It has come to my attention that some of you people who read this column on regular or semi-regular basis don’t understand that it is simply one component of a much bigger site — America’s fastest-growing Internet newspaper, WorldNetDaily.com.
So I am going to depart from my usual didactic, strident, save-the-world rhetoric to do a little well-deserved public relations.
When I launched this column as part of WorldNetDaily last May, I had big hopes, big plans and big expectations. Suffice it to say that, to date, the response to what we have produced has far exceeded our wildest dreams for an 8-month-old project.
One day this week, WorldNetDaily was visited by about 30,000 people. The average day is close to 20,000 — this from a site that has spent nothing on promotion or marketing.
What has made the site successful? There’s only one thing that can explain it — people are responding to our unique approach to the news. They like our investigative reporting into government fraud, waste, abuse and corruption. They like our news judgment, which is always skeptical of government solutions. And they like our analysis, commentary, our packaging, easy links, etc.
WorldNetDaily is at a point now where advertising can begin to contribute to the site’s growth. Later in 1998, we hope to begin adding reporters, editors and a small support staff that can help build WorldNetDaily into a formidable alternative news agency and the premiere source of news on the Internet.
So, why am I telling you all this? Because I want to make sure you Between the Lines readers don’t leave this site without visiting the front page of WorldNetDaily. I want you to get hooked on the best news page on the web, just like you’re already hooked on the best column.
I also want to ask you to bring your friends along. Tell people about this site. You won’t be sorry. We hear from very, very, very few people who are not just bowled over by WorldNetDaily — people of all political persuasions, people from all walks of life. Tell a friend. Spread the word. Share the wealth.
My wife, Elizabeth, marketing director of this company, would not be pleased if I failed to mention our on-going WorldNetDaily Reader Survey. It’s important. Please take a few minutes to fill it out. It will help us tremendously in learning about who you are. It will help us tell our potential advertisers more about an audience we know they will want to reach.
Not only is WorldNetDaily a growing powerhouse on the Internet, it is making impact offline as well. Most of America’s biggest talk-show hosts read WorldNetDaily. Some of them cite it on almost a daily basis as a useful source of information. Others use it as a virtual script for their top-of-the-hour news segments. Thus, WorldNetDaily isn’t just reaching tens of thousands on the Internet every day — it’s reaching millions daily on radio.
Some of the largest and most influential newspapers in America are now paying attention to WorldNetDaily. They’re reprinting columns. They’re re-publishing news stories and they are citing statistics and findings from our investigative reports.
We’ve done all this on a shoestring — with smoke and mirrors, as they say. But the formula has struck a chord with the truth-starved American public. The mail is glowing with praise for this little experiment. It’s enough to give me a big head.
So, what do I want you to do with all this information? For those of you who have already sent us a tax-deductible contribution some time in our first eight months, I don’t want you to do a thing, except continue to enjoy WorldNetDaily and share it with your friends. For those “freeloaders” who have not yet made a tax-deductible contribution to the Western Journalism Center to support this noble little experiment in freedom of the press, I want you to do so right now. Go to our Online Store Front and ensure that this innovative voice freedom has a chance to grow and prosper.
And for those who hyperlink into this column from somewhere else in cyberspace, don’t forget — there’s a front page to this site. You don’t have to enter through the back door. You’re a guest. Come to the front.
