Web powerhouse marks 14th anniversary

In 1997, the Rocky Mountain News newspaper in Denver was a presence in America, claiming journalism awards and influence, while Joseph and Elizabeth Farah developed the concept of an online news resource that would escape the bonds of delivery routes and even newcast schedules.

Today, the Rocky Mountain News is a historic memory, having collapsed under the weight of its industry traditions, while WND is a premiere news resource for hundreds of thousands of people daily.

Wednesday marks the 14th anniversary of the Farahs' project, which now features some of the top commentary names in the world, regularly breaks news stories and has drawn dedicated readers from around the world.

"WND burst onto the Internet scene in 1997 – a completely different environment that it is today," said Joseph Farah. "Back then there were no bloggers – the word was unknown. MSNBC was the largest website in the world. Today it ranks well below WND in traffic."

He continued, "There was no Google back then. WND had almost no detractors for the first couple of years of its existence. Today there are websites solely devoted to attacking and criticizing virtually everything WND publishes. It's a completely different world.

"But we remain steadfast in following our unique mission statement – doing exactly what we set out to do."

On the commentary pages the contributors range from Patrick J. Buchanan and Phyllis Schlafly to the new video commentaries of D.J. Dolce, Molotov Mitchell and Ray Comfort.

Martial arts expert and veteran actor Chuck Norris developed his newest career, columnist, through WND.

The works of D. James Kennedy and Jerry Falwell are featured in memoriam.

In addition to Joseph Farah's daily columns are works from Herman Cain, White House Correspondent Les Kinsolving, Ann Coulter, Barry Farber, Greg Laurie, Alan Keyes, Ken Hutcherson, David Kupelian and Judith Reisman.

Further, Pat Boone, descendant of the legendary pioneer Daniel Boone, a top-selling recording artist, star of his own hit TV series, a movie star, a Broadway headliner and a best-selling author in a career that has spanned half a century, also contributes regularly, most recently recalling to readers how he played David Wilkerson, who died last week, in the film "The Cross and the Switchblade."

There is a long list of "Scoops," the journalist's term for being the first to report a story.

For 2010, for example, WND broke story after story about the questions over Barack Obama's eligibility to be president. Other scoops include a victim's report of attacks by sex "researcher" Alfred Kinsey, stories on the advent of Obamacare – the first time the government is attempting to force citizens to be part of "interstate commerce," reports of how state after state is staging a "rebellion" against Washington by challenging its authority on everything from ID cards to guns to health care and how a homeschooling father in Sweden was jailed for months – for visiting with his son.

Scoops in 2009 included the case of U.S. Border Patrol agents Igancio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were jailed after a federal prosecutor granted a known drug smuggler immunity to testify against them. WND also covered the "czar wars" in Washington. It broke the first major story on Obama's "green-jobs" czar Van Jones, and it was the dogged reporting of WND's Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein that helped lead to Jones' dismissal. WND also was there when the Department of Homeland Security warned against "right-wing extremists" including those who are pro-life, oppose restrictions on firearms and may have a bumper-sticker for a third-party presidential candidate.

In 2008, WND blew the whistle when Obama proposed a "civilian national security force" that would be "just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the half-trillion dollar Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force – together.

Back in the early days, WND reported how the White House was using the Internal Revenue Service as an attack dog and about the militarization of the federal government.

WND now features pages for news, local news links, commentary, a business report, "Diversions" featuring the best of the entertainment world, a Daily Blessing from the Bible, audio and video interviews, The WorldNetWeekly online report, the Monthly Whistleblower magazine, the premium intelligence G2 Bulletin report, the financial oriented Red Alert, petitions, crosswords, comics, sports information, TV Guide, Movieguide, weather reports and others.

In the company's history, WND has launched Bill O'Reilly's "No Spin Zone" column, created its own WND Books division, reported how Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was caught napping on the job, documented the battle for the life of Terri Schiavo and reported when a former elections official in Hawaii said he was sure Obama was not born on the islands.

From its founding, it took only a month for WND traffic to reach some 10,000 hits a day. The Farahs realized something in their plan – to practice traditional journalism without fear or favor to party and with a skeptical view of government – was working.

Counts nowadays have reached into the million-visitor per day range on occasion.

In a published question-and-answer session, Joseph Farah said his belief is "the central role of a free press in a free society is to serve as a watchdog on government and other powerful institutions."