Conservative commentator Glenn Beck took to Facebook and Twitter to apologize to President Trump’s family for cruel things he said about candidate Trump in 2016. It was a short but powerful statement from the founder of The Blaze and former Fox News host.
I am feeling so humbled this week. I feel truly horrible for the things I said and believed in 2016 about Donald J. Trump.
I believed the worst politically, which he proved me wrong at almost every turn. In the most dramatic cases (life/Israel/China/authoritarian).
I expected Trump to take control federally at the first opportunity. Here we are in a massive crisis. Bush ‘violated the free market to save the free market.’ Trump could have violated federalism to ‘save federalism’ yet he has stood firm through COVID.
But let me cut to the chase. I believed he actually didn’t care about people. When Trump called me after my fathers death, I assigned the motive to politics – AND SAID SO. What haunts me this week is how my words must have hit his children. How did I miss, the sharpness of my ‘judgement’ without consideration of family. Me? A guy who has lived it from his side.
I wanted to end my interview with Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. this week w/ a personal apology, who had spent 20 minutes with me as if we were old friends. I didn’t want to embarrass myself in the end and failed to do the right thing again.
I don’t regret my doubts or expressing my concern in ’16, but the fact that I missed his humanity and was blind to his family. I said at the time, ‘I hope I am wrong and will be the first to admit it.’
I did. On-air and personally to the president himself.
But it was all about politics. I knew he loved his children and they him. What I failed to see, is the reason I think they love him.
Donald Trump is a loud New Yorker with a private heart.
It takes a humble and self-aware heart to go public with contrition at this level. Glenn Beck’s apology goes a long way as an example of not just how skeptics should feel about President Trump, but how we should act as a society.
Coronavirus lockdowns put the future of independent news at risk
Reports indicate rising traffic but drastically lower revenues for mid-sized independent news outlets.
The economic downturn from COVID-19 lockdowns has hit many industries in the gut. One industry that doesn’t get nearly enough attention is journalism. The corporate conglomerates controlling mainstream media outlets are able to weather the storm, but independent news outlets have seen revenues plummet to the point that many are considering shutting down. We know. We’ve had to consider the possibility ourselves.
We’ve always run a very tight ship, keeping expenses to a minimum by limiting travel and technology expenditures. This has proven to be beneficial during the economic crisis, but we would not have made it this far if not for our generous donors. I cannot appropriately express my appreciation to those who have helped us raise nearly $4,000 since we started asking for assistance. It has been a true blessing and has inspired us to work harder to bring the truth to light that mainstream media tries to hide.
As I note below, traffic is through the roof. The appetite for honest news reporting, conservative opinion writing, and right-leaning podcasts is high. Every day we pick up new readers and subscribers; it’s another blessing we do not take for granted. But despite the increases in traffic and viewership, revenues have continued to plummet. We have maxed out on the number of ads we run, and that’s definitely not by choice. Ideally, we would run minimal ads or no ads at all, but this isn’t a hobby. This is a business, the only one that supports my family, so I’ve chosen to do what I hate doing by having plenty of ads on the site. Even with more ads, revenues are not what they were before the coronavirus lockdowns. This is why we’re still desperately asking for help.
The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. Our initial estimate of $11,500 to stay afloat through the end of the year was understated. Just as revenues have gone down, so too have expenses risen. We need to pick up quite a bit more than expected; I won’t even venture a guess anymore. At this point, literally everything we receive helps us keep the dream of being a truth-centered news outlet alive.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready to talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
Election year or not, coronavirus lockdowns or not, anarchic riots or not, the need for truthful journalism endures. In these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
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Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We just launched a new GiveSendGo page. We also have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
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