• by Joe Mandese , October 9, 2025

At least that's what right-wing news traffic analyst TheRighting suggests in the findings of its latest monthly analysis of mobile and desktop traffic to conservative-leaning news sites.

"Visits to The Free Press soared 44%," it says in its release this morning of September traffic, adding that was more than any other right-wing news outlet, "except for the Donald Trump-controlled Truth Social," which saw its traffic rise half again (+51%) last month vs. September a year ago.

I'm not sure why TheRighting includes Truth Social as a "news site," but given the number of Americans who now get their news regularly from social media platforms, that doesn't make the worst sense.

TheRighting President Howard Polskin attributes much of Truth Social's September gains to interest in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, although that likely also played a role in The Free Press' boost.

September was also full of speculation that The Free Press, a newsletter launched on Substack just four years ago, was poised to be acquired by Paramount and its editor Bari Weiss put in charge of CBS News.

The Truth Social and The Free Press gains, Polskin points out, came in contrast to most right-wing news sites, which saw year-over-year declines compared to September 2024, leading up to the Presidential Election.

The biggest losers included members of right-win media's old guard: The Nation (-34%) and Washington Examiner (-39%), although even Fox News, Breitbart and Newsmax were down year-over-year.

It will be interesting to see what happens in coming months -- especially for The Free Press, given the higher-profile as well as the immense mainstream media cross-promotional clout it absorbs via its association with CBS News.

Hey, I don't want to give Trump's Truth Social any ideas, but given the regulatory cards it controls, maybe it could muster its own takeover of another mainstream news outlet. And based on recent history, I wouldn't be surprised if it were ABC News.