“People shouldn’t expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the ‘fringe’ media.”
-Ted Koppel
There are only a handful of journalists who are still looking at this issue. At Truthout, forensic journalists including Andy Worthington, Jeffrey Kaye and Jason Leopold have been prying open the lid of secrecy, inch by inch, to try and shed some light on this ignored and ongoing tragedy.
There isn’t much commercial appetite for this line of investigative reporting. Whether it’s because the US public doesn’t want to deal with the implications and realities of living in a country which violates the Geneva Conventions, or because the Obama administration and the DOJ refuse to fulfill their obligation to prosecute those who committed torture, American media have shied away.
At Truthout we’re able to do this kind of deep forensic journalism because we’re accountable to our readers, not to advertisers or
Nielsen ratings.This investigation may have been halted in boardrooms at big media conglomerates because it’s not profitable – or because it doesn’t segue well into commercials for car insurance – but Truthout will continue going after the facts and details and publishing what we find. The historical record must reflect what really happened at Guantanamo, at Bagram and at secret prisons around the globe.
This is the kind of work that can no longer be funded by passively watching commercials and hoping the next Edward R. Murrow will do the hard work for us. We have to fortify new, independent institutions. Right now at Truthout, we are working to reach our fundraising goal for the month, to keep our digital presses hot and keep our staff paid.
Is this an effort you can support?
Truthout, P.O. Box 276414, Sacramento, CA 95827
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Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy