Since the 2008 elections, we’ve seen promises shattered, vows disavowed, hopes crushed. But it turns out that whipping up the masses with the promise of change has a pesky side effect: the hope for true transformation does not wear off quickly. Sure, the mainstream media pushes cameras in the faces of every Tea Partier with a sign, and sure, anti-progress forces throw their bodies and their wallets in front of every attempt to return power to the people of the United States – but that desire for change lives on.
We see it in fits and starts: Bernie Sanders taking the floor of the Senate for more than eight hours, saying things you’re not supposed to say in public; Bill Moyers, a guiding light for honesty and truth, declaring the US government a “plutocracy” as the rich continue to hoard power; a small and heroic organization, WikiLeaks, ripping the facade off the disastrous occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, forcing the world to pay attention.
Truthout is here to make these vital events front-page news. While other media outlets bypass the truths these heroes speak and focus on the responses of stodgy, status-quo insiders, we push the facts to the top.
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We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
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