Thanks to a trinity of the internet, Facebook, and online advertising, partisan news websites and their associated Facebook pages are almost certainly making more money for more people and reaching more Americans than at any time in history. In some cases, publishers are generating hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in revenue, with small operations easily earning five figures thanks to one website and at least one associated Facebook page.
“Politics changes perspectives, but money really changes people’s perspectives, so I’d really rather not say anything about that,” said Freddy Hernandez, who operates conservative news website YesImRight.com and its associated Facebook page with more than 1.4 million fans.
Hernandez doesn’t list his name anywhere on the site, and he’s primarily known online for his YouTube videos about cars, as well as his occasional contributions to auto websites such as Jalopnik. Hernandez told BuzzFeed News he watched Occupy Democrats and other Facebook pages generate huge engagement and traffic and wanted to see if he could do it too.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/inside-the-partisan-fight-for-your-news-feed
Then further in the article:
Freddy Hernandez of YesImRight.com, for example, at first said he didn’t have anything to do with running the site.
“I used to buy and sell domains,” he said, telling BuzzFeed News in a phone call that he sold that and other domains back in 2014.
But after being provided with evidence including Google AdSense codes and domain records that link him to YesImRight.com, Hernandez acknowledged that, yes, in fact he does run the site.
“Nothing worries me about this; I’m not ashamed of it,” he said. “It’s totally fine. I don’t see anything necessarily wrong with this. I’m just making money off a site that’s a blog or tabloid.”
During his interview with BuzzFeed News, Hernandez also acknowledged that in addition to YesImRight.com, he’s a partner in a liberal hyperpartisan site. “I don’t want to release any names, but I do have a site on the left,” he said.
Discuss.