NaturalNews to Split Content, Shifting Political and Financial News to CounterThink.com

Thursday, February 19, 2009 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: CounterThink, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) We've made an editorial decision here at NaturalNews to split our content into two different sites. All articles on politics, war, the economy and technology will be shifted to CounterThink.com, leaving NaturalNews.com to focus solely on natural health, health freedom and reporting on Big Pharma, the FDA and similar topics.

This content shift, which has been requested by many readers, will allow NaturalNews to focus solely on natural health, without the distraction of articles and commentary on topics in other areas. Existing articles on NaturalNews about politics or the economy will be forwarded to CounterThink.com, then deleted from NaturalNews.com altogether. All new articles about non-health topics will appear solely on CounterThink.com

Articles from contributing writers who cover topics such as the economy or politics will also have their articles shifted to CounterThink.com, along with their author bylines and Google code.

Although topics of war, economics and politics deserve coverage on the web, NaturalNews is not the appropriate place to publish such articles, and it's time that we listened to reader suggestions on this matter and focused NaturalNews solely on topics of personal and planetary health.

For the record, as so many people have been guessing about this, my own political beliefs are liberal on issues like the environment and war, but conservative on issues of finances and the economy. I'm a Libertarian on issues like personal freedom, yet I have interventionist leanings on topics like banning DTC drug advertising. I believe in the decentralization of power and the teaching of personal responsibility. As you can see, my political philosophies are not one-dimensional. Nevertheless, they belong on a different website and should not interfere with the natural health focus of NaturalNews.

I won't be hiding my beliefs about the money supply, financial bailouts or any other topics; they'll just be found on CounterThink.com instead of NaturalNews.com. Those of you who wish to visit that site (when it's ready) and follow such content there are welcome to tune in. Those who don't are welcome to tune out. It's completely your choice.

Lastly, I want to say, for the record, that even though I have strongly criticized certain groups (the military, Bush supporters, law enforcement personnel, etc.), I fully recognize that these are generalizations, and as such, there are exceptions in every category. There are highly intelligent, health-conscious soldiers and cops who read this site and who stand in sharp contrast to the actions of some of their colleagues. There were some great people in the Bush Administration who tried to halt the war crimes and who tried to argue for peace instead of war. In every group that gets characterized on this website, there are exceptions in that group who defy the status quo.

On "authentic voice" vs. canned news

Some readers have suggestion that I "tone down" my articles and content to be less outspoken and more congenial. But my response is simple: If you want watered-down, pretend news that accomplishes the feat of avoiding any potential of being offensive by saying essentially nothing, then you don't need a website, you only need CNN, or CNBC or FoxNews! Mainstream media accomplishes the task of empty, non-informative news that, in its effort to be "neutral," actually says nothing.

I would rather say something meaningful at the risk of a few people being offended than say nothing at all. It is, in fact, the lack of courage to speak the truth that has ushered in the downfall of the mainstream media and the rise of internet media. Everybody with a pulse (and a computer) knows that there's more truth in the news reporting on the internet than in most (but not all) newspapers, magazines and broadcast news shows. There's also a lot more noise, of course, but that's the nature of an unbridled medium of Free Speech that's populated by sane and insane people alike.

NON-information is easy to come by. Just turn on your television or read the paper. What we are working to do with NaturalNews is to offer REAL information from real people who have real voices (not the fake, carefully-scripted narrative voices on cable news shows, read by supermodels who seem to have no clue about the content they're repeating). It is this authentic voice that has made NaturalNews so popular, and by shifting away from non-health-related content, we aim to refocus our efforts and revitalize this genuine voice on the health-related topics that matter to you most.

So watch for the launch of CounterThink.com next week, and we hope to see you as a reader on both sites!

Thank you for your continued readership and your suggestions. We've listened to your requests and initiated this important change that will keep NaturalNews focused on personal and planetary health! :-)

We WILL, by the way, continue to cover global warming on NaturalNews, as that is a planetary health issue. We will also cover the health of the oceans, agriculture, the food supply, the water supply, etc. Vaccinations, fluoridation and mass-medication will of course continue to be revisited here on NaturalNews, and to the extent that the Obama administration either works in favor of natural or against it, Obama and his policies will be mentioned in the proper context.

- Mike