"</a> "Obama" "wrote." (Subject line: "Let's share a dream!" Bill Ayers must've written "Dreams From My Father," because Obama himself is apparently not fluent in English.) Ahem:

The e-mails, apparently sent by Obama himself, referenced the senator's aide, Mark Lippert. The e-mails were provided to WND by an insider in Kenya who fled Odinga's Orange Democratic political party and requested anonymity because of the danger of retaliation.

</blockquote>

"Apparently." Journalism!

There is no end to the idiotic things printed at WorldNetDaily. Here's Obama's <a target="blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764">Kenyan birth certificate.</a> Here's a piece on how al-Qaida is sneaking nukes into the U.S. through <a target="blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=31232">the unsecured Mexican border</a> in tandem with street gangs. Here's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57222">white supremacist Vox Day asking</a> why the media refuses to report that a mentally ill person claims to have had gay sex with Barack Obama.

WorldNetDaily knows its (large!) audience of halfwits will eat up any garbage it's served, and, better yet, the rubes will buy any trash that's for sale. (<a target="_blank" href="http://superstore.wnd.com/specialty-items/Heritage-Tea-Stained">Tea-stained flags, anyone?</a>)

Thanks to that substantial audience of the nation's stupidest and most fearful elderly people, WND is actually an influential member in good standing of the conservative movement; the RNC rents <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thenextright.com/jon-henke/the-rnc-responds-but-will-not-distance-itself-from-worldnetdaily">its massive email list.</a> Because of that usefulness to the party, Farah and his buddies are allowed to persist in the delusion that they are sane and perhaps even respectable. But everyone knows they're frauds and crackpots. It takes five minutes of reading that bottomless repository of feverish bullshit to figure that out.

</div>

<li class="shortBio">Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon. Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More: <a href="http://www.salon.com/author/alex_pareene/index.html">Alex Pareene</a></li>

</ul>

</div>