About Truthdig

Truthdig, founded in 2005 by Publisher Zuade Kaufman and Editor in Chief Robert Scheer, is dedicated to reporting on current issues that are insufficiently covered by mainstream media. The website’s mission is to dig beneath the headlines, provide expert reporting and commentary from a progressive point of view, and offer an outlet for original work by exceptional journalists.

Truthdig rests on the bedrock of independent journalism, and we insist that our reporting meet the highest standards.

Over the years, our peers have recognized our efforts. Our honors include six Webby Awards, 18 awards from the Los Angeles Press Club and affiliated organizations, and three awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.

We do not tell any of our contributors what to write, and the website does not always agree with the views of its writers and bloggers: We are proud to have created a home for provocative and talented writers and to give them the freedom to pursue a story wherever it takes them.

Truthdig’s team is composed of writers and editors who have worked for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Daily News and other major publications. Guiding the staff is Robert Scheer, an award-winning journalist with more than 50 years’ experience.

Unlike at most media companies, ads and the income they produce do not play a big role in Truthdig’s operation. The site is not influenced by advertisers or shareholders and is not controlled by any outside entity. This independence gives us great freedom and great responsibility.

A continuing concern for Truthdig is how to sustain its quality. Digital media is the new frontier for content, but thus far very few online news companies have found ways to maintain adequate funding. Almost two-thirds of the $60 billion spent on digital advertising annually goes to five large tech companies whose news gathering efforts are minimal and at times even suspect. The rest of the ad spending is divided among the online elements of newspapers, television and cable channels and sites such as ours.

Our steadfast commitment brings us grants from foundations and philanthropists and contributions from readers who want to ensure that excellent reporting and commentary thrive on the web. In support of that goal, the Truthdig Fund has been set up to accept tax-deductible contributions.

Even with these funding sources, our budget is stretched by paying writers and contributors, employing an in-house editing and fact-checking staff and undertaking special endeavors such as publishing the reports of women global writers. Because Truthdig won’t lower its standards, it must constantly seek new funding.

Please help us drill for the facts and stay beholden to none.

Awards

2016
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Online Celebrity Feature - John Patterson, "30 Years Gone, and Oh, How We Still Love Orson Welles"
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Online Book/Cultural Critic - Tim Riley, "The Man Who Invented Rock ’n’ Roll"
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, News Organization Exclusive to the Internet - Zuade Kaufman and Robert Scheer, Truthdig
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Online Political Column/Commentary - Chris Hedges, "We Are All Greeks Now"
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Activism Journalism, All Platforms - Bill Boyarsky, "Why Ending Homelessness Is Political Poison.”
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Entertainment News, Online - Kasia Anderson, "Politicon 2015: Ann Coulter Claims She Fed Donald Trump ‘That Spicy Stuff on Mexican Rapists.’”
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Entertainment Reviews, Online - Natasha Hakimi Zapata, "I Am the Beggar of the World"


2015
Southern California Journalism Award: First Place, Activism Journalism - Chris Hedges: "The Last Days of Tomas Young"
Maggie Award: Best Regularly Featured Web or ENewsletter Column/Trade & Consumer (Truthdig Book Reviews)

2014
National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award: Online News - Kasia Anderson, "Dustin Lance Black Speaks: Pasadena City College Officials Created ‘Toxic and Dishonest’ Atmosphere"
Webby Award: Best Political Blog, People's Voice
Maggie Award: Best Publication Blog (Ear to the Ground)

2013
National Entertainment Journalism Award: Online Critic - Peter Richardson, "The Science Delusion"
Webby Award - Best Political Website, Jury
Southern California Journalism Award: Best Website, Exclusive to the Internet - Truthdig

2012
Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award: Online Column Writing (Independent) - Robert Scheer, “The Great Recession, c. 2011”
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Journalist of the Year - Chris Hedges
National Entertainment Journalism Award: Online Critic - Mel White, "Jesus Was Lynched"

2011
Webby Award: Best Political Blog, Jury
Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award: Editorial Cartooning, Mr. Fish
Southern California Journalism Award: Best Website, Exclusive to the Internet - Truthdig
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Sports News/Feature/Commentary - Mark Heisler, "Role Models for the Id"

2010
Webby Award: Best Political Blog, Jury
Society of Professional Journalists, Los Angeles Pro Chapter Award: Distinguished Work in New Media: Robert Scheer
Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award: Editorial Cartooning, Mr. Fish
Southern California Journalism Award: Best Website, Exclusive to the Internet – Budget Over 10K - Truthdig
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Journalist of the Year - Bill Boyarsky
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Column/Commentary/Criticism - Chris Hedges, “One Day We'll All Be Terrorists”
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Sports News/Feature/Commentary - Mark Heisler, "It’s Not About Tiger Woods, It’s About Us"

2009
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Journalist of the Year - Chris Hedges
Southern California Journalism Award: Online News Story, Feature, Series or Package - Scott Ritter, "Dinner With Ahmed"
Southern California Journalism Award: Online Column/Commentary/Criticism - Chris Hedges, “Party to Murder”
Maggie Award: Best Regularly Featured Web Column (Book Review)

2008
Maggie Award: Best Regularly Featured Web Column (Book Review)
Interactive Media Award: Outstanding Achievement, Blog
Interactive Media Award: Outstanding Achievement, News
Webby Award: Official Honoree, Best Copy/Writing

2007
Webby Award: Best Political Blog, Jury
Webby Award: Best Political Blog, People’s Voice

Truthdig was a finalist for the following awards. 2010: Webby Awards: Best Political Website; Online Journalism Awards: Online Commentary/Blogging (Chris Hedges). 2009: Webby Awards: Best Political Website; Maggie Awards: Best Web Article (Chris Hedges, "The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff"). 2008: Online Journalism Awards: General Excellence, Medium Site, and Topical Reporting (Bill Boyarsky, “On the Campaign Trail”); Webby Awards: Official Nominee, Politics; Maggie Awards: Best Web Column (Bill Boyarsky, “On the Campaign Trail”); Maggie Awards: Best Website; Weblog Awards: Best Liberal Blog; Weblog Awards: Best Political Coverage.

Staff

Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief		Zuade Kaufman, Publisher		Kasia Anderson, Deputy Editor		Eric Ortiz, Managing Editor
Eunice Wong, Book Editor		Natasha Hakimi Zapata, Poetry Editor & Assistant Editor		Emma Niles, Assistant Editor		Haley Winters, Social Media Coordinator
Sarah Wesley, Communications Coordinator		Donald Kaufman, Blogger		Clara Romeo, Editorial Assistant

Copy Editors

The members of the Truthdig copy desk are:

Copy desk chief Tom Caswell joined Truthdig at its founding in 2005 when he retired at the Los Angeles Times, where he had been copy desk chief of the editorial pages and an editor in several Pulitzer-winning projects. Earlier, he was at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the New Orleans States-Item, the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise and the Lake Charles (La.) American Press. He is a former teacher at Whittier College and in the UCLA Extension system, and he lectures occasionally at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He has worked in journalism since the 1960s.

Viv Chamichian has more than 35 years of experience in journalism. Before joining Truthdig, she was a news copy editor at the Los Angeles Times, features copy desk chief at the San Diego Union-Tribune, assistant Scene editor at the San Diego Evening Tribune, features editor at the Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle and a copy editor at the Saginaw (Mich.) News.

Heidi Swillinger has nearly four decades of experience reporting and editing for newspapers including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard, and Central City Extra, which covered San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. Her pioneering work in social media was shortlisted for the 2003 Knight Foundation’s Batten Award for Innovations in Journalism and is now archived at the University of California at Berkeley’s Bancroft Library. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon.

Gregory Glover began in journalism as a copy boy for Britain's South Wales Argus. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he has also been a copy editor, a news editor and a managing editor in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s, he became Page 1 editor of the Oakland Tribune and other dailies in what is now the Bay Area News Group. He has won statewide awards in California for editorial writing, page design and media excellence.

Barbara Dunlap is an award-winning journalist with 30 years of writing and editing experience at publications including the San Francisco Chronicle. Among her honors is a Knight Foundation National Copy Editing Fellowship. She has a master's degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, frequently ranked as one of the leading U.S. journalism schools.

Anita Salzberg has been a writer and copy editor for more than 35 years. As a direct marketing consultant she wrote promotions for medical, professional and trade book publishing, as well as for Time Inc. magazines, Cunard and the American Management Association. For most of the decade before she joined Truthdig she was editorial manager of the American Red Cross in Greater New York. She has co-authored three books for the children’s library market and has written for The New York Times Magazine and Omni and Health magazines.

Sheri Gordon, a former copy desk editor for the Los Angeles Times, is the book review copy editor for Truthdig.

Truthdig Contributors

Bill Blum, Columnist		Bill Boyarsky, Political correspondent		Juan Cole, Columnist		Mark Fiore, Cartoonist
Mr. Fish, Cartoonist		Chris Hedges, Columnist		Sonali Kolhatkar, Columnist		Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief

Contributors

The following is the complete list of contributors to Truthdig.

Nexcess , Chris Abani, Contributor Carol J. Adams, Contributor Moshe Adler, Contributor Rayyan Al-Shawaf, Reviewer Leilani Albano, Contributor Andrew Foster Altschul, Contributor Kasia Anderson, Deputy Editor Nick Anderson, Cartoonist Perry Anderson, Reviewer David Antoon, Contributor Christian G. Appy, Reviewer Mark Arax, Reviewer Tom Artin, Reviewer Jabari Asim, Columnist Sheerly Avni, Contributor The Rev. Ed Bacon, Contributor Anna Badkhen, Contributor Juan Bagnell, Contributor Charles Baker-Boyd, Contributor Benjamin Barber, Contributor Allen Barra, Contributor Jim Lair Beard, Contributor Andrew Becker, Contributor Larry Beinhart, Contributor Clay Bennett, Cartoonist Thor Benson, Jenna Berbeo, Lucy Berbeo, Assistant Publisher Jeremy Bernstein, Reviewer Julie Bindel, Contributor Norman Birnbaum, Contributor Arthur Blaustein, Contributor James G. Blight, Contributor Tracy Bloom, Assistant Editor Bill Blum, Contributor Larry Blumenfeld, Contributor Steven Borowiec, Contributor Andy Borowitz, Contributing Columnist Chesa Boudin, Reviewer Liesl Bradner, Reviewer Fred Branfman, Contributor Carol Brightman, Contributor Peter Brooks, Reviewer Stephen Brown, Reviewer Zbigniew Brzezinski, Contributor Alexis Camins, Contributor Lou Cannon, Reviewer Cameron Cardow, Cartoonist T.L. Caswell, Contributor Ken Catalino, Cartoonist Viv Chamichian, Celia Chazelle, Reviewer John Cheney-Lippold, Contributor Robert Christgau, Reviewer Jane Ciabattari, Reviewer Marie Cocco, Columnist Andrew Cockburn, Contributor Patrick Cockburn, Contributor Elliot D. Cohen, Contributor Warren I. Cohen, Reviewer Marjorie Cohn, Contributor Juan Cole, Contributor David Coleman, Contributor Robert Collier, Contributor Joe Conason, Columnist Paul Conrad, Cartoonist Marc Cooper, Contributor John Crawford, Contributor Eileen Cronin, Contributor Paul Cummins, Contributor Tad Daley, Contributor Jeff Danziger, Cartoonist Lauren B. Davis, Reviewer Mike Davis, Contributor Roisin Davis, Marcia Alesan Dawkins, Columnist Elizabeth de la Vega, Contributor John Dean, Contributor Michael Deibert, Contributor Jon Dillingham, Contributor E.J. Dionne Jr., Columnist Michael Dirda, Reviewer Mark Dowie, Reviewer Barbara Dunlap, Contributor Will Durst, Contributor Carolyn Eisenberg, Reviewer Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Contributor Rosa Elizalde, Contributor Adam Elkus, Contributor Richard Ellis, Contributor Daniel Ellsberg, Contributor Tom Engelhardt, Contributor Jason Epstein, Contributor Reese Erlich, Contributor Donald Fanger, Reviewer John Mack Faragher, Contributor Mike Farrell, Contributor Bruce Fein, Contributor Jay Feldman, Reviewer Mark Fiore, Contributing Cartoonist Mark A. Fischer, Reviewer Mr. Fish, Cartoonist Robert Fisk, Contributor Richard Flacks, Reviewer Chip Fleischer, Contributor Will Ford, Contributor Steve Fraser, Reviewer Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Contributor Ellen Garrison, Reviewer Gene Gerard, Contributor Susan Gillman, Reviewer Todd Gitlin, Contributor Aaron Glantz, Contributor Stan Goff, Contributor Danny Goldberg, Reviewer Barry Golson, Contributor Tyler Golson, Contributor Amy Goodman, Columnist Ellen Goodman, Columnist Michael Gorra, Contributor Roger Gould, Contributor Kevin Douglas Grant, Susan Griffin, Contributor Larry Gross, Contributor Andrew Gumbel, Contributor Natasha Hakimi Zapata, Assistant Editor and Poetry Editor Theodore Hamm, Contributor Sam Harris, Contributor Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi, Contributors Tom Hayden, Contributor Thomas Hedges, Contributor Jacob Heilbrunn, Reviewer Anthony Heilbut, Reviewer Mark Heisler, Contributor Doug Henwood, Contributor Mary Hershberger, Contributor Tasbeeh Herwees, Contributor Lena Herzog, Steven Hill, Contributor John Holmes, Reviewer Megan Hustad, Reviewer H. Patricia Hynes, Contributor Gary Indiana, Reviewer Michael Intriligator, Contributor Susan Jacoby, Reviewer Martin Jacques, Contributor Dahr Jamail, Contributor Chalmers Johnson, Contributor Troy Jollimore, Reviewer Channing Joseph, Contributor Nudrat Kamal, Contributor Carla Kaplan, Contributor Zachary Karabell, Contributor Donald Kaufman, Correspondent Zuade Kaufman, Publisher

Michael Kazin, Reviewer Nikki Keddie, Reviewer Alexander Reed Kelly, Associate Editor Tom Kemper, Contributor Anthony Kenny, Reviewer Christopher Ketcham, Contributor Parag Khanna, Contributor David Kipen, Reviewer John Kiriakou, Contributor Jonathan Kirsch, Reviewer Sonali Kolhatkar, Columnist Joel Kotkin, Reviewer Steven Kotler, Contributor Ron Kovic, Contributor Dennis Kucinich, Contributor Mark Kurlansky, Contributor Stanley Kutler, Contributor Saul Landau, Contributor Barry Lando, Contributor John Lasker, Contributor Eric Lax, Reviewer Derek Lazzaro, Contributor Titus Levi, Contributor Jeremiah Levine, Contributor Yasha Levine, Contributor Simon Lewis, Reviewer Susie Linfield, Reviewer Victoria Livingstone, Contributor Rosa Lowinger, Reviewer Mike Luckovich, Cartoonist Ruben Luengas, Contributor John Lukacs, Reviewer Edna Machirori, Contributor Jeff Madrick, Reviewer Mark Malseed, Contributor Ruth Marcus, Contributor Regina Marler, Reviewer Pilar Marrero, Contributor Scott Martelle, Contributor Alexander M. Martin, Reviewer Yxta Maya Murray, Reviewer Allen McDuffee, Contributor Douglas McGill, Contributor Karl E. Meyer, Reviewer Ivo Mijnssen, Contributor Alan Minsky, Contributor Chris Mooney, Contributor David Moore, Contributor Caroline Moorehead, Reviewer Zubeida Mustafa, Contributor André Naffis-Sahely, Reviewer Andrew Nagorski, Reviewer Cristina Nehring, Contributor Christian Neumeister, Intern Glen Newey, Reviewer Michael Nigro, Contributor Emma Niles, Assistant Editor Mark O'Connell, John Ogden, Contributor China Okasi, Contributor Eric Ortiz, Managing Editor Greg Palast, Contributor Amelia Pang, Contributor Christian Parenti, Contributor Cherilyn Parsons, Contributor Eve Pell, Reviewer Suzanne Pepper, Reviewer William Pfaff, Columnist Gary Phillips, Contributor Tony Platt, Contributor Sergei Plekhanov, Contributor Dwayne Powell, Cartoonist Chiranuch Premchaiporn, Contributor Nomi Prins, Contributor Tracy Quan, Reviewer Ryan Quinn, Contributor Jean Randich, Reviewer Shaun Randol, Reviewer Frederic Raphael, Reviewer Janice G. Raymond, Contributor Helen Redmond, Contributor Richard Reeves, Syndicated Columnist Robert Reich, Contributor Peter Richardson, Reviewer Carrie Rickey, Contributor Jordan Riefe, Contributor David Rieff, Reviewer Tim Riley, Reviewer Scott Ritter, Contributor Eugene Robinson, Contributor Francis Robinson, Reviewer KiMi Robinson, Intern Laura Robinson, Contributor Clara Romeo, Contributor Mike Rose, Contributor Nir Rosen, Dig Leader Ruth Rosen, Contributor Onnesha Roychoudhuri, Contributor Louise Rubacky, Reviewer Heather Sarantis, Contributor Mark Sarvas, Contributor Jeremy Scahill, Contributor Ed Schad, Contributor Christopher Scheer, Joshua Scheer, Contributor Peter Z. Scheer, Managing Editor Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief Orville Schell, Contributor Richard Schickel, Contributor Nicholas Schmidle, Contributor G.W. Schulz, Contributor Sharon Scranage, Contributor Ruth Scurr, Reviewer Barry F. Seidman, Contributor Molly Selvin, Contributor Robin Shamburg, Reviewer Jonathan Shapiro, Reviewer Richard Shelton, Reviewer Carey Shenkman, Contributor Scott Sherman, Reviewer The Rev. Madison Shockley, Contributor Nicholas Shumaker, Contributor Dan Siegel, Contributor Aram Sinnreich, Contributor Demitrious C. Sinor, Contributor David Sirota, Contributor Travis Smith, Web Developer Timothy Snyder, Reviewer Norman Solomon, Columnist Howie Stier, Contributor Deanne Stillman, Contributor Peter Stothard, Reviewer Paul Street, Contributor Susanne Strimling, Contributor Kip Sullivan, Contributor Bhaskar Sunkara, Contributor Paul Szep, Cartoonist Danielle Tarasiuk, Carol Tavris, Reviewer Sunsara Taylor, Contributor Peta Thornycroft, Contributor Rory Thost, Publishing Intern Kevin Tillman, Contributor John Timpane, Reviewer Sandy Tolan, Contributor Scott Tucker, Contributor Nick Turse, Reviewer Lauren Unger-Geoffroy, Contributor Ebony Utley, Contributor Gore Vidal, Contributor Milton Viorst, Reviewer Paul Von Blum, Contributor Nicholas von Hoffman, Contributor Karen Lee Wald, Contributor Richard Walden, Contributor D.J. Waldie, Reviewer Ed Ward, Reviewer Curren Warf, Contributor Claire Wasserman, Reviewer Harvey Wasserman, Contributor Steve Wasserman, Contributor Bernard Weisberger, Contributor Lawrence Weschler, Contributor Sara Weschler, Contributor Sarah Wesley, Communications Coordinator Pamela Alma Weymouth, Contributor Katherine Wharton, Reviewer Stuart Whatley, Contributor Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Reviewer Mel White, Reviewer Jon Wiener, Contributor Amy Wilentz, Reviewer Signe Wilkinson, Cartoonist Wellford Wilms, Contributor Emily Wilson, Contributor Brenda Wineapple, Reviewer Haley Winters, Social Media Coordinator Eunice Wong, Book Editor Col. Ann Wright, Contributor Susan Zakin, Contributor