NPR tracked down the operator of the "Denver Guardian" and NationalReport.net.
He admitted that he was doing it for the money, and earning thousands of dollars per month from ad networks.
His entire business plan: write a click-bait articles and seed them on social media so you will follow the link.
He gets a fraction of a cent every time someone reads the article, but it quickly adds up with millions of hits.
You literally just described the business model of every online newspaper, do you realize that?
Coler says that he has two motivations — the money, but also the opportunity to ridicule conservatives by suckering them with obviously fake stories. He’s a self-described liberal and a registered Democrat. So it’s an outworking of his political beliefs and not just about clicks and money.
I’d like to see someone sit down and do some serious digging into these fake news sites. I’d almost bet that they’re mostly the work of liberals. My guess is that Facebook and Google and the rest are discovering this as their “fake news” clampdown moves along. They’re probably turning over rocks and finding mostly fellow liberals underneath.