It seems WorldNetDaily has been engaging in a full-blown purge of its columnist lineup. Craige McMillan, Scott Lively and Michael Master all announced their respective retirements, while Michael Brown is on extended hiatus due to a sexual misconduct scandal. But more long-running WND columnists have departed from the lineup without explanation:
- Mychal Massie (last column: Feb. 12)
- Jack Cashill (last column: Feb. 13)
- Rachel Alexander (last column: Feb. 10)
- Chuck Norris (last column: Feb. 17)
- Richard Blakley (last column: Feb. 14)
Note that all of those columnists were discontinued around mid-February. Master and Lively announced their retirement in mid-February columns, which suggests those may not have been voluntary.
It’s an interesting choice to purge these columnists, especially given that WND likely didn’t have to pay for many of them — right-wingers in particular are desperate for attention and will forego payment in exchange for exposure, so it’s unlikely they were dropped due to WND’s latest round of money woes. Somehow, we doubt that a desire to improve the quality of its columnist pool played a role. Or it could be an extremely belated realization that these columnists haven’t exactly contributed to WND’s reputation.