World News Daily Report

World News Daily Report
Type of site
 Fake news website
Headquarters Quebec, Canada
Editor Janick Murray-Hall,[1] Olivier Legault,[2]
Website worldnewsdailyreport.com
Alexa rank Increase Alexa global ranking: 37,190
Launched November 2013

World News Daily Report (WNDR) is a fake news website run by Canadians Janick Murray-Hall and Olivier Legault. Snopes.com reports that the website perpetrates hoaxes and rumors to prey on credulous readers. The website combines religious and scientific fakery, political conspiracy theories, and "the occasional seed of truth" to create its false reports.[3]

This disclaimer is stated on their website "WNDR assumes however all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website even those based on real people are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle."[4]

History

Since September 2013,[5] Murray-Hall had been involved in creating a French-language site called Journal de Mourréal, intended to spoof the real Journal de Montréal. The Journal de Mourréal (a colloquial/slang name for the city) was ordered to stop using a similar logo as a trademark violation of the Journal de Montréal.[6]

One article published by the Journal de Mourréal about a whale found in a field was believed to be real by a number of Canadian news channels, who sent reporters to investigate.[7]

Interviewed about the Journal, Legault said that "we have fun with that, but we still want to get a message. We are criticizing the media".[8]

Murray-Hall and Legault founded World News Daily Report in November 2013.[9][10] Most fake news sites started after Facebook made significant changes to their newsfeed in March 2013, allowing fake news to proliferate. In January 2015, Facebook clamped down on fake news, including World News Daily Report.[11]

Radio Canada interviewed Olivier Legault about the Journal de Mourréal and World News Daily Report. They asked if he was concerned that people would believe the stories on the second site. Legault replied that the site was intended to encourage self-criticism, but also that it was people's fault if they wanted to believe fake stories. He continued, saying:

"The people who take it seriously are people who want to take it seriously. It's stupid to say, but… We preach to converts. The majority of people who share it understand that it's a joke, and others share it because they want to believe it, not because they really believe in it… You can invent everything and anything and people will believe it. Honestly, it's a little disturbing when you realise that. As long as you confirm what they want to believe, they will share it. If you go against their opinion, they will immediately think that this is false news. But if you go in the direction of their opinion, they will share it right away. They lose their critical spirit."[12]

Legault claimed that since Google had reduced advertising revenue to Fake News sites at the beginning of 2017, the site had become less profitable. "The worst thing is that you're doing 100,000 or 200,000 page views a day, but you're not making money on it", Legault said. Radio Canada estimated using HypeStat that "WNDR would generate some 21,593 page views and $120.80 per day" in advertising revenue.[13]

Murray-Hall also told Buzzfeed in 2017 that Google's move to reduce advertising revenue to fake news sites had reduced their revenues considerably: "Presently we aren't making any money at all, which is a real bummer so we don't know where WNDR is going to go from here. It's just a shame because WNDR is a monster, it can create major traffic like most sites could only dream of with only one post.”[14]

Reception

In 2015, listing WNDR ninth among "The 9 Worst Fake News Sites," Gizmodo allowed "the site doesn't always seem intent on deceiving people. But it's still not very good. Not very good at all."[15] Later that year, The Independent included WNDR among sites that "play fast and loose with the word 'news' while delivering material that's completely fabricated."[16]

In 2016, fact-checking website Snopes.com said WNDR "often take[s] advantage of politically, socially, or religiously divisive issues to drive outrage-based traffic."[17] That same year, however, ABC News identified WNDR as "a satirical entertainment news site,"[18] and reproduced its online disclaimer[19] reading, "WNDR assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle."[18]

Also in 2016, the Columbia Journalism Review labeled WNDR as a fake news site despite having a legitimate-sounding name.[20] At year-end, BuzzFeed recognized WNDR for scoring five times among the year's top 50 Biggest Fake News Hits On Facebook.[1]

In 2017, fact-checking website PolitiFact deemed WNDR "a satirical news site,"[21] as did the Burlington County Times,[22] while the Toronto Star cited WNDR as an example of "satirical sites posing as real news outlets."[23]

Snopes regularly debunks WNDR articles, calling the site 'dubious',[24] with 'a long record of entirely fabricated and sensationalist stories'.[25] It also described its content as 'hate-baiting'[26] and that its staff have a preoccupation with bestiality.[27]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Silverman, Craig (December 30, 2016). "Here Are 50 Of The Biggest Fake News Hits On Facebook From 2016". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ Yates, Jeff (March 27, 2017). "Interview with a Québécois responsible for one of the worst sources of disinformation in the world". Radio Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ Kim LaCapria (December 8, 2017). "Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors". Snopes.com. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ "DISCLAIMER". Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130908120939/https://www.journaldemourreal.com
  6. ↑ "Fighting For Satire : Journal de Mourréal". montrealrampage.com. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  7. ↑ Cadoret, Laurent. "The Mourréal case". The Camaradiant. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  8. ↑ "Fausses nouvelles et satires : Qu'en est-il au Québec ? | L'exemplaire – Média-école des étudiants en journalisme". www.exemplaire.com.ulaval.ca. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  9. ↑ http://www.thatsfake.com/worldnewsdailyreport-com-real-fake/
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131118082224/https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/
  11. ↑ Caitlin Dewey (January 21, 2015). "Did Facebook just kill the Web's burgeoning fake-news industry?". The Washington Post.
  12. ↑ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société -. "Entrevue avec un Québécois responsable d'une des pires sources de désinformation au monde". Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  13. ↑ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société -. "Entrevue avec un Québécois responsable d'une des pires sources de désinformation au monde". Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  14. ↑ "The Viral Story About A Man Getting Cremated While Taking A Nap Is Total Bullshit". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  15. ↑ Novak, Matt (January 26, 2015). "The 9 Worst Fake News Sites". Gizmodo. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  16. ↑ Marsden, Rhodri (July 9, 2015). "Websites can create outrageous lies just for clicks, but why and how is this legal?". The Independent. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ LaCapria, Kim (January 14, 2016). "Snopes' Field Guide to Fake News Sites and Hoax Purveyors". Snopes.com. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  18. 1 2 "Woman Says Newborn Photo Stolen for Satirical Fake News Story". ABC News. February 22, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Disclaimer". World News Daily Report. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  20. ↑ Murtha, Jack (May 26, 2016). "How fake news sites frequently trick big-time journalists". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  21. ↑ Tobias, Manuela (July 12, 2017). "It's fake news that a 3,000-pound shark was caught in Lake Michigan". PolitiFact. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  22. ↑ Hanejko, Melissa (November 27, 2017). "Library presentation in Chesterfield will delve into fake news". Burlington County Times. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Look before you share: How to spot fake news on social media". Toronto Star. August 5, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  24. ↑ "FACT CHECK: Did a Greenpeace Activist Get His Arm Bitten Off After Hugging a Shark?". Snopes.com. 2018-02-02. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  25. ↑ "FACT CHECK: Tiger Woods Ordered to Take 137 Paternity Tests?". Snopes.com. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  26. ↑ "FACT CHECK: Did a Woman Sue a Paris Zoo After a Hippo Tried to Rape Her?". Snopes.com. 2018-01-30. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  27. ↑ "FACT CHECK: Was a Zookeeper Arrested for Trying to Molest a 500-Pound Male Gorilla?". Snopes.com. 2017-12-07. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
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