Editing WorldNetDaily (section)

==History==
{{Conservatism US|media}}
In 1997, [[Joseph Farah]] created the news website WorldNetDaily as a division of the [[Western Journalism Center]]. It was subsequently spun off in 1999 as a for-profit organization<ref name="Foley 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Foley |first1=Jordan M. |title=Press Credentials and Hybrid Boundary Zones: The Case of WorldNetDaily and the Standing Committee of Correspondents |journal=Journalism Practice |date=13 September 2020 |volume=14 |issue=8 |pages=9–10 |issn=1751-2794 |doi=10.1080/17512786.2019.1671214 |url=https://jordanfoley.net/files/papers/press_credentials_wnd/press_credentials_wnd_jp.pdf |s2cid=210645440 |via=Jordan M. Foley |access-date=October 9, 2020}}</ref> with the backing of $4.5 million from investors, Farah owning a majority of the stock. The site describes itself as "an independent news company dedicated to uncompromising journalism". In 1999, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. was incorporated in [[Delaware]]<ref name="Farah 1999">{{cite news |first=Joseph |last=Farah |url=http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17207 |title=World's 'No. 1 website' goes for-profit |date=October 1, 1999 |access-date=May 25, 2011 |website=WorldNetDaily |location=McLean, Virginia |quote=Beginning today, WorldNetDaily.com, voted the most popular website on the Internet the last 23 weeks, is officially a for-profit corporation... |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606073423/http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=17207 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with offices in [[Cave Junction, Oregon|Cave Junction]], [[Oregon]].<ref name="Black 2001">{{cite news |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2001/nf20010828_333.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011024020122/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/aug2001/nf20010828_333.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2001 |title=On the Web, Small and Focused Pays Off |work=BusinessWeek |date=August 27, 2001 |access-date=November 4, 2006 |last=Black |first=Jane |location=New York}}</ref>

The website gained notoriety for stoking false "[[birther]]" conspiracy theories about President [[Barack Obama]].<ref name="Roig-Franzia 2019">{{cite news |first=Manuel |last=Roig-Franzia |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-the-spectacular-fall-of-the-granddaddy-of-right-wing-conspiracy-sites/2019/04/02/6ac53122-3ba6-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html |title=Inside the spectacular fall of the granddaddy of right-wing conspiracy sites |date=April 2, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url-access=limited |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-date=February 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211092836/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-the-spectacular-fall-of-the-granddaddy-of-right-wing-conspiracy-sites/2019/04/02/6ac53122-3ba6-11e9-a06c-3ec8ed509d15_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, Farah wrote about WorldNetDaily{{'}}s financial problems, saying it faced an "existential threat". Farah ceased contributing to the site after his March 12, 2019, column; the site announced a few weeks later that he had suffered a major stroke. In April 2019, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that ''WorldNetDaily'' suffered from declining revenue and diminishing readership. Farah blamed the website's financial woes on what he claimed was suppression by powerful technology companies.<ref name="Roig-Franzia 2019"/>

In 2019, WorldNetDaily created the WND News Center, a nonprofit organization where its reporting operation would move.<ref name=NewsCenter>{{cite news |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/832729761 |title=Wnd News Center |website=ProPublica (Nonprofit Explorer)|access-date=December 3, 2024}}</ref> The structure is similar to that used by another conservative news website, ''[[The Daily Caller]]''.

===Application for congressional press credentials (2002)===
Seeking credentials to cover the [[United States Congress]] in 2002, WND was opposed by the [[press gallery|Standing Committee of Correspondents]]. This panel of journalists is charged by Congress with administering press credentials. Until 1996, Internet-only publications had been deemed unacceptable.<ref>{{citation |first=Michael T |last=Heaney |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mheaney/Press_Galleries.pdf |title=Blogging Congress: Technological Change and the Politics of the Congressional Press Galleries |journal=PS: Political Science & Politics |year=2008 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=422–426 |issn=1049-0965 |doi=10.1017/S1049096508290670 |s2cid=154642023 |access-date=July 7, 2010 |archive-date=February 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202121315/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mheaney/Press_Galleries.pdf |url-status=dead}}.</ref> ''WND'' turned to the [[United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration]] for help, arguing that the panel's decision had violated the site's constitutional rights to due process, equal protection, and freedom of the press. Faced "with legal threats and negative publicity, the panel reversed itself, voting 3–2 to award ''WND'' its credentials".<ref>{{citation |first=Jesse |last=Walker |author-link=Jesse Walker |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_6_34/ai_93090045/ |title=Galley gatekeepers: the politics of press credentials – Citings |newspaper=Reason |date=November 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713163707/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_6_34/ai_93090045/ |archive-date=July 13, 2012}}.</ref> Shortly after, the rules were formally adjusted to clarify the participation of online publications.<ref>{{citation |first=Mark |last=Thompson |url=http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1075604186.php |title=New Media Often Takes Back Seat to Old Media on Press Credentials |newspaper=Online Journalism Review |date=April 22, 2004 |access-date=May 16, 2010 |archive-date=January 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102163943/http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1075604186.php |url-status=live }}.</ref>

===Ann Coulter speech at Homocon (2010)===
In 2010, when [[Ann Coulter]] accepted an invitation to attend and speak at [[GOProud]]'s Homocon 2010 convention, Farah announced the withdrawal of Coulter's name from the list of speakers at the company's 'Taking America Back' conference.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Ben |title=WorldNet dumps 'right-wing Judy Garland' Coulter over gay event |url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0810/WorldNet_dumps_Coulter_over_gay_event.html |access-date=July 30, 2015 |publisher=Politico |date=August 18, 2010 |archive-date=May 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508051333/http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0810/WorldNet_dumps_Coulter_over_gay_event.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Coulter responded by saying that speaking engagements do not imply endorsement of the hosting organization.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}