About The Western Journal

The Western Journal

The Western Journal is an American conservative news and politics website based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2008 by conservative political consultant and activist Floyd Brown — previously known as Western Journalism — the site grew from 1,000 page views a day in 2009 to one of the most-trafficked conservative publications on the internet, with The New York Times reporting more than 36 million readers and followers on Facebook in 2019. Owned by Liftable Media, Inc., the site's masthead carries the slogan "Defending and Advancing Western Civilization," and its about page describes it as "overtly conservative Christian," upholding "traditional Christian values as articulated in the Bible." Under editor-in-chief George Upper, The Western Journal covers politics, U.S. news, world news, commentary, lifestyle, and faith — and has become a case study in the power (and perils) of Facebook-driven conservative media.

Founding by Floyd Brown

Floyd Brown founded the Western Journal (as Western Journalism) in 2008. Brown is a veteran conservative operative: he began as a young political operative in Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign, served as executive director of the U.S. International Youth Year Commission, worked for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, assembled the team behind the controversial "Willie Horton" independent expenditure campaign for George H.W. Bush in 1988, and in 1989 founded Citizens United — which grew into one of America's most influential conservative organizations, and which he ran for its first decade. After stints in talk radio (Seattle's Hot Talk 570 KVI) and overseeing the preservation of Reagan's ranch, Brown launched the Western Journal as a platform for news and commentary defending the values he believed were core to America's founding. His son Patrick Brown later became CEO of Liftable Media. Brown is also the author of books including Slick Willie, Obama Unmasked, and Big Tech Tyrants.

The Liftable Media Acquisition and Facebook Explosion

In 2014, the site was acquired by Liftable Media, Inc., which also owned the political opinion sites Conservative Tribune and Liberty Alliance and the Christian site Liftable.com. Under Liftable, the Western Journal mastered Facebook distribution at the height of the platform's referral era: Newsweek reported growth from 1,000 daily page views in 2009 to more than 1 million in 2016, and The Intercept reported that Brown's websites — powered by Facebook referrals — were outranking the web traffic of the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, and NPR. The New York Times reported in 2019 that the site had more than 36 million readers and followers on Facebook. The company changed the site's name to The Western Journal in 2018, hired trained copy editors, and introduced a corrections page — professionalizing moves aimed at shoring up credibility as scrutiny of Facebook-driven publishers intensified.

Content and Editorial Identity

The Western Journal covers politics, U.S. and world news, commentary, lifestyle, and faith, with particular attention to stories about the military and law enforcement. Its editorial identity is explicitly conservative and Christian: the site describes itself as upholding traditional Christian values, and its slogan — "Defending and Advancing Western Civilization" — frames its journalism as civilizational advocacy. Beyond written content, the site produces video series including "WJ Live," a talk show featuring conversations on politics and culture. This multimedia approach, combined with heavy Facebook distribution, allowed the Journal to engage audiences across formats. The content mix — news aggregation with a conservative frame, original commentary, faith and lifestyle coverage — targets an audience of culturally conservative readers underserved by mainstream outlets.

Scrutiny and the Fake News Debate

The Western Journal's Facebook-driven rise made it a central exhibit in debates over misinformation and conservative media. Critics accused the site of publishing misleading or sensationalized content optimized for social sharing; the site's defenders argued it was being targeted for its conservative viewpoint. The 2018 professionalization push — copy editors, corrections page, name change — came amid this scrutiny, as platforms began demoting publishers deemed unreliable. The Journal's trajectory illustrates the double-edged nature of platform-dependent publishing: Facebook made it one of America's largest conservative outlets, and Facebook's subsequent algorithm changes and content policies threatened the foundation of its business. Like many publishers of its era, the Western Journal learned that building on rented platform land carries existential risks.

Liftable Media's Conservative Portfolio

The Western Journal sits within Liftable Media's broader conservative digital portfolio, which has included Conservative Tribune, Liberty Alliance, and Liftable.com, plus dozens of conservative Facebook pages fed with the company's content. This network approach — multiple brands, shared content, coordinated social distribution — was characteristic of the mid-2010s conservative digital ecosystem, where Facebook pages served as the primary distribution channel. Patrick Brown's leadership as CEO continued the family business his father founded. The portfolio strategy allowed Liftable to reach different segments of the conservative audience while centralizing operations — a model that maximized the Facebook era's opportunities.

Editorial Leadership

George Upper serves as editor-in-chief of The Western Journal, leading the newsroom through the site's evolution from Facebook-driven upstart to more traditionally structured news operation. The 2018 hiring of trained copy editors and introduction of a corrections page reflected an editorial maturation — an acknowledgment that scale brings responsibility and that credibility requires process. The newsroom covers the daily churn of conservative news: White House and congressional developments, cultural controversies, faith issues, and the stories its audience cares about. The editorial challenge — shared by all ideological publishers — is balancing audience expectations with journalistic standards, a tension the Journal's history illustrates vividly.

Place in Conservative Media

The Western Journal represents a specific chapter in conservative media history: the Facebook era, when social distribution allowed ideologically defined publishers to reach audiences rivaling legacy institutions. Its rise demonstrated both the democratizing potential of platforms (a startup could outrank the Wall Street Journal in traffic) and their dangers (dependence on algorithmic favor, incentives for sensationalism). As the platform era waned, the Journal's professionalization efforts — editors, corrections, diversified content — reflected the industry's broader reckoning. The site remains a significant conservative voice, particularly among faith-oriented readers, and a reminder of how thoroughly social media reshaped the economics of ideological journalism.

Editorial Direction Under George Upper

Under editor-in-chief George Upper, The Western Journal has maintained the conservative editorial identity established at its 2008 founding by Floyd Brown as Western Journalism. The 2014 acquisition by Liftable Media supercharged the site's growth, particularly on Facebook, where its shareable conservative content reached massive audiences during the platform's publisher-friendly era. That Facebook explosion brought both scale and scrutiny: the site became a case study in the "fake news" debate, with critics questioning its headlines and supporters praising its reach. Through the algorithm changes that humbled many publishers, The Western Journal has endured as part of Liftable Media's conservative portfolio — a reminder of both the opportunities and perils of platform-dependent publishing.

The Western Journal in the Platform Era

The Western Journal's trajectory is a case study in platform-era publishing: founded in 2008 by Floyd Brown as Western Journalism, supercharged by the 2014 Liftable Media acquisition into a Facebook juggernaut, then forced to adapt as algorithms shifted. Under editor-in-chief George Upper, the site maintained its conservative editorial identity through every phase — the Facebook explosion, the fake-news scrutiny, and the long comedown. Its endurance, where many platform-dependent publishers collapsed, speaks to the strength of its audience relationship: readers who sought out the Western Journal directly, not just through shares. In the history of digital conservatism, the site's rise and adaptation mirror the movement's own migration across the internet's shifting terrain.

The Western Journal Today

Today, The Western Journal continues to publish at westernjournal.com under Liftable Media ownership — conservative news, commentary, and faith-oriented content for its audience, led by editor-in-chief George Upper. From Floyd Brown's 2008 founding to its Facebook-fueled peak to its professionalized present, the site has remained committed to its founding proposition: journalism explicitly defending Western civilization and traditional Christian values. Its official website is https://www.westernjournal.com.