WND EXCLUSIVE

WND RATING ROCKETS AS POST-ELECTION ISSUES ERUPT

Independent media on rise while legacy outlets stew over Trump presidency

The establishment media are lashing out in the aftermath of the stunning 2016 presidential-election result, which it almost unanimously had discounted as impossible, demanding sanctions against so-called “fake news” websites.

But the hysteria may have more to do with fear of competition than with the pursuit of truth, as independent news organizations such as WND are soaring in both traffic and reader engagement. And the growth of WND is continuing even after the election.

According to Alexa, WND is now the 187th most popular site of all websites in the United States and in the top 1,500 group of all websites globally. The ranking is especially impressive because Alexa has faced accusations of discrimination against websites that don’t lean left.

To put it in comparison, MSNBC ranks at 350 in the U.S., the Daily Caller is 483, the Blaze is 705, Breitbart is 127 and the Drudge Report is 103.

What’s more, WND was recently ranked as the 47th most active site in terms of commenting on the entire Internet according to the ranking site Comment 1000. The ranking is determined not just by the total number of comments but by the number of commenters. So the ranking shows both a huge number of engaged readers as well as a large amount of feedback.

Despite, or perhaps because of, this growth, WND, along with sites such as Breitbart, Red State and the Daily Wire have been smeared as “fake news” sites since the election, even though the definition seems to have more to do with ideology than accuracy.

Google and Facebook have also said they will be targeting revenue sources for so-called “fake news” sites.

The brief moment of self-criticism the establishment media engaged in after the election has ended, as outlets such as the Times now demand Facebook and other social networking titans essentially shut down competitors.

The move is coupled with a campaign to label independent journalism as “hate speech,” an accusation leveled at Breitbart and also WND.

The most hard-hitting, ground-breaking, take no prisoners reporting and commentary available ANYWHERE – now delivered straight to your inbox. Don’t miss WND’s acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, now available in digital format. And for a limited time, if you subscribe now, you’ll receive EVERY ISSUE OF WHISTLEBLOWER EVER PUBLISHED in digital format – all the way back to July 2001. Take advantage of this special offer before it’s too late and get your digital subscription to WND’s Whistleblower today! Don’t wait – this offer won’t last long.

But the establishment media’s collusion with the Clinton campaign, as exposed by WikiLeaks, is also raising questions about who deserves to be taken seriously as “independent” journalists.

Former Republican Rep. Ron Paul turned the tables on the establishment media’s narrative by releasing his own list of “fake” journalists, including employees at the New York Times, CNN and the Guardian of London, whom he accused of lying about Hillary Clinton’s election chances and about the supposed rationales for “bogus wars.”

Some argue it is the establishment media, despite being humiliated by promoting phony polls and misguided “experts” during the election, which has learned nothing and is promoting “fake news” narratives.

Among the most widely circulated narratives is the trope about a supposed wave of “hate crimes” against minorities by emboldened Trump supporters.

The vast majority of the claimed incidents don’t involve physical violence, and they were not captured on video, making them impossible to verify.

Several have already been exposed as hoaxes.

Meanwhile, widespread physical attacks on Trump supporters, many of which have been substantiated by video footage and/or police reports, are largely ignored by establishment media.

Consequently, readers are embracing independent sources they can trust, especially WND, the innovator in independent Internet journalism.

“WND has always – for 20 years – risen to the top of the charts for political coverage during presidential election years,” said Joseph Farah, founder, editor and chief executive officer of the pioneering alternative news site. “But this year the growth trend continues after the election. This is something we’ve never seen before. Perhaps Americans are finally getting the message: What we euphemistically call the ‘mainstream media’ is the real purveyor of ‘fake news.’ If you want to the truth, the real story, you’ve got to look for alternative sources of news. And WND, from the beginning, has been the place of refuge for real journalists with experience and values and professional standards.”

This time, it really is different. Almost 70 percent of voters believe the news media is not “honest and truthful” and almost 80 percent say it is “biased.”

With the establishment media’s credibility destroyed, Americans are turning to WND, a trusted source that has been around almost since the beginning of the Internet. Now, the facts show WND is the real mainstream when it comes to where Americans go to get the real news.

The most hard-hitting, ground-breaking, take no prisoners reporting and commentary available ANYWHERE – no delivered straight to your inbox. Don’t miss WND’s acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, now available in digital format. And for a limited time, if you subscribe now, you’ll receive EVERY ISSUE OF WHISTLEBLOWER EVER PUBLISHED in digital format – all the way back to July 2001. Take advantage of this special offer before it’s too late and get your digital subscription to WND’s Whistleblower today! Don’t wait – this offer won’t last long.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/11/wnd-rating-rockets-as-post-election-issues-erupt/#84y2RxdoV5eDIEqT.99