Why WND is more successful than Salon

Salon.com has lined up with other leftist media to complain about my emails to WND subscribers asking them to support the pioneering independent media company with financial contributions, suggesting the hard times we are facing is because we are of purveyors of "fake news."

You can read the story for yourself here. I'm not embarrassed. Being attacked by Salon is a great honor. And I've experienced that honor many times over the years.

Let me explain the real facts of life about why Salon is even still around after so many years as a real propagator of real fake news.

If I had a rich dad who subsidized WND to the tune of millions of dollars a year, even more than all of my company's annual revenues, I would not be begging for money from WND's subscribers. That's what allows Salon to sling mud at WND and other independent media year after year, decade after decade.

According to Wikipedia, which is also known for not being charitable or truthful toward WND, "Salon has been unprofitable through its entire history."

How does it continue? It seems William Hambrecht, father of Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Hambrecht, along with Salon board Chairman John Warnock, have provided huge cash infusions into the company. In 2012 alone, while Salon had total revenues of $2.7 million, those subsidies amounted to $3.4 million.

WND isn't owned by billionaires. It's not even owned by multi-millionaires. It's mostly owned by my wife and me who have invested everything we have in the company – and what we didn't have we loaned. WND has never lost millions of dollars. It can't afford to. When revenues dry up, we cut. Sometimes we beg. But we keep slaying dragons no matter what.

There's an old adage that the most effective lies contain an element of truth, and on this score the expert liars at Salon meet the criteria of what makes their fake news compelling.

The story begins: "It's long been observed within the media industry that working with the president is far less profitable than being in the opposition."

It's actually sometimes true and sometimes false – like everything you would expect Salon to say.

From our own experience at WND, when we were generally in an adversarial position to the policies of Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama, we had ups and downs: Up for Clinton. Down for Bush. Up for Obama.

Republicans and conservatives generally like WND more than Democrats. So, when we were seen as challenging Clinton, our readers were with us. But, when we were seen as challenging Bush, not so much. They came back when we were perceived as a contrarian voice to most of the Obama agenda.

And then came Donald Trump.

I'll be honest, I like Trump. I like him a lot. This is no secret. I write a daily column, and I don't hold back much of my personal opinion. I think his first year in office places him in rarefied company as a modern president. In fact, I would say he's the best, accomplishing more than the best president of my lifetime in his first year, Ronald Reagan.

I will also admit, WND has not been adversarial toward Trump, like most every other media outlet. So why is traffic down slightly? I suspect it's because many Republicans and conservatives think Trump's got everything under control.

Maybe they don't realize the president is one Democrat-dominated midterm election away from impeachment.

And that is why WND should be an especially important voice in 2018. In fact, it will need to be a very good year for the alternative, independent media.

Do you agree?

That's why I hope you will continue to support us through our voluntary fundraising campaign this month to reach our goal of $200,000 by March 1. It's imperative that you do. WND is a unique voice – Christian, independent, nationalist, constitutionalist, hard-hitting journalism. America needs that voice. President Trump needs that voice. You need that voice.

Here's how you can help us reach the goal:

1. We also need and welcome one-time donations of anywhere from $3 to $5,000. Contributions of $25, $50 or $100 make up the bulk of the gifts we've received in recent weeks – probably 90 percent! Words cannot even express the gratitude we feel for those. I just want to give everyone a hug for those, but you've got to be careful about expressions like that these days.

3. One of the ways the Digital Cartel has attacked us and the rest of the independent media is by drying up advertising revenues. While anti-Christian and so-called "progressive" activists launch boycotts and other attacks, Google, Facebook and the Silicon Valley Vampires use their monopoly power to strangle the voices of liberty and God's love and sovereignty. So here's a way you can counter them. Years ago, we noticed many people asking for an advertising-free version of WND supported by subscribers. We created one. It's called WND Weekly. We offer both a small annual subscription for this digital weekly magazine that contains nearly all the original content we produce daily and we deliver it to your inbox Sunday – repackaged with attractive illustrations, images and graphics – kind of like the old-fashioned Sunday paper delivered to your door. We provide that service for only $3.99 a month or for an annual price of $29.99. You can even sample it for free to see if it's for you.

4. Have you checked out our online WND Superstore recently? This was once WND's No. 1 source of revenue – for years! But because of the "Amazonization" of our culture, fewer people think of any other place to go for their books, Bibles, movies, gifts, preparedness needs and even unique products not carried at Amazon. Check out the handy links above to introduce yourself to the WND Superstore – or to re-introduce yourself to it.

5. If you don't already subscribe to our monthly Whistleblower magazine – available in both print and digital versions – you don't know what you're missing. Unlike any newsmagazine you've ever seen, every issue of Whistleblower is an incredible journey into one single topic of tremendous importance to you – a topic that, as a rule, is either ignored or twisted beyond recognition by the rest of the media. Whistleblower connects the dots and illuminates where today's events are headed, what they really mean, and what they portend for readers. It's a must-read.

6. Lastly, for individuals and foundations willing to make contributions larger than $5,000, you can mail those to us at WND, P.O. Box 1627, Medford, Oregon 97501. I urge you to send me an email at [email protected] and I'd be happy to discuss it with you personally. You can also call one of our customer service representatives (1-800-4-WND-COM or 1-800-496-3266) with your phone number and I will get back to you personally. We even have an affiliated non-profit institution we can tell you about that can ensure your targeted project-oriented contribution is tax-deductible. Would you like to sponsor more hard-hitting investigative reporting into corruption, fraud, waste and abuse in government? We can do it. Would you like to support the marketing effort of one of our books or movies? We can do that, too. Would you like to help us tackle some of our technical challenges in our battle to remain free a free and independent Christian voice to millions? Let's talk.

Thank you for your attention, your prayers, your expressions of love, your encouragement and your financial sacrifices. Let's fight the good fight together!

And may God bless you all – and thanks to Salon for helping me illustrate why WND is so needed.