Truthdig
{{Short description|American alternative news website}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Truthdig
| logo =
| screenshot =
| caption =
| url = {{url|https://truthdig.com}}
| commercial = Commercial
| type = News commentary, alternative media, editorials
| language = English
| registration = Optional
| founder = Zuade Kaufman
Robert Scheer
| CEO =
| launch_date = 2005
| revenue =
}}
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.{{r|Leibowitz-2014-02-25}} The site 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.{{r|Leibowitz-2014-02-25}} As of 2014, the Truthdig site drew more than 400,000 visitors per month.{{r|Leibowitz-2014-02-25}}
History
Kaufman 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.{{r|Roderick-2005-12-12}}{{r|Kaufman-interview-by-Ulyseas-2013}} She began developing Truthdig while at USC, and it launched immediately after Scheer was fired from the Los Angeles Times.{{cite web |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2005/11/14/la_times_fires_longtime_progressive_columnist |title=LA Times Fires Longtime Progressive Columnist Robert Scheer |website=Democracy Now! |access-date=12 September 2024 |url-access=subscription}}
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".{{Cite web |date=March 27, 2020 |title=Update: Statement from Striking Truthdig Workers |url=https://popularresistance.org/update-statement-from-striking-truthdig-workers/ |website=Popular Resistance}}{{Cite web |title=Truthdig LLC: 31-CA-264453 |url=https://www.nlrb.gov/case/31-CA-264453 |website=National Labor Relations Board}} 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.{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Zuade |date=17 March 2020 |title=Open Letter from Truthdig's Publisher & CEO: Breaking My Silence |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/an-open-letter-from-truthdigs-publisher-ceo-breaking-my-silence/ |access-date=26 March 2020 |website=Truthdig}} 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. The "Truthdig" website concomitantly posted an announcement that "Truthdig" was "going on a hiatus".{{cite web |last1=Karlis |first1=Nicole |date=March 28, 2020 |title=Truthdig staff laid off amid work stoppage |url=https://www.salon.com/2020/03/27/truthdig-staff-laid-off-amid-work-stoppage/ |access-date=6 November 2020 |website=Salon.com}}
On November 1, 2022, the website was relaunched{{cite web |last1=Schultz |first1=Ray |title=Truthdig, Progressive News Site, Relaunches |url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/379359/truthdig-progressive-news-site-relaunches.html |website=MediaPost |access-date=23 September 2024 |language=en |date=1 November 2022}} without Scheer's involvement.{{cn|date=September 2024}}
Contributors
Significant 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|date=December 2018}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Tillman |first1=Kevin |title=After Pat's Birthday |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/after-pats-birthday-2/ |website=Truthdig |access-date=6 November 2020 |format=Reprint of October 19, 2006 article |date=November 6, 2009}} The essay was widely distributed and was cited in The New York Times{{cite news |last1=Archibold |first1=Randal C. |title=Brother of N.F.L. Star Posts Antiwar Essay |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/washington/24tillman.html |access-date=6 November 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=October 24, 2006}} and the Associated Press.{{r|Leibowitz-2014-02-25}}
Reception and awards
Truthdig 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.{{r|Cissel-2012}} In 2015, an Association for Computing Machinery conference paper determined that users of the NewsTrust website considered Truthdig a "most trusted" political news source with a "left" viewpoint.{{r|Mukherjee-and-Weikum-2015}}
{{As of|2024}}, Truthdig has won six Webby Awards,{{cite web |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/2023/websites-and-mobile-sites/features-design/best-writing-editorial/250474/truthdig|title=Truthdig|access-date=17 September 2024}}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2014/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006211549/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2014/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2013/web/general-website/politics/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006211655/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2013/web/general-website/politics/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2011/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006162527/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2011/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2010/web/general-website-categories/blog-political/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112045/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2010/web/general-website-categories/blog-political/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2007/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112211/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2007/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }}{{br}}{{cite web |url=https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2007/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/|title=Truthdig|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006112211/https://www.webbyawards.com/winners/2007/web/general-website/blog-political/truthdig/ |access-date=17 September 2024|archive-date=October 6, 2017 }} four awards from the Society of Professional Journalists,{{r|SPJ-2010-05-03}}{{r|SPJ-2011-05-10}}{{r|SPJ-2011-Sigma-Delta-Chi}} and forty first-place awards from the Los Angeles Press Club,{{cite web | url = http://lapressclub.org/59th_socal_winners/ | date = June 25, 2017 | title = 59th SoCal Journalism Awards winners announced | website = Los Angeles Press Club | language = en | access-date = 2017-10-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170703090333/http://lapressclub.org/59th_socal_winners/ | url-status = live | archive-date = 2017-07-03}} {{br}} {{cite web | url = http://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2013-Southern-California-Journalism-Award-Winners.pdf | date = 2013 | title = Winners of 55th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards 2013 | website = Los Angeles Press Club | language = en | access-date = 2017-10-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171008080353/http://lapressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2013-Southern-California-Journalism-Award-Winners.pdf | url-status = live | archive-date = 2017-10-08}} {{br}} {{cite web | url = http://lapressclub.org/winners-of-52nd-annual-socal-journalism-awards-announced/ | date = June 27, 2010 | title = Winners of 52nd Annual SoCal Journalism Awards announced | website = Los Angeles Press Club | language = en | access-date = 2017-10-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171007224811/http://lapressclub.org/winners-of-52nd-annual-socal-journalism-awards-announced/ | url-status = live | archive-date = 2017-10-07}} 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."{{r|Leibowitz-2014-02-25}}
See also
References
{{reflist
| refs =
{{cite journal
| url = https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol3no1/08CisselEJSpring12.pdf
| last = Cissel
| first = Margaret
| date = Spring 2012
| title = Media framing: a comparative content analysis on mainstream and alternative news coverage of Occupy Wall Street
| journal = Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications
| publisher = Elon University
| volume = 3
| number = 1
| pages = 67–77
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-11
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170923085022/https://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol3no1/08CisselEJSpring12.pdf
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2017-09-23
}}
{{cite interview
| url = https://liveencounters.net/archives-contributors-2/interviews/zuade-kaufman-publisher-of-truthdig/
| last = Kaufman
| first = Zuade
| date = May 2013
| interviewer = Mark Ulyseas
| title = Zuade Kaufman, publisher of Truthdig
| website = Live Encounters
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-05
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220624102525/https://liveencounters.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Live-Encounters-Magazine-May-2013download.pdf
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2022-06-24
}}
{{cite web
| url = http://www.lamag.com/longform/can-you-dig-it-yes-you-can/
| last = Leibowitz
| first = Ed
| date = February 25, 2014
| title = Can you dig it? Yes you can
| website = Los Angeles
| department = Media
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-05
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171006013208/http://www.lamag.com/longform/can-you-dig-it-yes-you-can/
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2017-10-06
}}
{{cite conference
| url = https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2806537
| last1 = Mukherjee
| first1 = Subhabrata
| last2 = Weikum
| first2 = Gerhard
| date = October 18–23, 2015
| title = Leveraging joint interactions for credibility analysis in news communities
| conference = 24th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM 2015), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| conference-url = https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2806416
| book-title = CIKM ’15: Proceedings of the 24th ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management
| publisher = Association for Computing Machinery
| location = New York
| pages = 353–362
| language = en
| isbn = 978-1-4503-3794-6
| doi = 10.1145/2806416.2806537
| arxiv = 1705.02667
}}
{{cite news
| url = http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/12/the_woman_behind_truthdig_1.php
| last = Roderick
| first = Kevin
| date = December 12, 2005
| title = The woman behind Truthdig
| website = LA Observed
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-11
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171012045203/http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/12/the_woman_behind_truthdig_1.php
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2017-10-12
}}
{{cite web
| url = https://www.spj.org/sdxa11.asp
| date = 2011
| title = 2011 Sigma Delta Chi Award honorees
| website = Society of Professional Journalists
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170704135147/https://www.spj.org/sdxa11.asp
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2017-07-04
}}
{{cite web
| url = https://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=1057
| date = May 10, 2011
| title = Announcing winners of the 2010 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for journalism
| website = Society of Professional Journalists
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170623040711/https://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=1057
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2017-06-23
}}
{{cite web
| url = https://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=973#973
| date = May 3, 2010
| title = Announcing winners of the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for journalism
| website = Society of Professional Journalists
| language = en
| access-date = 2017-10-07
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161222170004/https://www.spj.org/news.asp?REF=973
| url-status = live
| archive-date = 2016-12-22
}}
}}
External links
- {{official|https://www.truthdig.com}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/user/truthdig Truthdig on YouTube.com]
Category:American news websites
Category:Broadcasting websites
Category:Internet properties established in 2005
Category:Investigative journalism
Category:Media analysis organizations and websites
Category:News agencies based in the United States