Newsmax Media is a media organization founded by journalist Christopher W. Ruddy and based in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It operates the Newsmax.com web site, publishes Newsmax Magazine, as well as a host of health and financial newsletters.[1]
History
Christopher W. Ruddy started Newsmax.com on September 16, 1998, supported by a group of conservative investors, including the family of the late Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Casey. Later Richard Mellon Scaife, his former employer at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and a supporter of conservative causes, invested in the fledging company.[2] One of the initial board members was author James Dale Davidson who edited a financial newsletter that had shared Ruddy's interest in the Vincent Foster case. Davidson's co-editor, Lord Rees-Mogg, former editor of the The Times and Vice Chair of the BBC, later became chairman of Newsmax Media.[3]
Other news figures who later joined the Newsmax board included Arnaud de Borchgrave, the longtime Newsweek chief correspondent who also serves as editor at large of UPI and Jeff Cunningham, former publisher of Forbes. The late Admiral Thomas Moorer, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who helped bring the Vietnam War to a close, also served as one of the company's founding board members. Former Nixon Chief of Staff and Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. has served as special advisor to NewsMax[4]
Ruddy aimed at creating an Internet news company by building a team of reporters instead of working alone. In August 2001, talk radio host Michael Reagan merged his monthly newsletter The Reagan Monitor with Newsmax Magazine and began writing a regular column for the publication.[5]
In 2008, a profile in The Palm Beach Post on Newsmax and founder Ruddy indicated the company generated revenues of approximately $25 million per year, and, according to the company, has been profitable for the past five years.[1] In a 2009 Forbes.com interview with Internet guru Nathan Richardson, he was asked to identify the "smartest thing on the web" today. Richardson identified Newsmax, among several web sites, citing its success "monetizing the web."[6]
In March, 2009 Forbes featured Newsmax and described Ruddy's company as a "media empire" and the "great right hope" of a troubled Republican Party. Forbes noted that after just a decade of operations it had become a "media powerhouse" - and had surpassed such well known web sites as the Drudgereport in web visitors. According to the magazine, Newsmax draws 3.8 million unique visitors monthly. Political analyst Dick Morris was quoted as saying that Newsmax had become the "most influential Republican-leaning media outlet" in the nation.[7]
Reach and influence
Newsmax draws an eclectic range of readers and friends. Forbes magazine says regular readers include Newt Gingrich, John Templeton Jr. and Sen. Joseph Lieberman who calls the site "impressive." [7]
In addition to Newsmax.com, the company publishes Newsmax magazine, which the company describes as the nation’s "largest independent monthly with a conservative perspective." During 2006 the magazine’s ABC-audited circulation totaled approximately 90,125 paid subscribers.[8]
In November 2005, Newsmax magazine earned a Silver Eddie award in the News/Commentary category of the Eddies, the journalism awards presented by Folio Magazine in New York City.[9]
MarketWatch.com's media critic Jon Friedman attributed Newsmax's business success to a focus on its bottom line as a business rather than pushing a political ideology.[10]
Notable stories
- Newsmax Magazine put Sarah Palin on the cover of the September 2008 issue which was released just days before her selection by John McCain as his vice presidential running mate. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax, Palin said she did not believe that global warming was a man-made phenomena.[11]
- After the mysterious disappearance of Chandra Levy in 2001, contributor John LeBoutillier allegedly posted a speculative column on the site about the sex life of Representative Gary Condit, with whom Levy had an affair. The column quickly circulated among media members, even though Newsmax editors pulled it from the site.[12]
- On May 26, 2000, Newsmax published an article claiming Hillary Clinton refused to meet with the Gold Star Mothers.[13] According to the Gold Star Mothers organization, this was false and "Senator Clinton greeted us graciously on Gold Star Mothers Sunday, 2005. This story was also debunked at other websites[14] and eventually led to a retraction by NewsMax.[15]
- A 2005 NewsMax.com report about Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, claiming he was "teaming up" with rock band U2 for a fund-raiser, gained considerable attention. Santorum had actually purchased 66 tickets to a sold-out show and was reselling these to campaign supporters at $1,000 per seat. The band issued a statement denying it was involved in the practice, saying, "U2 concerts are categorically not fund-raisers for any politician; they are rock concerts for U2 fans."[16] Rather than admitting the error and issuing a correction, Newsmax simply changed its article about the fund-raiser without telling readers it had been changed, stating that the story was misinterpreted[17].
- During the debate over the failed 2007 Immigration Bill, Newsmax popularized opposition to an alleged "North American Union", a dystopian vision of a future America where "NAU citizens no longer spend dollars or salute Old Glory. They spend 'ameros'."[18]
- On August 9, 2007, Newsmax freelance reporter Jim Davis reported that Barack Obama was in attendance on July 22, 2007, during a controversial sermon giving by Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. at Trinity United Church of Christ in South Chicago, Obama's place of worship.[19] The claim that Obama was in attendance for this particular sermon was repeated by Newsmax as fact again on March 16, 2008[20]. A July 22, 2007, speaking schedule for the National Council for La Raza in Miami, Florida, shows Obama as a scheduled speaker for 1:30 pm[21]. Video confirms he attended the conference and spoke during his allotted time. New York Times op-ed author, William Kristol, who relied upon the erroneous Newsmax articles in an op-ed article in the New York Times on March 17, 2008,[22] provided the following retraction and apology later in the day, "In this column, I cite a report that Sen. Obama had attended services at Trinity Church on July 22, 2007. The Obama campaign has provided information showing that Sen. Obama did not attend Trinity that day. I regret the error." [23] However, Davis later explained that Obama had attended the early morning service at Trinity United at 7:30 a.m., leaving sufficient time for him to travel by private jet to Miami; and the La Raza website confirms that Obama did not arrive until 1:50 p.m. Eastern time. Newsmax reports receiving confirmation from the Obama campaign that the candidate's private jet did not leave Chicago until 8:50 a.m. A Washington Post fact checker has reported that the issue has not been resolved to his satisfaction one way or the other.
- Newsmax claimed that Obama's Vatican ambassador had been rejected several times for being "insufficiently pro-life". The Catholic News Service and Time magazine confirmed on April 9, 2009, that Newsmax's story was false[24].
- On September 29, 2009, in a column on the Newsmax.com blog, John L. Perry described the possibility of a military coup against President Obama to resolve what Perry calls the "Obama problem". Newsmax removed the column. In a statement, Newsmax stated that it did not want any misinterpretation of the article to be made and that it, as a news organization, strongly supported the idea of constitutional government.[25]
Contributors
Newsmax has a sizable stable of news correspondents and editorialists. Among them is Ronald Kessler, Newsmax's chief Washington correspondent, who worked for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Other contributing correspondents to Newsmax include former Reader's Digest Editor Kenneth R. Timmerman. Newsmax regulars include Christopher W. Ruddy, David Limbaugh, Pat Boone, James Hirsen, Geoff Metcalf, John LeBoutillier, Susan Estrich, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Bill O'Reilly and Michael Reagan[26].
Besides political commentaries, Newsmax publishes The Blaylock Wellness Report[27] in which Dr. Russell Blaylock provides information regarding choices in food, drugs, nutritional supplements and other health remedies, as well as denouncing vaccines, blood pressure medicine, and aluminum cookware[28]. Additional newsletter publications of Newsmax include Intelligent Options; The ETF Strategist; High-Yield Income Investing; and Financial Intelligence Report[29], as well as Dr. Brownstein's Natural Way to Health[30], Dr. Amen's Brain Health Report[31], and the financial news Web site Moneynews.com[32].
References
- ^ a b John Lantigua.Newsmax Media article Palm Beach Post, October 6, 2008. p. 1.
- ^ Poe, pp. 171-172.
- ^ Poe, p. 100.
- ^ "General Alexander M. Haig, Jr. joins NewsMax.com advisory board", PR Newswire
- ^ ""Michael Reagan and Reagan Monitor Join Newsmax Magazine", Newsmax.com, August 14, 2001
- ^ Smilie, Dirk, "Nathan Richardson's Modest Proposal"Forbes.com article, February 3, 2009.
- ^ a b Smillie, Dirk."A Great Right Hope", Forbes.com, March 6, 2009.
- ^ ABC Audit March 7, 2006 : ABC Member # 04-0795-9
- ^ "2005 EDDIE WINNERS".
- ^ Friedman, Jon.[1]Chris Ruddy: Conservatives'Great Online Ally."Marketwatch.com", March 13, 2009.
- ^ Klein, Rick. "ABC News Reports".ABC News, August 29, 2008.
- ^ Grove, Lloyd. "The Reliable Source". Washington Post, July 20, 2001, p. C3.
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ Healy, Patrick D. "U2 Moves to Distance Itself From Concert Fund-Raising". New York Times, October 14, 2005, p. B6.
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ Generation Obama? Perhaps Not. - New York Times
- ^ Bill Kristol, New York Times Hack, UPDATE - Political Machine
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
- ^ [12]
- ^ The Blaylock Wellness Report
- ^ Dr. Russell Blaylock
- ^ [13]
- ^ [14]
- ^ [15]Newsmax Launches Dr. Amen's Brain Health."Yahoo Finance", March 26, 2009.
- ^ [16]
External links
