Christopher Ruddy (born January 28, 1965) is an American journalist who is the CEO and majority owner of Newsmax Media .
121-497: Newsmax, Inc. (or Newsmax.com , previously styled NewsMax ) is an American cable news, political opinion commentary, and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy in 1998. It has been variously described as conservative , right-wing , and far-right . Newsmax Media divisions include its cable and broadcast channel Newsmax TV ; its website Newsmax.com, which includes Newsmax Health and Newsmax Finance; and Newsmax magazine, its monthly print publication. Newsmax launched
242-482: A 2015 column in the New York Post , after returning to print publication, Newsweek was selling c. 100,000 copies per month, with staff at that time numbering "about 60 editorial staffers", up from a low of "less than 30 editorial staffers" in 2013, but with plans then to grow the number to "close to 100 in the next year". In 1970, Eleanor Holmes Norton represented sixty female employees of Newsweek who had filed
363-580: A 60 percent stake, with the rest owned by Scaife as a silent partner. Richard Scaife died in 2014 at the age of 82. New York Post editor Eric Breindel recommended Ruddy for a job at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review owned by Richard Mellon Scaife . In November 1994, Ruddy was hired to investigate the story full-time by the Tribune-Review . In between Ruddy's departure from the Post and joining
484-528: A cable television channel on June 16, 2014, to 35 million satellite subscribers through DirecTV and Dish Network . As of May 2019, the network claimed to reach about 70 million households via cable television. As of September 2023, the average audience for Newsmax was 542,000. The channel primarily broadcasts from Newsmax's New York studio on Manhattan's East Side , with two headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida , and Washington, D.C. Newsmax began broadcasting in
605-547: A claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Newsweek had a policy of allowing only men to be reporters. The women won, and Newsweek agreed to allow women to be reporters. The day the claim was filed, Newsweek 's cover article was "Women in Revolt", covering the feminist movement; the article was written by Helen Dudar, a freelancer, in the belief that there were no female writers at
726-574: A co-chair of the Republican National Committee , was exploring a buyout of Newsmax. The Hicks group identified a team of executives who would manage the network, and had been talking to former Fox News hosts including Megyn Kelly . Media analyst Michael Nathanson reported that if a competing network took 20% of Fox News' audience, it could sap about $ 200 million in annual profit from the company. In an interview with Variety , Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy stated "we are not actively selling"
847-462: A division of Newsmax Media. The company publishes books in the areas of health , personal finance , current affairs , and politics . Books by the company are distributed by Two Rivers Distribution . The company began operations in 1969. The first titles by the company were published in response to the need for higher quality classroom materials to support learning. In 2012 the company was acquired by Newsmax Media and shortly after Anthony Ziccardi
968-675: A faceless female in spiky red heels, having her dress lifted up by a cursor arrow", and its content, described as "a 5,000-word article on the creepy, sexist culture of the tech industry". Among those offended by the cover were Today Show co-host Tamron Hall , who commented "I think it's obscene and just despicable, honestly." Newsweek editor-in-chief James Impoco explained "We came up with an image that we felt represented what that story said about Silicon Valley. ... If people get angry, they should be angry." The article's author, Nina Burleigh , asked, "Where were all these offended people when women like Heidi Roizen published accounts of having
1089-707: A friend, made headlines when he visited Newsmax's offices during the summer of 2010. When Sarah Palin stopped by the office for an interview, U.S. News & World Report suggested the move was the clearest indication yet she was planning to run for president . According to the magazine, Newsmax is a major player in GOP politics, as seen during the 2012 primaries. Visitors have also included Rep. Michele Bachmann , Gov. Tim Pawlenty , Sen. John Thune , Gov. Haley Barbour , Sen. Mitt Romney , former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush , and former Sen. Rick Santorum , among others. An April 2010 cover story for Talkers Magazine featured Newsmax as
1210-443: A fully ideological platform. Trump allies who want to bend the arc of media progressivism will need a much more comprehensive national strategy than just trying to take over one particular media outlet." Adweek reported that Newsmax's TV ratings grew tenfold in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter. Its top two shows, Spicer & Co. and Greg Kelly Reports (at 7 p.m.), averaged 816,000 total viewers during
1331-668: A great time with him," Ruddy said of the meeting. He added, "We consider Bill Clinton a friend and he considers us friends." Forbes indicated the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton has continued and described them as "lunch chums." During a 2010 campaign swing through Florida, President Clinton departed from his schedule to make a visit to Newsmax's offices in West Palm Beach . After a private meeting with Ruddy, Clinton toured Newsmax's offices and met with its staff. A May 2009 Sunday magazine profile in The New York Times on
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#17328551041251452-441: A letter to Newsmax threatening legal action and demanding "a full and complete retraction of all false and defamatory statements and reports." Days later, a Newsmax host stated the company "would like to clarify its news coverage and note it has not reported as true certain claims" made by Newsmax interviewees about Dominion and Smartmatic. Newsmax declared that it had "no evidence" of certain claims made on its programming, including
1573-470: A model of future media companies called "Media Stations" that offer their audience audio, video, digital, and even print content. In March 2014, Newsmax was profiled in Bloomberg Businessweek by correspondent Karl Taro Greenfeld . The Bloomberg Businessweek story detailed Newsmax's successful business model of targeting higher-incomed Baby boomers . The average age of a Newsmax online reader
1694-408: A more affluent subscriber base for its advertisers. During this period, the magazine also laid off staff. While advertising revenues were down almost 50% compared to the prior year, expenses were also diminished, whereby the publishers hoped Newsweek would return to profitability. The financial results for 2009 as reported by The Washington Post Company showed that advertising revenue for Newsweek
1815-439: A new focus on longer fashion and pop culture features. A larger culture section named "Omnivore" featured art, music, books, film, theater, food, travel, and television, including a weekly "Books" and "Want" section. The back page was reserved for a "My Favorite Mistake" column written by celebrity guest columnists about a mistake they made that helped shape who they are. On July 25, 2012, the company operating Newsweek indicated
1936-452: A new home," citing the network's airing of Mark Halperin and Bill O'Reilly following their resignations from other networks due to sexual harassment allegations. After the 2020 United States presidential election , Newsmax published numerous conspiracy theories made by President Donald Trump and the Trump campaign about voter fraud in the 2020 election, though the network never confirmed
2057-491: A night-by-night basis they challenged CNN through the month to be the third-most-watched cable news channel (behind MSNBC and Fox). On November 1, 2023, Newsmax placed its live content behind a paywall on YouTube ("Newsmax 2") while still offering a free streaming channel ("Newsmax+). In March 2024, The Washington Post reported that between 2019 and 2020, a member of the Qatari Royal Family had invested $ 50 million in
2178-526: A photo of Palin used in the August 2009 issue of Runner's World . The photographer may have breached his contract with Runner's World when he permitted its use in Newsweek , as Runner's World maintained certain rights to the photo until August 2010. It is uncertain, however, whether this particular use of the photo was prohibited. Minnesota Republican Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
2299-581: A registered Republican, had with President Donald Trump as a significant influence: "...with his dual role as a newsman and a close friend". In 2019, the Columbia Journalism Review reported, "There are currently about 15 to 20 conservative websites which attract at least one million unique visitors per month. Some are venerable right-wing reliables like National Review , The Washington Times , or Newsmax. Others, like Infowars , The Gateway Pundit , Big League Politics , and Breitbart , mine
2420-719: A report for President George W. Bush and his cabinet outlining a strategy for dealing with Afghanistan and the Middle East in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 . The meeting was held at the request of Paul D. Wolfowitz , then the Deputy Secretary of Defense . The unusual presence of journalists, who also included Robert D. Kaplan of The Atlantic Monthly , at such a strategy meeting was revealed in Bob Woodward 's 2006 book State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III . Woodward reported in his book that, according to Kaplan, everyone at
2541-443: A result he was subjected to "multiple credible death threats". In April 2021, Newsmax published a retraction and apology on its website, saying it "found no evidence" to support the allegations against Coomer. In August 2021, Dominion sued Newsmax for "knowingly and continuously" promoting false election fraud narratives. Newsmax said in a statement that it had "simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including
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#17328551041252662-554: A rethinking. Clinton wasn't such a bad president. In fact, he was a pretty good president in a lot of ways, and Dick feels that way today." In the fall of 2007, Ruddy published a positive interview with former president Clinton on Newsmax.com, followed by a positive cover story in Newsmax magazine. The New York Times said with reference to the event that politics had made " strange bedfellows ." Newsweek reported Ruddy praised Clinton for his foundation's global work, and explained that
2783-682: A secret meeting in November 2001 called by Paul D. Wolfowitz, then Deputy Secretary of Defense, incorrectly referenced Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and a Newsweek columnist, regarding his participation. Mr. Zakaria was not told that the meeting would produce a report for the Bush administration, nor did his name appear on the report. The cover story of the January 15, 2015, issue, titled "What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women" caused controversy, due to both its illustration, described as "the cartoon of
2904-559: A significant slump in December and January, Fox News has reestablished itself as not just the most-watched right-wing cable news network but the most-watched cable news network, period." In November 2021, a study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate described Newsmax as being among "ten fringe publishers" that together were responsible for nearly 70 percent of Facebook user interactions with content that denies climate change . Facebook disputed
3025-557: A story claiming that the First Lady of Poland refused to shake U.S. President Donald Trump 's hand; fact-checking website Snopes described the assertion as "false". Newsweek corrected its story. In 2018, Newsweek ran a story asserting that President Trump had wrongly colored the American flag while visiting a classroom; Snopes was unable to corroborate the photographic evidence. In August 2018, Newsweek incorrectly reported that
3146-539: A stronger commitment to the bottom line than to presenting himself as an ideologue ." In 2010, Nielsen Online said Newsmax was the most trafficked conservative website with approximately 4 million unique visitors monthly. Alexa Internet statistics for Newsmax.com indicate that the readership consists mainly of Internet users over the age of 45, which aligns itself to the average age of Republican leaning voters, as gathered by The Pew Research Center . Former president Bill Clinton , who described Newsmax's CEO Ruddy as
3267-541: A study that discovered 2 in 3 women who were 40 and single in 1986 had married since. The story caused a "wave of anxiety" and some "skepticism" amongst professional and highly educated women in the United States. The article was cited several times in the 1993 Hollywood film Sleepless in Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan . Comparisons have been made with this article and the current rising issues surrounding
3388-421: Is 54.7 years of age. The profile detailed Newsmax's plans to launch a linear and over-the-top (OTT) content cable channel, and suggested their revenue model which sells "a smorgasbord of political, health, and financial information, self-help books, and even vitamin supplements" could make the company uniquely competitive in this arena. In 2017, The Washington Post described the relationship Ruddy, though not
3509-475: Is a U.S. company and not owned by the Venezuelan government" or any other foreign entity. Mediaite 's Rudy Takala wrote that conservatives disgruntled with Fox News could potentially be disappointed by Newsmax due to CEO Christopher Ruddy 's friendship with former Democratic president Bill Clinton and positive remarks about a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Newsmax has previously donated $ 1 million to
3630-567: Is a member of the International Council, chaired by Henry Kissinger , at the CSIS , a bipartisan Washington, D.C., think tank focused on national security and foreign affairs. Ruddy also served as a representative on the U.S. delegation headed by Senators Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham to the NATO 44th Munich Security Conference . From 2009 to 2013, Ruddy served on the board of directors of
3751-401: Is an American weekly news magazine . Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, Newsweek was widely distributed during the 20th century and had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev Pragad , the president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis who sits on the board; they each own 50% of the company. In August 2010, revenue decline prompted The Washington Post Company to sell
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3872-726: Is an increasingly powerful and influential player in the conservative media and beyond." Ruddy has been both a "Patron" and a "Sustaining Donor" to the Wikimedia Foundation . He is an alumnus of the American Swiss Foundation . Following Ruddy's work at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , he started Newsmax with the owner of the Tribune-Review , Richard Mellon Scaife , and a $ 25,000 investment in 1998. They raised $ 15 million from 200 private investors, whom they subsequently bought out (in 2000). Ruddy then owned
3993-513: Is innovative in its scope and in its purpose – which is to ensure governments can own and maintain their own health care systems without further reliance on aid. I applaud the Clinton Foundation for bringing together groups and individuals from all sides of the political spectrum to build a world that's more equal, more sustainable, and that benefits us all." Ruddy is a confidant of Donald Trump. While speaking with Politico , he addressed
4114-426: Is very supportive of the president, but we also will publish things that are critical of him time to time," Ruddy said. "Fox seems to have decided to become very closely aligned, which seems unnatural, and it doesn't seem consistent. During the 2020 United States presidential election , President Trump began to promote Newsmax over its rival, Fox News . Trump's preference for Newsmax over Fox News became clearer after
4235-676: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review as a national correspondent covering the Clinton White House and other topics. Ruddy has studied as a Media Fellow with the Hoover Institution . Ruddy serves on the board of directors of the Financial Publishers Association (FIPA), an industry trade group whose goal is "to share knowledge of best business practices to help our members' publications grow and prosper, while empowering readers with unbiased, independent information". He
4356-554: The American Swiss Foundation , a nonprofit organization that fosters relations between the two countries. In 2015 he was elected to the board of directors of the Zweig Fund and the Zweig Total Return Funds, two New York Stock Exchange-traded closed-end funds managed by Virtus. In January 2010, Britain's Daily Telegraph ranked Ruddy as one of the "100 Most Influential Conservatives" in the U.S. The paper said: "Chris Ruddy
4477-665: The Book of Revelation ; in a tweet days earlier, she equated vaccines with the Mark of the Beast . Twitter removed the tweet that day and suspended Robinson's account for seven days, citing "repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy," as Newsmax sought to distance itself from her remark and removed her from the air pending an inquiry. Robinson returned to Twitter after her suspension to continue spreading COVID-19 misinformation, causing Twitter to permanently ban her within hours. Newsmax announced
4598-504: The Clinton Foundation . When reached for comment, Ruddy said, "Like Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and other business people, I have donated to the Clinton Foundation and a few Democrats, but over 90 percent of my political contributions have been to Republicans, including ones to President Trump." Jeffrey McCall, a journalism professor at DePauw University , told Mediaite that "Ruddy is a pragmatist unlikely to allow his operation to be
4719-563: The Sweden Democrats , a far-right party, could win a majority in the 2018 Swedish parliamentary elections. Polls showed that the party was far away from winning a majority. By September 2018, Newsweek 's article was still up. In November 2022, during the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, Newsweek incorrectly reported that Iran had ordered the execution of over 15,000 protesters. The claim
4840-635: The Tribune-Review , he put out a report through the Western Journalism Center criticizing the Fiske investigation as inadequate. With the help of Scaife, the Center took out full-page ads in major newspapers to promote the report (Scaife gave $ 330,000 to the Center in 1994–95 before ending his support). Ruddy's discussion of questions regarding the death of White House counsel Vince Foster drew mixed reactions . Ruddy claimed that Park Police had staged
4961-773: The Bronx, New York . Ruddy holds an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from St. John's University. Early in his career, Ruddy was editor in chief of a conservative monthly periodical known as the New York Guardian . While with the NY Guardian , Ruddy debunked a story in the PBS documentary Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II that an all-black army unit had liberated the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps . Ruddy called
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5082-473: The Clinton presidency and suggested he had earned high marks as president for success in ending welfare , keeping government in check, and supporting free trade. Ruddy also noted that the Clinton Foundation was doing remarkable work globally. In July 2012, Ruddy was a member of the official delegation that accompanied President Clinton on his five-nation tour of Africa, reviewing Clinton Foundation initiatives in
5203-489: The Mellon family to function journalistically on a national scale". The group of original owners invested around US$ 2.5 million (equivalent to $ 58.84 million in 2023). Other large stockholders prior to 1946 were public utilities investment banker Stanley Childs and Wall Street corporate lawyer Wilton Lloyd-Smith. Journalist Samuel T. Williamson served as the first editor-in-chief of News-Week . The first issue of
5324-642: The Newsmax headquarters in West Palm Beach in 2010. In 2014, Newsmax donated $ 1 million to the Clinton Foundation and Ruddy has accompanied Clinton on foundation trips to Africa. In a January 2010 profile on the company, the Financial Times reported that the "rise of Newsmax" had defied the media trend and said that the Newsmax website was "one of the strongest conservative voices online". The paper said Newsmax had witnessed 40 percent growth rates per annum over
5445-504: The November 23, 2009 issue discussing Palin's book, Going Rogue: An American Life . "It's sexist as hell", wrote Lisa Richardson for the Los Angeles Times . Taylor Marsh of The Huffington Post called it "the worst case of pictorial sexism aimed at political character assassination ever done by a traditional media outlet". David Brody of CBN News stated: "This cover should be insulting to women politicians." The cover includes
5566-507: The President, his advisors and members of Congress", adding: "Dominion's action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press". The case is set to go to trial in September 2024. In November 2021, Smartmatic sued Newsmax for defamation. In August 2023, a Delaware judge rejected Newsmax's bid to narrow the alleged defamatory statements cited by Smartmatic. The trial
5687-549: The UK in October 2023, via Freeview Connect . The website has been described by The New York Times as a "potent force in conservative politics." CEO Christopher Ruddy has attempted to position the network as a competitor to Fox News , including by hiring former Fox News hosts Rob Schmitt , Greg Kelly , Bob Sellers , and Heather Childers . The Washington Post described Newsmax as "a landing spot for cable news personalities in need of
5808-497: The area of health care, HIV / AIDS programs, education, and poverty alleviation . During the delegation's visit to Maputo, Mozambique, Ruddy blogged for the Clinton Foundation website, "The Clinton Foundation demonstrates that public-private partnerships and strategic engagement of private citizens, community members, and local governments can achieve great results in health care. And as I saw firsthand today in Mozambique, this work
5929-846: The book, Richard Brookhiser of the National Review called it "the St. Mark version of the gospel of the Foster cover-up: a plain narrative of the perceived failings of the official investigation, with minimal speculation." Shortly after the book came out, Fiske's successor as independent counsel, Kenneth Starr , released his report from the third investigation into Foster's death. Starr also concluded that Foster had committed suicide. Ruddy ended his investigative reporting after founding Newsmax , but continues to write an occasional blog while he shapes overall editorial policy. He told Jeremy Peters of The New York Times that his outlets provide "news that Americans in
6050-433: The certifications come in," he said, adding that he "would not support going to state legislators to overturn the electors." Following the certification of the electoral college of Joe Biden as the winner on December 14, 2020, the network began using the title, " President-elect " to refer to Biden. On November 15, 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hicks Equity Partners, a private equity firm with ties to
6171-596: The cessation of print publication and a transition to an all-digital format at the end of 2012. In 2013, IBT Media acquired Newsweek from IAC; the acquisition included the Newsweek brand and its online publication, but did not include The Daily Beast . IBT Media, which also owns the International Business Times , rebranded itself as Newsweek Media Group, and in 2014, relaunched Newsweek in both print and digital form. In 2018, IBT Media split into two companies, Newsweek Publishing and IBT Media. The split
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#17328551041256292-437: The chairman of the board and its principal stockholder between 1937 and his death in 1959. In 1937 Malcolm Muir took over as president and editor-in-chief. He changed the name to Newsweek , emphasized interpretive stories, introduced signed columns, and launched international editions. The magazine was purchased by The Washington Post Company in 1961. Osborn Elliott was named editor of Newsweek in 1961 and became
6413-505: The claim that the two companies have a business relationship, the claim that either company used each other's software, and the claim that either company "manipulated votes" in the 2020 American general election. Newsmax also stated it had "no evidence" that Smartmatic software was used anywhere except Los Angeles during the 2020 election. Newsmax additionally said viewers should be aware of "several facts", including that both companies have no relationship with George Soros , and that "Smartmatic
6534-478: The companies had engaged in election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Newsmax and Smartmatic settled the suit on confidential terms on September 26, 2024. DirecTV dropped Newsmax from its lineup in January 2023, after the companies failed to agree on contract terms. In response, forty-two House Republicans signed a letter to DirecTV executives attacking the removal as an act of "suppressing politically disfavored speech." The two companies were able to resolve
6655-571: The company as a "potent force in conservative politics" and noted the company's headquarters had become a must stop for Republican candidates seeking the party's 2012 nomination. Starting in April 2013, Newsmax.com and its affiliated sites drew 14.4 million unique visitors, leading comScore's News/Politics category over such sites as The Huffington Post Politics, Fox News Politics, CNN Politics , NBCNews.com Politics, and Politico in monthly viewership for two consecutive months. In March 2014, Newsmax
6776-445: The company though he had expressions of interests from investors. Regarding Hicks Equity Partners, Ruddy stated, "we have no deal with them." Ruddy stated that "We would like to overtake Fox News in 12 months, and I think it's doable." Newsmax promoted baseless allegations that voting machine company Smartmatic and its competitor Dominion Voting Systems had conspired to rig the election against Trump. In December 2020, Smartmatic sent
6897-607: The company uniquely competitive in this arena. Newsmax contributors include Nancy Brinker , George Will , Lanny Davis , Alan Dershowitz , Christopher W. Ruddy , David Limbaugh , Ben Stein , Susan Estrich , Dr. Laura Schlessinger , Michael Reagan , Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen . In November 2017, Politico reported that Fox News , facing new competitors, was giving more favorable coverage to President Donald Trump . In an interview, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy criticized Fox News ' hosts unwillingness to criticize President Donald Trump, telling Politico that "Newsmax
7018-607: The conclusion of the election cycle. A Pew Research Center study found that Newsmax's reach (10% of American adults) continued to trail Fox News's reach (43% of American adults) in March 2021. In July 2021, Vox noted that "Newsmax's effort to out-Trump the competition has been less successful since Trump left the White House for Mar-a-Lago. Newsmax's viewership is down more than 50 percent from January (from an average of about 300,000 viewers then to about 114,000 on July 18), and following
7139-405: The defendants had "recklessly disregarded basic journalistic safeguards and published the photo of an innocent man, branding him as a neo-Nazi murderer to his local community and the nation at large." In December 2020, Newsmax was included as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by Dominion executive Eric Coomer. Coomer asserted that the defendants had characterized him as a "traitor" and that as
7260-409: The dispute and DirecTV resumed broadcasting Newsmax on March 23, 2023. Ruddy started Newsmax.com on September 16, 1998, supported by a group of investors, including the family of former Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Casey . Later, Richard Mellon Scaife , Ruddy's former employer at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , invested in the fledgling company. One of the initial board members
7381-484: The documentary an example of "how the media can manipulate facts and narratives to create a revised history both believable and untrue." Ruddy then moved to the New York Post , which he joined as an investigative reporter late in the summer of 1993. After initially writing about abuse of Social Security disability benefits, he focused on the Whitewater scandal involving then-president Bill Clinton. In 1995 he joined
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#17328551041257502-413: The editor-in-chief in 1969. In 1970, Eleanor Holmes Norton represented sixty female employees of Newsweek who had filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that Newsweek had a policy of allowing only men to be reporters. The women won and Newsweek agreed to allow women to be reporters. The day the claim was filed, Newsweek 's cover article was "Women in Revolt", covering
7623-502: The fall of 2007, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy published a favorable review of former president Bill Clinton 's book Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World and a positive interview with him at Newsmax.com, followed by a positive cover story in Newsmax magazine. The New York Times said with reference to the event that politics had made " strange bedfellows ." Bill Clinton also visited
7744-471: The far fringes of the right." The 2023 U.S. Trust in Media poll from YouGov and The Economist reports that Newsmax is the second-most trusted conservative news outlet for Republican voters, behind Fox News (a finding supported by Rasmussen Reports ). The Misplaced Pages community has categorized Newsmax as an unreliable source of information. Humanix Books is an American print and e-book publishing house and
7865-454: The feminist movement; the article was written by a woman who had been hired on a freelance basis since there were no female reporters at the magazine. Edward Kosner became editor from 1975 to 1979 after directing the magazine's extensive coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974. Richard M. Smith became chairman in 1998, the year that
7986-537: The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and chief of naval operations during the Vietnam War , also served as one of the company's founding board members. Former United States secretary of state and Nixon and Ford administration chief of staff General Alexander M. Haig , Jr. served as special adviser to Newsmax. From its founding in 1998, Newsmax became known for its anti- Clinton content. However in
8107-520: The former president, "The Mellowing of William Jefferson Clinton," offered more details of the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton. The Arkansas Times said details about the friendship between Ruddy and Clinton in The New York Times profile was the "most amazing revelation" of their profile of the former president. Ruddy told the Times though he remained a "Reagan conservative", he had re-evaluated
8228-432: The gun in calling the election for Biden and that Trump still has a path to win this thing," and that it was one of the only networks that didn't call the election for Biden, citing the Trump campaign's legal challenges. However, she did write that "Newsmax doesn't go full arch-conservative" and "doesn't give airtime to QAnon paranoiacs." CNN's Brian Stelter , in an on-air interview, asked Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy why
8349-524: The heartland would like to see." Ruddy describes himself as a libertarian conservative and " Reaganite ", though he is not registered as a Republican . Throughout his career, Ruddy has often staked out positions at variance with the Republican Party. For example, Ruddy broke with the Bush administration on the Iraq War, and was one of the first conservatives to do so. "I came out very strongly against
8470-593: The highest in its 90-year history. Harvard Business School published a case study of the company in 2021. News-Week was launched in 1933 by Thomas J. C. Martyn , a former foreign-news editor for Time . He obtained financial backing from a group of U.S. stockholders "which included Ward Cheney , of the Cheney silk family, John Hay Whitney , and Paul Mellon , son of Andrew W. Mellon ". Paul Mellon's ownership in News-Week apparently represented "the first attempt of
8591-482: The increasing difficulty of maintaining a paper weekly magazine in the face of declining advertising and subscription revenues and increasing costs for print production and distribution. The online edition was renamed Newsweek Global . In April 2013, IAC chairman and founder Barry Diller said at the Milken Global Conference that he "wished he hadn't bought" Newsweek because his company had lost money on
8712-424: The inference that the people faced a death sentence. In October 2023, Newsweek incorrectly reported that a viral video of U.S. senator Tommy Tuberville falling down a flight of stairs while exiting an airplane had been recorded that month. The reporting by Newsweek drew comparisons to Tuberville's criticism of President Joe Biden similarly tripping on stairways. In reality, the video highlighted by Newsweek
8833-582: The interview, as well as a private lunch he and Scaife had had with Clinton (which Ruddy says was orchestrated by Ed Koch ), were due to the shared view of himself and Scaife that Clinton was doing important work representing the U.S. globally while America was the target of criticism. He also said that he and Scaife had never suggested Clinton was involved in Foster's death, nor had they spread allegations about Bill Clinton's sex scandals, although their work may have encouraged others. Ruddy and Scaife again met Clinton for lunch at his office in September 2008. "We had
8954-585: The job of FBI Director just days before it was announced that he would be appointed special counsel for the Russian investigation. Ruddy did not provide any proof of this. He also claimed in the same interview that Trump was considering terminating Mueller's position as special prosecutor. However, it was not clear if this was based on Trump's comments or the comments of his lawyer made during the previous week. In July 2021, Ruddy published an op-ed via Newsmax that praised President Joe Biden for his efforts to prioritize
9075-426: The latter became the first news outlet to call Arizona for Democratic challenger Joe Biden . Newsmax has made their more conservative leanings a selling point to disaffected Fox News viewers, as well as employing Fox News alumni to join their lineup on Newsmax TV , such as Rob Schmitt and Greg Kelly . Emily VanDerWerff of Vox reported that the outlet "spent lots of time arguing that other media outlets jumped
9196-539: The leader of a Christian sect called "the Community". In February 2018, under IBT ownership, several Newsweek staff were fired and some resigned stating that management had tried to interfere in articles about the investigations. Fareed Zakaria , a Newsweek columnist and editor of Newsweek International , attended a secret meeting on November 29, 2001, with a dozen policy makers, Middle East experts and members of influential policy research organizations that produced
9317-894: The list; these are categorized instead as "Public Elite" High Schools. In 2008, there were 17 Public Elites. Smith resigned as board chairman in December 2007. During 2008–2009, Newsweek undertook a dramatic business restructuring. Citing difficulties in competing with online news sources to provide unique news in a weekly publication, the magazine refocused its content on opinion and commentary beginning with its May 24, 2009, issue. It shrank its subscriber rate base, from 3.1 million to 2.6 million in early 2008, to 1.9 million in July 2009 and then to 1.5 million in January 2010—a decline of 50% in one year. Jon Meacham , Editor-in-chief from 2006 to 2010, described his strategy as "counterintuitive" as it involved discouraging renewals and nearly doubling subscription prices as it sought
9438-414: The magazine and called the purchase a "mistake" and a " fool's errand ". On August 3, 2013, IBT Media acquired Newsweek from IAC on terms that were not disclosed; the acquisition included the Newsweek brand and its online publication, but did not include The Daily Beast . On March 7, 2014, IBT Media relaunched a print edition of Newsweek with a cover story on the alleged creator of Bitcoin that
9559-447: The magazine capable of handling the assignment. Those passed over included Elizabeth Peer , who had spent five years in Paris as a foreign correspondent. The 1986 cover of Newsweek featured an article that said "women who weren't married by 40 had a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than of finding a husband". Newsweek eventually apologized for the story and in 2010 launched
9680-572: The magazine inaugurated its "Best High Schools in America" list, a ranking of public secondary schools based on the Challenge Index , which measures the ratio of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams taken by students to the number of graduating students that year, regardless of the scores earned by students or the difficulty in graduating. Schools with average SAT scores above 1300 or average ACT scores above 27 are excluded from
9801-488: The magazine was dated February 17, 1933. Seven photographs from the week's news were printed on the first issue's cover. In 1937, News-Week merged with the weekly journal Today , which had been founded in 1932 by future New York Governor and diplomat W. Averell Harriman , and Vincent Astor of the prominent Astor family. As a result of the deal, Harriman and Astor provided $ 600,000 (equivalent to $ 12,717,000 in 2023) in venture capital funds and Vincent Astor became both
9922-437: The magazine was forced to recall several hundred thousand copies of a special issue called Your Child , which advised that infants as young as five months old could safely feed themselves zwieback toasts and chunks of raw carrot (to the contrary, both represent a choking hazard in children this young). The error was later attributed to a copy editor who was working on two stories at the same time. In 2017, Newsweek published
10043-547: The magazine's financial liabilities. Harman's bid was accepted over three competitors. Meacham left the magazine upon completion of the sale. Sidney Harman was the husband of Jane Harman , at that time a member of Congress from California. At the end of 2010, Newsweek merged with the online publication The Daily Beast , following extensive negotiations between the respective proprietors. Tina Brown , The Daily Beast 's editor-in-chief, became editor of both publications. The new entity, The Newsweek Daily Beast Company ,
10164-457: The meeting signed confidentiality agreements not to discuss what happened. Zakaria told The New York Times that he attended the meeting for several hours but did not recall being told that a report for the president would be produced. On October 21, 2006, after verification, the Times published a correction that stated: An article in Business Day on October 9 about journalists who attended
10285-471: The network chose to air "election denialism" and "bogus voter fraud stuff," to which Ruddy replied that the network featured all points of view and argued that all of the other major news outlets who had reported Biden's election win were "rushing". In an interview with Variety , Ruddy stated that, "We are waiting for the states' certification and the electoral college, but we will at some point when that happens" and insisted: "We will be supportive of whoever
10406-554: The network in the midst of the Qatar diplomatic crisis . It also reported that network leaders had told staffers to soften coverage related to Qatar following the investment, a claim the network later denied in response to the report. In April 2024, Newsmax was included as a defendant in a defamation lawsuit by a man who was falsely identified as the perpetrator of the 2023 Allen, Texas mall shooting , alongside others such as Fox News and InfoWars personality Owen Shroyer . The man alleged
10527-407: The next month that it would not renew Robinson's contract when it ended in January 2022. In May 2023 the "small conservative cable news channel saw its ratings surge" once again in response to actions by Fox News: "Fox’s decision to fire [Tucker] Carlson ." Newsmax's viewership during the prime-time spot vacated by Carlson more than doubled. This increase surpassed the 2020 post-election surge and on
10648-449: The next president is." He added "Newsmax would never become Trump TV. We have always seen ourselves as an independent news agency" but would be willing to Trump having a weekly show. Ruddy says the company is "moderately conservative and we will continue to have a moderately conservative viewpoint on things – including the president." In a later interview with The New Yorker , Ruddy stated, "I do think that Donald Trump should concede when
10769-469: The occurrence of significant tweets from the President on Friday nights and Saturdays. Ruddy said, "He understands the news cycle. ... It's an opportunity to get out news on a Saturday, when other news organizations aren't pushing too much new. He realizes that Saturday is a free media day for him." The story described Ruddy as a Mar-a-Lago member and longtime friend of Trump's. On June 12, 2017, Ruddy claimed that Trump met with Robert Mueller to offer him
10890-413: The past decade, closing 2009 with $ 36 million revenues, up from $ 25 million the year before. A 2010 New York Post story reported that the paper's long-time former editor Kenneth Chandler would become Newsmax Magazine's editor-in-chief . Earlier Ruddy had told Business Insider the company expected annual 2010 revenues to reach $ 50 million. A profile on Newsmax in The New York Times described
11011-469: The past two years and was put up for sale. The sale attracted international bidders. One bidder was Syrian entrepreneur Abdulsalam Haykal, CEO of Syrian publishing company Haykal Media, who brought together a coalition of Middle Eastern investors with his company. Haykal later claimed his bid was ignored by Newsweek 's bankers, Allen & Co . The magazine was sold to audio pioneer Sidney Harman on August 2, 2010, for US$ 1 in exchange for assuming
11132-570: The probe "focused on loans the company took out to purchase the computer equipment", and several Newsweek reporters were fired after reporting on the issue. Uzac pleaded guilty to fraud and money-laundering in 2020. In September 2018, after completing the strategic structural changes introduced in March of the same year, IBT Media spun off Newsweek into its own entity, Newsweek Publishing LLC, with co-ownership to Dev Pragad and Johnathan Davis of IBT Media. In 2020, Newsweek' s website hit 100 million unique monthly readers, up from seven million at
11253-598: The process. In 2024, it rolled out an AI video production tool and started hiring an AI-focused breaking news team. In 2003, worldwide circulation was more than 4 million, including 2.7 million in the U.S; by 2010 it reduced to 1.5 million (with newsstand sales declining to just over 40,000 copies per week). Newsweek publishes editions in Japanese, Korean, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Rioplatense Spanish , Arabic , Turkish , Serbian, as well as an English-language Newsweek International . Russian Newsweek , published since 2004,
11374-461: The publication to the audio pioneer Sidney Harman , for a purchase price of one dollar and an assumption of the magazine's liabilities. Later in the year, Newsweek merged with the news and opinion website The Daily Beast , forming The Newsweek Daily Beast Company . Newsweek was jointly owned by the estate of Harman and the diversified American media and Internet company IAC . Newsweek continued to experience financial difficulties leading to
11495-402: The publication was likely to go digital to cover its losses and could undergo other changes by the next year. Barry Diller , chairman of the conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp, said his firm was looking at options since its partner in the Newsweek / Daily Beast operation had pulled out. At the end of 2012, the company discontinued the American print edition after 80 years of publication, citing
11616-578: The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States, stating that he "inherited an effective vaccine from President Donald Trump, took it into his arms, and ran with it", and that "for the moment, we as Americans can applaud President Biden’s success with the vaccine rollout. It is saving countless lives — and that is a good thing." The op-ed, however, came amid criticism of the Newsmax TV channel for having aired an interview with anti-vaccination advocate Peter A. McCullough . Newsweek Newsweek
11737-580: The same November 7–18 interval. Regarding coverage of the Biden administration, CEO Christopher Ruddy told Adweek "I think Newsmax's job is to be loyal opposition, to question the policies, the programs and the people that are coming into the Biden administration. We're going to take a very careful look at that. I think we were pretty fair with Barack Obama. We were tough on him, but we never called for his impeachment", he said. Newsmax TV momentarily exceeded Fox News in viewership in December 2020, but lost viewers after
11858-472: The scene of Foster's death as described in their reports. One of the officers named by Ruddy sued him along with the Western Journalism Center, seeking $ 2 million in damages for libel . The suit was dismissed because Ruddy had said nothing libelous "of and concerning the officer." Ruddy later built on his work on the Foster case for his book The Strange Death of Vincent Foster . In reviewing
11979-566: The social stigma of unwed women in Asia called sheng nu . Former Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was featured on the cover of the November 23, 2009, issue of Newsweek , with the caption "How do you Solve a Problem Like Sarah?" featuring an image of Palin in athletic attire and posing. Palin herself, the Los Angeles Times and other commentators accused Newsweek of sexism for their choice of cover in
12100-514: The start of 2017. In 2021, its revenues doubled to $ 75 million and traffic increased to 48 million monthly unique visitors in May 2022 from about 30 million in May 2019 according to Comscore. In September 2023, Newsweek announced it would be making use of generative AI in its operations. Its AI policy states that generative AI can be used in "writing, research, editing, and other core journalism functions" as long as journalists are involved throughout
12221-529: The study's methodology. Also in November 2021, Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson falsely tweeted that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine contained luciferase "so that you can be tracked." This echoed earlier false social media claims that the vaccine supposedly had satanic links due to " lucifer " in luciferase and alleged references to " 666 ." Robinson's tweet began with the salutation "Dear Christians" and referred her over 400,000 followers to
12342-679: The ticker symbol "NMAX" on the New York Stock Exchange . In 2009, editor Michael Massing of the Columbia Journalism Review stated that " Far-right Web sites like World Net Daily and Newsmax.com floated all kinds of specious stories about Obama that quickly careened around the blogosphere and onto talk radio. One particular favorite was the claim that Bill Ayers ghost-wrote Dreams From My Father ." In March 2009, MarketWatch ' s media critic Jon Friedman stated that "Newsmax has flourished because Ruddy has exhibited
12463-419: The title "Taylor Swift Is Not a Good Role Model", which claimed that American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was a bad role model for young girls due to being unmarried, childless and having been in multiple relationships. The article was condemned as sexist, including by tennis player Martina Navratilova . Unlike most large American magazines, Newsweek has not used fact-checkers since 1996. In 1997,
12584-460: The veracity of the statements and accepted the election of Joe Biden as duly elected president. Newsmax later issued an apology and publicly retracted any voter fraud conspiracy allegations. When asked about Newsmax's support of former President Trump, Ruddy stated, "We have an editorial policy of being supportive of the president and his policies". In 2021, Newsmax was sued by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for promoting false claims that
12705-482: The war and runaway federal spending under Bush, re-evaluated the Clinton years and offered a kinder view of the administration he once criticized. Compared with his reporting during Bill Clinton 's presidency, Ruddy eventually took a more subdued view to Hillary Clinton 's presidential campaign. He said she had moderated and no longer generated the same animosity among conservatives. Ruddy told The New York Times he and Scaife had changed their views: "Both of us have had
12826-448: The war in Iraq when it wasn't in vogue, back in 2004," Ruddy told The Palm Beach Post . "I lost some subscribers. But we are close to spending a trillion dollars on the war and there is no exit strategy," he added. "Lots of Republicans and conservatives are not that gung-ho on the war anymore and I think we broke the ice." The Palm Beach Post interview also noted that Ruddy, disenchanted by
12947-429: The week with a brief article accompanying each one. The "NewsBeast" section featured short articles, a brief interview with a newsmaker, and several graphs and charts for quick reading in the style of The Daily Beast . This is where the Newsweek staple "Conventional Wisdom" was located. Brown retained Newsweek 's focus on in-depth, analytical features and original reporting on politics and world affairs, as well as
13068-454: Was 50% owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp and 50% by Harman. Newsweek was redesigned in March 2011. The new Newsweek moved the "Perspectives" section to the front of the magazine, where it served essentially as a highlight reel of the past week on The Daily Beast . More room was made available in the front of the magazine for columnists, editors, and special guests. A new "News Gallery" section featured two-page spreads of photographs from
13189-665: Was a police officer in Nassau County . He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York before graduating summa cum laude with a degree in history from St. John's University, New York in 1987. He earned a master's degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and also studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as an undergrad. He worked briefly as a bilingual high school social studies teacher in
13310-518: Was accomplished one day before the District Attorney of Manhattan indicted Etienne Uzac, the co-owner of IBT Media, on fraud charges. Under Newsweek ' s current co-owner and CEO Dev Pragad, it is profitable, growing 20–30% per year; between May 2019 and May 2022, its monthly unique visitors rose from about 30 million to 48 million according to Comscore . Since Pragad became CEO in 2016, readership has grown to 100 million readers per month,
13431-604: Was author James Dale Davidson who edited a financial newsletter. Davidson's co-editor, Lord Rees-Mogg , former editor of the Times of London, later became chairman of Newsmax. Ruddy previously promoted conspiracy theories around the suicide of Vince Foster . 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 United Press International (UPI), and Jeff Cunningham, former publisher of Forbes . Admiral Thomas Moorer ,
13552-581: Was criticized for lacking substantive evidence. The magazine stood by its story. IBT Media announced that the publication returned to profitability on October 8, 2014. In February 2017, IBT Media appointed Matt McAllester, then editor of Newsweek International , as global editor-in-chief of Newsweek . In January 2018, Newsweek offices were raided by the Manhattan District Attorney 's office as part of an investigation into co-owner and founder, Etienne Uzac. Columbia Journalism Review noted
13673-433: Was down 37% in 2009 and the magazine division reported an operating loss for 2009 of US$ 29.3 million (equivalent to $ 41.61 million in 2023) compared to a loss of US$ 16 million in 2008 (equivalent to $ 22.64 million in 2023). During the first quarter of 2010, the magazine lost nearly US$ 11 million (equivalent to $ 15.37 million in 2023). By May 2010, Newsweek had been losing money for
13794-561: Was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine in August 2011, dubbed "the Queen of Rage". The photo of her was perceived as unflattering, as it portrayed her with a wide eyed expression some said made her look "crazy". Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin called the depiction "sexist", and Sarah Palin denounced the publication. Newsweek defended the cover's depiction of her, saying its other photos of Bachmann showed similar intensity. In June 2024, Newsweek published an opinion piece with
13915-471: Was filmed in 2014, nine years prior, before Tuberville's tenure as senator. The Manhattan District Attorney 's office raided Newsweek 's headquarters in Lower Manhattan on January 18, 2018, and seized 18 computer servers as part of an investigation related to the company's finances. IBT, which owned Newsweek at the time, had been under scrutiny for its ties to David Jang , a South Korean pastor and
14036-577: Was named the deputy publisher of the company. Newsmax Media publishes Newsmax magazine, which the company describes as "offering Americans the perspective they need on current events, politics, health, money, and lifestyle." The company reports a monthly readership of almost one million on their paid subscription products, including Newsmax magazine and multiple finance- and health-focused newsletters. Christopher Ruddy Ruddy grew up on Long Island in Williston Park, New York , where his father
14157-539: Was named the publisher of Humanix Books. The company released The ObamaCare Survival Guide by Nick J. Tate that same year. The book is about the arguments against the Affordable Care Act and it became a number one New York Times Best Seller in the Paperback Advice & Misc. category for paperback books. In 2015 Mary Glenn replaced Anthony Ziccardi as the publisher of the company. In 2019, Adam Keith Pfeffer
14278-580: Was profiled in Bloomberg Businessweek by correspondent Karl Taro Greenfeld . The story detailed Newsmax's successful business model of targeting higher-incomed baby boomers . The average age of a Newsmax online reader is 54.7 years of age. The profile detailed Newsmax's plans to launch a linear and Over-the-top (OTT) content cable channel, and suggested their revenue model which sells "a smorgasbord of political, health, and financial information, self-help books, and even vitamin supplements" could make
14399-477: Was set to begin on September 30, 2024. Newsmax and Smartmatic settled the suit on confidential terms on September 26. On June 10, 2024, during its coverage of a rally organized in Las Vegas by former president Donald Trump, Newsmax announced it plans to file for an initial public stock offering either in late 2024 or early 2025. The plan was confirmed on September 5, 2024, with the company expected to be listed under
14520-611: Was shut in October 2010. The Bulletin (an Australian weekly until 2008) incorporated an international news section from Newsweek . Based in New York City, the magazine claimed 22 bureaus in 2011: nine in the U.S.: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago/Detroit, Dallas, Miami, Washington, D.C., Boston and San Francisco, and others overseas in London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Jerusalem , Baghdad , Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, South Asia , Cape Town , Mexico City and Buenos Aires . According to
14641-472: Was widely shared on social media, including by actresses Trudie Styler , Sophie Turner and Viola Davis , and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau . The number was actually derived from estimates from a United Nations human rights rapporteur and other human rights organizations of how many people were detained in Iran in connection with the protests, and Newsweek later retracted the underlying claim leading to
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