Righting Originals represent articles and opinion pieces commissioned by the editors of TheRighting that reflect the mainstream and/or liberal perspective on Right-wing media.
“The Ben Shapiro Show” added the most new subscribers since the end of 2023, padding its lead as the right wing podcast with the most subscribers. The show. hosted by Shapiro (right) gained 13,322 subscribers in the first quarter, far more than any other right wing podcast. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
“Right wing websites appear more susceptible to steeper election year audience erosion than mainstream or left-leaning outlets,” said Howard Polskin, President and Founder, TheRighting. “But news sites on both sides of the aisle are feeling the effects of primary battles devoid of drama, which impacts traffic.”
By David Lieberman: Trump’s managerial shortcomings are legendary. They include a parade of bankruptcies (e.g. Trump Taj Majal and Trump Entertainment Resorts) and failures (e.g. Trump Shuttle, Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, GoTrump.com, and Trump Steaks).
In its analysis of Comscore data, TheRighting found significant audience erosion at every news website except one it monitored in the four-year period from 2020 to 2024. Only Newsmax, among all the news websites surveyed by TheRighting, generated an audience increase (+37%) from January 2020 to January 2024.
By Howard Polskin: One video gives viewers an inside peek at Moscow’s famed Kiyevskaya tube stop with its sparkling chandeliers and art work on the walls. It paint a one-sided picture of an idyllic, orderly society with abundant goods and first class infrastructure.
By Amy Reiter: “What Is a Woman?” remains a right-wing favorite and has been embraced by conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson. But it’s dangerously transphobic.
By Michael Lovito: Julie Behling’s outlandish theories expressed in her upcoming documentary “In Sheep’s Clothing” could catch on in far-right circles and open a new frontier in America’s increasingly conspiratorial political landscape.
The site of the popular Fox News anchor experienced an audience increase of 152% in December, more than any other website. However, traffic to most right wing websites decreased for the fourth straight month.
By Howard Polskin: Two scrappy digital outlets, the Granite Grok and Conservative View from New Hampshire, have quietly emerged this century and are walking in the deep red footprints of the Union Leader’s editorial page, lobbing their conservative views against the wall to see what sticks.
The daily show from the polarizing podcaster experienced a 50% surge in Castbox subscribers, rising from 26,346 at the end of 2023’s fourth quarter to 52,573 on December 30, 2023. However, his quarter-to-quarter increases are slowing dramatically and growth will be much softer later in the year.
Review by Amy Reiter: The film, which just dropped on Amazon Prime, is heavy-handed and clunky, with characters and dialogue that are laughably cliche. Jim Caviezel shows little range as a man determined to save children and, apparently, never to crack a smile.
By David Lieberman: Wall Street had discouraging news for right wing media companies at the end of 2023. The smart money believes that they need strong business models, not just fealty to Donald Trump or a religion, to make them investable.
By Howard Polskin: Prediction #1. Megyn Kelly gets anointed the queen of right wing media. She became the most popular female conservative podcaster in 2023 and her subscriber base is growing dramatically.
Since June, Hannity.com has generated six consecutive months of YOY increases in unique visitors. Infowars registered gains five times in the last six months. Traffic to most right wing websites slumped in November.
By Michael Lovito: Worth It or Woke doesn’t just review movies – it also calculates a “woke quotient” that lets potential viewers know if a given film pushes “ultra-radical progressivism” on its audience.
By Kevin Howley: Conservative reporting on the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai reveals willful ignorance in the face of an existential threat to life on this planet.
By Jon Friedman: NewsNation can only hope that the debate somehow makes big breaking news that leaves U.S. media junkies hungry for more. Trouble is, if it happens, those hungry viewers will probably grab the remote and click over to Fox, CNN or MSNBC.
By Kevin Howley: Allegations that universities are echo chambers are especially rich coming from right wing outlets who relentlessly repeat and amplify conservative talking points on everything from reproductive rights to Joe Biden’s drinking milkshakes through a straw.
By Michael Lovito: According to Stephen Gutowski, founder of the pro-Second Amendment website The Reload, the rise in defensive gun ownership may result in Democratic office holders to either move away from gun control policies or be replaced by pro-gun Republicans.
By David Lieberman: The Trump Media and Technology Group admits that it might not have “sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due” over the next 12 months.
“While the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel was an earth-shaking event that dominated news cycles in October, it was surprising that the majority of top right wing websites didn’t increase their traffic in October,” said Howard Polskin, President, TheRighting. However, Foxnews.com posted a healthy 11% rise in unique visitors.
By Kevin Howley: EventBrite made the wrong type of splash when the company removed an event featuring swimmer Riley Gaines, a vocal advocate defending women’s sports from biological males who identify as women.
Here’s the latest information on Trump’s five trials with background information about the judges, prosecutors, charges and penalties he faces. An indispensable easy-to-read guide to the massive legal exposure and headaches of our ex-president.
By David Lieberman: Rupert Murdoch washed his hands of Tucker Carlson in April when he kicked Fox News’ incendiary prime time star off the air. But the ultra-nationalist talk show host has found another money man to fuel his media aspirations – possibly in a big way.
