Truthdig is an American alternative news website that provides a mix of long-form articles, blog items, curated links, interviews, arts criticism, and commentary on current events that is delivered from a politically progressive, left-leaning point of view.[1] The site offers independent journalism and focuses on major "digs" that purport to look beneath headlines to reveal facts overlooked or not reported by mainstream media. Truthdig was co-founded in 2005 by Zuade Kaufman and Robert Scheer, who served as editor-in-chief.[1] As of 2014, the Truthdig site drew more than 400,000 visitors per month.[1]
Type of site | News commentary, alternative media, editorials |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder(s) | Zuade Kaufman Robert Scheer |
| URL | truthdig |
| Commercial | Commercial |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 2005 |
History
editKaufman began her journalism career at KCET in Los Angeles, initially working on documentaries before transitioning to print journalism. She collaborated with Scheer on hyperlocal editions at the Los Angeles Times , Westside, Weekly, and Our Times, starting as a researcher and then as a staff reporter. After the newspaper changed ownership and eliminated these local editions, Kaufman pursued a master's degree in journalism at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.[2][3] She began developing Truthdig while at USC, and it launched immediately after Scheer was fired from the Los Angeles Times.[4]
On March 11, 2020, nine employees of Truthdig signed a statement announcing a work stoppage to protest what they described as "unfair labor conditions and the effort by the publisher, Zuade Kaufman, to remove the site's founding Editor-in-Chief and co-owner Robert Scheer".[5][6] On March 27, 2020 Kaufman responded in an open letter that attributed the matter to "negotiations to end the business partnership" between her and Scheer.[7] On March 25, 2020 Truthdig employees received emails they characterized as "Truthdig LLC was being dissolved and that our positions at the publication had been terminated". According to the full statement, 15 employees would be affected.[5] The "Truthdig" website concomitantly posted an announcement that "Truthdig" was "going on a hiatus".[8]
On November 1, 2022, the website relaunched without Scheer's involvement.[9][non-primary source needed]
Contributors
editSignificant contributors to Truthdig have included William Blum, Noam Chomsky, Juan Cole, animator Mark Fiore, Amy Goodman, Sam Harris, Chris Hedges, Kamin Mohammadi, Greg Palast, Carrie Rickey, Émile P. Torres, and Gore Vidal.[citation needed]
In October 2006, Truthdig published an essay entitled, "After Pat's Birthday", about the death of the NFL player and American soldier Pat Tillman that was written by his brother Kevin.[10] The essay was widely distributed and was cited in The New York Times[11] and the Associated Press.[1]
Reception and awards
editTruthdig has been used as a data source in communication studies research on systematic differences in coverage of political events by alternative media (such as Truthdig) versus mainstream media.[12] It also has been included in a set of news sources subjected to statistical analysis intended to identify credible sources.[13]
As of 2024[update], Truthdig has won six Webby Awards,.[14] four awards from the Society of Professional Journalists,[15][16][17] and forty first-place awards from the Los Angeles Press Club,[18] among others. At the 2010 ceremony for the Webby Awards, which traditionally limit acceptance speeches to five words, Robert Scheer accepted on behalf of Truthdig, saying: "Wall Street—what fucking thieves."[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Leibowitz, Ed (February 25, 2014). "Can you dig it? Yes you can". Media. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ Roderick, Kevin (December 12, 2005). "The woman behind Truthdig". LA Observed. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ Kaufman, Zuade (May 2013). "Zuade Kaufman, publisher of Truthdig". Live Encounters (Interview). Interviewed by Mark Ulyseas. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- ^ "LA Times Fires Longtime Progressive Columnist Robert Scheer". Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "Update: Statement from Striking Truthdig Workers". Popular Resistance. March 27, 2020.
- ^ "Truthdig LLC: 31-CA-264453". National Labor Relations Board.
- ^ Kaufman, Zuade (March 17, 2020). "Open Letter from Truthdig's Publisher & CEO: Breaking My Silence". Truthdig. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
- ^ Karlis, Nicole (March 28, 2020). "Truthdig staff laid off amid work stoppage". Salon.com. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ Kaufman, Zuade (November 1, 2022). "Letter from the Publisher". Truthdig.
- ^ Tillman, Kevin (November 6, 2009). "After Pat's Birthday" (Reprint of October 19, 2006 article). Truthdig. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ Archibold, Randal C. (October 24, 2006). "Brother of N.F.L. Star Posts Antiwar Essay". The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
- ^ Cissel, Margaret (Spring 2012). "Media framing: a comparative content analysis on mainstream and alternative news coverage of Occupy Wall Street" (PDF). Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications. 3 (1). Elon University: 67–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
- ^ Mukherjee, Subhabrata; Weikum, Gerhard (October 18–23, 2015). "Leveraging joint interactions for credibility analysis in news communities". CIKM ’15: Proceedings of the 24th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management. 24th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM 2015), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 353–362. arXiv:1705.02667. doi:10.1145/2806416.2806537. ISBN 978-1-4503-3794-6.
- ^ "Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
"Truthdig". Retrieved September 17, 2024. - ^ "Announcing winners of the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for journalism". Society of Professional Journalists. May 3, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ "Announcing winners of the 2010 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for journalism". Society of Professional Journalists. May 10, 2011. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ "2011 Sigma Delta Chi Award honorees". Society of Professional Journalists. 2011. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
- ^ "59th SoCal Journalism Awards winners announced". Los Angeles Press Club. June 25, 2017. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
"Winners of 55th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards 2013" (PDF). Los Angeles Press Club. 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
"Winners of 52nd Annual SoCal Journalism Awards announced". Los Angeles Press Club. June 27, 2010. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.