Some leading far-right figures have been kicked off social media platforms entirely, after violating rules against hate speech and incitement. Brown, who began his career with the race-baiting “Willie Horton” ad during the 1988 presidential campaign, and run by his younger son, Patrick, The Western Journal used misleading headlines and sensationalized stories to attract partisans, then profit from their anger.īut Silicon Valley’s efforts to crack down on clickbait and disinformation have pummeled traffic to The Western Journal and other partisan news sites. Founded by the veteran conservative provocateur Floyd G. The Western Journal rose on the forces that have remade - and warped - American politics, as activists, publishers and politicians harnessed social media’s power and reach to serve fine-tuned ideological content to an ever-agitated audience. In the three years ending in March, according to a New York Times analysis, Western Journal’s Facebook posts earned three-quarters of a billion shares, likes and comments, almost as many as the combined tally of 10 leading American news organizations that together employ thousands of reporters and editors.īut in the last year, as Facebook and Google tried to rein in their own freewheeling, largely unregulated information ecosystems, The Western Journal’s publishers have been thrust into a high-stakes clash between the tech industry and Washington. In the parallel universe of Facebook, though, The Western Journal has been among the most popular and influential publications in America, shaping the political beliefs of more than 36 million deeply loyal readers and followers. Indeed, it rarely dispatches reporters into the world to gather news firsthand. Though it publishes scores of stories each week about national politics, the company has no Washington bureau, or any other bureaus. Until recently, some of its most prolific writers used pseudonyms. The Western Journal is not quite a household name. Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, proposes a “$100 billion handout” for black families. Police officers are kicked out of an Arizona Starbucks. A Mexican politician threatens the “takeover” of several American states. In the America presented on their news and opinion website,, tradition-minded patriots face ceaseless assault by anti-Christian bigots, diseased migrants and race hustlers concocting hate crimes. Each day, in an office outside Phoenix, a team of young writers and editors curates reality.
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