 | |
| Type | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Liftable Media, Inc. |
| Founder | Floyd Brown |
| Editor-in-chief | George Upper |
| Founded | 2008; 17 years ago (2008) |
| Political alignment | Conservative[1] |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Phoenix,Arizona, U.S. |
| Country | United States |
| Website | westernjournal |
The Western Journal, previously known asWestern Journalism, is anAmerican conservative[2] news and politics website based inPhoenix, Arizona. It was founded by political consultantFloyd Brown in 2008.
Western Journalism previously stated that it featured "conservative,libertarian,free market and pro-family writers and broadcasters"[3] and that it seeks to provide "God-honoring" content.[4] In practice, according toThe New York Times, this philosophy, in which "tradition-minded patriots face ceaseless assault byanti-Christian bigots, diseased migrants and race hustlers concoctinghate crimes," results in "a torrent ofsensationalized, misleading, or entirely made-up stories, often aimed atMuslims and immigrants."[5] Because of negative rulings byfact-checking sites and user trust surveys,Western Journalism was blacklisted byGoogle andApple News, and by 2017 its Facebook traffic declined to near zero.[5]
Western Journalism founder Floyd Brown also founded the political action committeeCitizens United[6] and served as executive director of the Young America's Foundation.[7]
The site was acquired by Liftable Media, Inc. in 2014,[4] which also owns the political opinion websitesConservative Tribune andLiberty Alliance,[4] and the Christian website Liftable.com.[8] It also owns and provides content to dozens of conservative Facebook pages.[5]
Newsweek reported that the site has grown from receiving 1,000 page views a day in 2009[6] to more than 1 million during 2016.[9]
In a 2016 story on howfake news spreads on social media,The Intercept reported that "Thanks to views sourced largely to referrals fromFacebook, Brown's websites now outrank web traffic going to news outlets such as theWall Street Journal,CBS News, andNPR, according to data compiled byAlexa".[10]
The company changed its name in 2018 toThe Western Journal, hired trained copy editors, and introduced a corrections page.[5] In 2018 the CEO of Liftable Media, which publishesConservative Tribune andThe Western Journal, toldBuzzFeed News he would be contactingTrue Pundit to demand itcease and desist "stealing the first 10 paragraphs or so of our content".[11]
The New York Times reported in 2019 that the site had more than 36 million readers and followers onFacebook.[5]
Western Journalism previously stated it featured "conservative,libertarian,free market and pro-family writers and broadcasters"[12] and seeks to provide "God-honoring" content.[4] In practice, according toThe New York Times, this philosophy, in which "tradition-minded patriots face ceaseless assault by anti-Christian bigots, diseased migrants and race hustlers concoctinghate crimes," results in "a torrent of sensationalized, misleading, or entirely made-up stories, often aimed atMuslims and immigrants."[5] Because of negative rulings byfact-checking sites and user trust surveys,Western Journalism was blacklisted byGoogle andApple News, and by 2017 its Facebook traffic declined to near zero.[5]
In February 2019,The Western Journal published an article which alleged "Climate Change 'Heat Records' Are a Huge Data Manipulation." Scientists criticized the article, saying it was deceptive and thatit contradicted existing research.The Western Journal subsequently retracted the article.[13]
In November 2021, a study by theCenter for Countering Digital Hate describedThe Western Journal as being among "ten fringe publishers" that together were responsible for nearly 70 percent of Facebook user interactions with content that deniedclimate change. Facebook disputed the study's methodology.[14][15]
Politically, The Western Journal advocates for broadly conservative positions on most issues
