John Henry-Westen, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews, was recently removed from his position by the LifeSiteNews board. Then he got reinstated.
These moves caught much of the pro-life, pro-family,
religious conservative world off guard. That’s saying a great deal, considering
that pro-life and pro-family conservatives have seen all kinds of moral decline
and degradation becoming the norm throughout the West. Pro-family fighters have
witnessed same-sex “marriage,” rising defenses for pedophilia, and the
increased push for assisted suicide. So little shocks us now.
What’s going on here? Should we be concerned? Why is one of
the flagship pro-family (and anti-LGBT) news sites facing such leadership
turmoil?
First, let’s talk about LifeSiteNews.
This Catholic-based news site has rigorously and accurately
documented the downfall and decline of a De-Christianized West. For years,
their commentary and confrontation on these matters commanded respect. They
even republished the activist reporting from the organization I work for—MassResistance—because
of our unwavering commitment against the LGBT agenda in all of its perverse
forms.
LifeSiteNews did not back away from calling out moral
corruption. To their credit, they were not only unafraid to call out the wrongs
and evils of homosexuality and transgenderism. They were a welcome voice for
social conservatives like me because they unflinchingly criticized the
Republican Party, including President Trump, as they cozied up to so-called
LGBT “conservatives” infiltrating the larger conservative movement. Their
countercultural attack on mainstream conservatism gave me hope in spite of the
growing fecklessness or cowardice of conservative leadership to oppose same-sex
“marriage”, adoption, and the like.
So, what’s going on at LifeSiteNews? Is the leadership
getting soft, embracing pro-“gay” messaging? Not a chance.
Rather, the news site has taken a dark turn on another set
of issues.
For the last two years, I noticed the site’s publishing an
increasing number of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist articles on many policy fronts.
They were cataloguing the so-called war crimes of the IDF and blasting American
politicians and foreign policy makers as puppets of Israel.
Here’s a sample:
Orthodox
rabbi: Zionism a ‘cardinal sin’ for Jews, creation of Israel is ‘satanic’
Zionism:
Rebellion against God?! | Rabbi speaks out
Why is a Catholic-oriented news site interviewing a Rabbi?
And why are they going off on Israel and Zionism?
Oh, and it gets better (or rather, worse). They talk about
the horrendous “Israel Lobby” that supposedly controls Washington:
GOP
Congressman Thomas Massie exposes Zionist lobby’s power over Congress
Leaked
audio exposes Israel lobby’s enormous power over the Trump administration
WATCH:
Candace Owens exposes the Israel lobby’s stranglehold on America
For what it’s worth, Candace Owens has been exposed as an intellectual
lightweight with a shaky grasp of the facts. She celebrated Andrew Tate, a
serial pornographer under indictment for sex trafficking, while denouncing
pornography. She also claimed that
Hitler was not that bad.
Regarding the purported power of AIPAC, most of their funding
goes to Democrats, and the Democratic Party has become increasingly hostile
to Israel. As for Congressman Massie,
his performance theater against big spending is starting to wear thin. He never
called out the big spending from his fellow US Senators, and he voted for
liberal Republican Tom Emmer to be the next Speaker of the House this year. The
focus and subject matter of these reports leave much to be desired.
And sadly, LifeSiteNews has thrown itself into
the USS Liberty conspiracy. (I refute those talking
points here.)
In 2023, Patrick Delaney, one of the editors at
LifeSiteNews, wrote, “Orthodox
patriarchate condemns ‘Israeli radicals’ for attacking bishop, priest at Church
of Gethsemane.”
Yes, there are Jewish radicals, as there are radicals in
other religions. What is conspicuously missing from this coverage, however, is
the widespread denunciation from other Jews against such abuses. In contrast,
Islamic militants have committed all sorts of crimes and terrorism against
innocents—Christian, Jew, Muslim—and there is no condemnation from residents in
Gaza or Judea and Samaria of their hostilities.
For the record, the Israeli government has cracked down on
hyper-orthodox adherents harassing
Christians, and local Rabbis raised funds to help
repair a Catholic church attacked by Jewish radicals, too.
In 2024, Delaney wrote a particularly egregious article,
claiming that Israel was conducting a “genocide” against the residents of Gaza
following the October 7th, 2023 terrorist attack from Hamas:
Israeli
soldiers celebrate the ‘torturing, humiliating, and mocking’ of Palestinians on
social media
I refused to remain quiet in the face of these blatant lies.
I wrote an extensive response email (republished
here), refuting the libelous claims about Israel and American foreign
policy vis-à-vis the Jewish State. I focused on the redefinition of “genocide.”
I also pointed out that his using “Al-Jazeera” as a legitimate news source is
suspect.
Delaney responded, and he provided a broad mixture of half-truths
and misdefinitions to justify his dishonest arguments.
LifeSiteNews
eventually printed my letter, along with Delaney’s response (InfoWars
republished the article, too!), but referred to me as “William” and called
me a “Christian Zionist journalist,” presumably as a smear. I wear such terms
as a badge of honor. The most damning aspect of Delaney’s defense of calling
Israel’s attacks on Hamas “genocide” rested on his contortion of the term to
include any form of fighting in a combat zone!
With all of this information in the background, let’s get to
the firing and rehiring (?) of John Henry-Westen.
LifeSiteNews Co-Founder and Managing Editor Steve Jalsevac
released a statement regarding
Westen’s departure:
While legal constraints prevent us from
delving into extensive detail, I can share that the decision was influenced by
several factors, including a 72% drop in readership from 2021 to 2024 during
John-Henry’s tenure as CEO, a decline in monthly and new donors, and other
business challenges. Additionally, an internal survey revealed significant
concerns regarding staff sentiment and safety scores, which further informed
the board’s considerations.
Nonprofits have to keep the money flowing, but should stick
to their principles. A steep drop-off of nearly three-quarters of your
readership is troubling.
I can guess why LifeSiteNews is losing readers and donors:
The Pro-Hamas, Anti-Israel Propaganda!
Truth matters in the fight against moral and sexual degradation.
When a Catholic-based news site insists on pushing pro-terrorist propaganda, venturing
into foreign policy conspiracy theories, they are embracing lies, one can expect
that their once-faithful readership will be repulsed.
And now, we receive word that John Henry-Westen has been
reinstated.
Surprisingly, the site issued a very short reinstatement
statement:
The LifeSiteNews Board of Directors voted
today to restore John-Henry Westen to his former position.
“John-Henry Westen has been recognized by the board as the President and CEO of lifesitenews.com Inc. subject to administrative review and investigation.”
C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts
issued the following analysis:
"This is likely the only time
in the history of corporate governance that a statement restoring a CEO
showed even less cordiality than the statement which announced his firing.
The brevity, timing and language of
the announcement all suggest a profound reluctance, or even resentment, on the
part of those who issued it.
It was released at 5:47 EDT on a
Friday afternoon, a time best suited to minimize publicity on a story that a
corporation or a government agency wishes to bury.
The use of the word 'recognized',
rather than the more usual 're-appointed' is curious. It might suggest that the
previous vote was somehow improper or legally defective.
The inclusion of the phrase
'subject to administrative review and investigation' suggests continued
hostility towards Westen by the Board of Directors.
There is also a striking omission.
There is no mention of Westen being restored as Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews,
a position specifically referenced in his termination
announcement.”
LifeSiteNews is losing readers, then they bungled the
removal of the CEO. C.J. Doyle’s analysis makes sense. Potential litigation
often scares organizations into a quick, unexplained course correction.
But did the board fire Westen because of the website’s
increasing embrace of anti-Zionist propaganda? One of the frequent commentators
on the site, Peter LaBarbera, shared with me that Westen was not removed
because of the anti-Zionist turn in reporting: “It wasn’t about the Israel
bashers. They’re still there!” He encouraged me to reach out to one of their
main contributors, who privately shared his criticism of the anti-Zionism turn
in reporting, but that writer has not gotten back to me yet.
If the LifeSiteNews board of directors can’t see how their
dishonest reporting on the Arab-Israeli conflict is affecting readers, then
they should be fired!
If LifeSiteNews editors want to maintain life on their site
to report the news, they need to get back to reporting … news! All the
anti-Zionist propaganda, I submit, is the real turn-off, turning off the
donations and views.
The larger question remains: why publish such anti-Israeli
(and thus anti-Semitic) garbage? One suspects that the site, based in Canada,
is trying to placate an increasing Muslim population. Perhaps they are buying
into the engagement harvesting that comes with anti-Semitic conspiracy
theories. Whatever the reason, they need a major course-correction if they want
to survive.
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