Liberty Writers News

Last updated

Liberty Writers News is an American fake news website, [1] established in 2015 by Paris Wade and Ben Goldman who write under the pseudonyms Paris Swade and Danny Gold. [2] [3]

The site's business model consists of publishing made-up political news stories to generate web traffic and thereby advertising revenue. In six months in 2016, its Facebook page attracted 805,000 followers and tens of millions of page views, [2] generating 95% of the site's traffic, which as of August 2016 yielded between $10,000 and $40,000 in revenue a month. [4]

As related by Wade and Goldman to The Washington Post, their stories focus on "violence and chaos and aggressive wording" to attract readers. [2] The stories reflect the positions of supporters of Donald Trump, and employ headlines such as "OBAMA BIRTH SECRETS REVEALED! The Letters From His Dad Reveal Something Sinister..." or "BREAKING: Top Official Set to Testify Against Hillary Clinton Found DEAD!". [2] Wade and Goldman said that they themselves were initially "liberal" and had voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections, but later "began to doubt those votes, their college education and the progressive values with which they were raised." [2]

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Liberty Writers News was flagged by Facebook in December 2016 as one of the "worst of the worst" fake news websites that created "clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain." [5]

A 2018 report by Buzzfeed News linked Wade and Goldman to a Macedonian media attorney who operated numerous “fake news” websites during the six month lead-up to the 2016 Presidential Election. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drudge Report</span> American news aggregation website

The Drudge Report is a U.S.-based news aggregation website founded by Matt Drudge, and run with the help of Charles Hurt and Daniel Halper. The site was generally regarded as a conservative publication, though its ownership and political leanings have been questioned following business model changes in mid-to-late 2019. The site consists mainly of links to news stories from other outlets about politics, entertainment, and current events; it also has links to many columnists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snopes</span> Fact-checking website

Snopes, formerly known as the Urban Legends Reference Pages, is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source for both validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture.

<i>InfoWars</i> American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website

InfoWars is an American far-right conspiracy theory and fake news website owned by Alex Jones. It was founded in 1999, and operates under Free Speech Systems LLC.

The Daily Beast is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.

<i>Breitbart News</i> American far-right news and opinion website

Breitbart News Network is an American far-right syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by American conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart. Breitbart News's content has been described as misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by academics and journalists. The site has published a number of conspiracy theories and intentionally misleading stories. Posts originating from the Breitbart News Facebook page are among the most widely shared political content on Facebook.

Mediaite is a news website focusing on politics and the media. Founded by Dan Abrams, it is part of the Abrams Media Network.

BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Kenneth Lerer, co-founder and chairman of The Huffington Post, started as a co-founder and investor in BuzzFeed and is now the executive chairman.

The Daily Caller is a right-wing news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C. It was founded by now-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and political pundit Neil Patel in 2010. Launched as a "conservative answer to The Huffington Post", The Daily Caller quadrupled its audience and became profitable by 2012, surpassing several rival websites by 2013. The Daily Caller is a member of the White House press pool.

National Report is a fake news website that posts fictional articles related to world events. It is described by Snopes.com as a fake news site, by FactCheck.org as a satirical site, and by The Washington Post as part of a fake-news industry, making profits from "duping gullible Internet users with deceptively newsy headlines." The National Report describes itself as a "news and political satire web publication" and provides a disclaimer that "all news articles contained within National Report are fiction". The disclaimer, however, is not printed on the main page, which instead claims that the website is "America's #1 Independent News Source".

Paul Horner was an American writer, comedian and contributor to fake news websites. The Associated Press, The Chicago Tribune, PolitiFact and The Washington Post all called Horner a "hoax artist".

<i>The Western Journal</i> American news website

The Western Journal, previously known as Western Journalism, is an American conservative news and politics website based in Phoenix, Arizona. It was founded by political consultant Floyd Brown in 2008.

Fake news websites are websites on the Internet that deliberately publish fake news—hoaxes, propaganda, and disinformation purporting to be real news—often using social media to drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Unlike news satire, fake news websites deliberately seek to be perceived as legitimate and taken at face value, often for financial or political gain. Such sites have promoted political falsehoods in India, Germany, Indonesia and the Philippines, Sweden, Mexico, Myanmar, and the United States. Many sites originate in, or are promoted by, Russia, North Macedonia, Romania, and the United States.

ABCnews.com.co Spoof website

ABCnews.com.co was a fake news website which mimicked the URL, design and logo of the ABC News website. Many stories from ABCnews.com.co were widely shared before being debunked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizzagate conspiracy theory</span> Debunked conspiracy theory about alleged child-sex ring

"Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.

False news websites in the United States target American audiences by using disinformation to create or inflame controversial topics such as the 2016 election. Most fake news websites target readers by impersonating or pretending to be real news organizations, which can lead to legitimate news organizations further spreading their message. Most notable in the media are the many websites that made completely false claims about political candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as part of a larger campaign to gain viewers and ad revenue or spread disinformation. Additionally, satire websites have received criticism for not properly notifying readers that they are publishing false or satirical content, since many readers have been duped by seemingly legitimate articles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fake news</span> False or misleading information presented as news

Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. Although false news has always been spread throughout history, the term "fake news" was first used in the 1890s when sensational reports in newspapers were common. Nevertheless, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied broadly to any type of false information. It's also been used by high-profile people to apply to any news unfavourable to them. Further, disinformation involves spreading false information with harmful intent and is sometimes generated and propagated by hostile foreign actors, particularly during elections. In some definitions, fake news includes satirical articles misinterpreted as genuine, and articles that employ sensationalist or clickbait headlines that are not supported in the text. Because of this diversity of types of false news, researchers are beginning to favour information disorder as a more neutral and informative term.

The Gateway Pundit (TGP) is an American far-right fake news website. The website is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories.

World News Daily Report (WNDR) is a satirical fake news website purporting to be an American Jewish Zionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedicated to covering biblical archeology news and other mysteries around the globe.

References

  1. Graham, Rosie (2017-12-12). "Google and advertising: digital capitalism in the context of Post-Fordism, the reification of language, and the rise of fake news". Palgrave Communications . 3 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1057/s41599-017-0021-4. ISSN   2055-1045.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McCoy, Terrence (20 November 2016). "For the 'new yellow journalists,' opportunity comes in clicks and bucks". The Washington Post . Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  3. Dvorak, Petula (21 November 2016). "Fake-news writers need to meet the real reporters who die trying to do their jobs". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  4. Tynan, Dan (24 August 2016). "How Facebook powers money machines for obscure political 'news' sites". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  5. Porter, Stephen (16 December 2016). "Facebook to flag 'worst of the worst' fake news with fact-checking partners". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  6. Silverman, Craig; Feder, J. Lester (18 July 2018). "Macedonia's Pro-Trump Fake News Industry Had American Links, And Is Under Investigation For Possible Russia Ties". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  7. Birnbaum, Emily (18 July 2018). "Two US writers linked to rise of fake news from Macedonia: report". The Hill. Retrieved 21 August 2018.