Message From the Publisher

Dear Readers:

The purpose of our Web magazine is to provide you with insightful and accurate reporting on current subjects and on issues that need to be brought to your attention. We want to challenge conventional wisdom. We seek to offer a solid and reliable resource for those of you who want to explore particular topics by drilling deeply. In addition, it is our mission to create a home for thoughtful, provocative ideas from talented contributors and editors.

We'd like to hear from you about what works and what doesn't work as our site evolves. Comments are welcome and can be sent to (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Thank you for joining our Dig!

Sincerely,

Zuade Kaufman, Publisher

Truthdig - The Site

Truthdig is a Web magazine that provides expert coverage of current affairs as well as a variety of thoughtful, provocative content assembled from a progressive point of view. The site is built around reports by authorities in their fields who conduct in-depth exploration of contemporary topics. To offer frequent change and surprise, the magazine also presents a diversity of original reporting and aggregated content culled by the site's editors and staff.

Awards

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

Background

In this hyperlinked, blog-filled, talk-show-dominated world, discourse is often a food fight. It is increasingly difficult for people seeking to understand the world to find stories in depth, told by those who know their topic best.

An exception in 2004 was "The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq," by columnist Robert Scheer, co-authored with his son Christopher Scheer and reporter Lakshmi Chaudhry and funded by readers of the Web site Alternet.org. Despite receiving little play in the media, the book, which describes the roots of the Iraq quagmire, received publicity via the Internet, alternative radio shows and word of mouth and landed on the Los Angeles Times best-seller list. Three decades earlier, Pulitzer Prize finalist Scheer had challenged conventional thinking with 1965's groundbreaking "How the U.S. Got Involved in Vietnam," which helped to launch a new era of investigative reporting.

The lesson was that if you respect the story and present it in a clear way, it will find an audience. There have always been and will always be people digging for the truth, rather than simply accepting the conventional wisdom of the day. It is these people we hope to reach with our Web magazine, Truthdig.

Staff

Zuade Kaufman, Publisher		Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief		Peter Scheer, Managing Editor		Kasia Anderson, Associate Editor		Steve Wasserman, Literary Editor
		Lucy Berbeo, Executive Administrative Assistant		John Cheney-Lippold, Editorial Assistant		Charles Baker-Boyd, Intern

Truthdig was co-founded by Los Angeles entrepreneur Zuade Kaufman, who serves as publisher, and journalist Robert Scheer, the Web site's editor.

Kaufman, who holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, is a former reporter for the Westside Weekly, a Los Angeles Times publication. A photojournalist, she occasionally shoots portraits and photo essays for Truthdig.

Syndicated columnist Robert Scheer is also a syndicated radio talk-show host on NPR and author of several acclaimed books, including, most recently, "The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America."

Wasserman, a director of Kneerim & Williams at Fish & Richardson and manager of its New York office, was editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review from 1996 to 2005 and a principal architect of the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Peter Scheer, the son of journalists Robert Scheer and Narda Zacchino, grew up in the newspaper business. He graduated with a communication degree from the University of Southern California and, after working in the movie business, joined Truthdig, where he is now managing editor.

After earning a degree in English literature and sociology at Swarthmore College, Anderson worked as a Web journalist in San Francisco and as an entertainment reporter for the New York Daily News. She has also written freelance pieces for Salon.com and the Orlando Sentinel, among other publications. At the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication, she received a master's degree. In addition to being Truthdig's associate editor, she is writing a doctoral dissertation on celebrity and politics.

Truthdig Contributors

Bill Boyarsky, Political correspondent		Mr. Fish, Cartoonist		James Harris, Podcast interviewer		Chris Hedges, Columnist		Gbemisola Olujobi, International Editor, Africa
Scott Ritter, Columnist		Joshua Scheer, Podcast interviewer		Sarah Stillman, International correspondent

Contributors

The following is the complete list of contributors to Truthdig.

Chris Abani, Contributor Kasia Anderson, Associate Editor David Antoon, Contributor Christian G. Appy, Reviewer Mark Arax, Reviewer Jabari Asim, Columnist Sheerly Avni, Contributor The Rev. Ed Bacon, Contributor Anna Badkhen, Contributor Charles Baker-Boyd, Intern Benjamin Barber, Contributor Allen Barra, Contributor Norman Birnbaum, Reviewer Arthur Blaustein, Contributor James G. Blight, Contributor Larry Blumenfeld, Contributor Andy Borowitz, Contributing Columnist Chesa Boudin, Reviewer Fred Branfman, Contributor Carol Brightman, Contributor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Contributor Lou Cannon, Reviewer Ken Catalino, Cartoonist John Cheney-Lippold, Editorial Assistant Robert Christgau, Reviewer Jane Ciabattari, Reviewer Marie Cocco, Columnist Andrew Cockburn, Contributor Patrick Cockburn, Contributor Elliot Cohen, Contributor Warren I. Cohen, Reviewer Marjorie Cohn, Contributor Juan Cole, Contributor Robert Collier, Contributor Joe Conason, Columnist Paul Conrad, Cartoonist Marc Cooper, Contributor John Crawford, Contributor Paul Cummins, Contributor Tad Daley, Contributor Elizabeth de la Vega, Contributor John Dean, Contributor E.J. Dionne, Jr., Columnist Mark Dowie, Reviewer Will Durst, Contributor Carolyn Eisenberg, Reviewer 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 Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Contributor Ellen Garrison, Reviewer Gene Gerard, Contributor 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 Larry Gross, Contributor Andrew Gumbel, Contributor Theodore Hamm, Contributor Sam Harris, Contributor Danny Postel and Nader Hashemi, Contributors Tom Hayden, Contributor Jacob Heilbrunn, Reviewer Anthony Heilbut, Reviewer Doug Henwood, Contributor Mary Hershberger, Contributor John Holmes, Reviewer Megan Hustad, Reviewer Gary Indiana, Reviewer Michael Intriligator, Contributor Susan Jacoby, Reviewer Dahr Jamail, Contributor Chalmers Johnson, Contributor

Troy Jollimore, Reviewer Carla Kaplan, Contributor Zachary Karabell, Contributor Zuade Kaufman, Publisher Nikki Keddie, Reviewer Parag Khanna, Contributor Steven Kotler, Contributor Ron Kovic, Contributor Dennis Kucinich, Contributor Stanley Kutler, Contributor Saul Landau, Contributor Barry Lando, Contributor Titus Levi, Contributor Jeremiah Levine, Contributor Simon Lewis, Reviewer Susie Linfield, Reviewer Rosa Lowinger, Reviewer Mike Luckovich, Cartoonist John Lukacs, Reviewer Jeff Madrick, Reviewer Mark Malseed, Contributor Regina Marler, Reviewer Yxta Maya Murray, Reviewer Allen McDuffee, Contributor Karl E. Meyer, Reviewer Chris Mooney, Contributor David Moore, Contributor Andrew Nagorski, Reviewer Cristina Nehring, Contributor Christian Parenti, Contributor Eve Pell, Reviewer William Pfaff, Columnist Tony Platt, Reviewer Sergei Plekhanov, Contributor Dwayne Powell, Cartoonist David Rieff, Reviewer Scott Ritter, Contributor Eugene Robinson, Contributor Nir Rosen, Dig Leader Ruth Rosen, Reviewer Onnesha Roychoudhuri, Contributor Heather Sarantis, Contributor Mark Sarvas, Contributor Jeremy Scahill, Contributor Peter Scheer, Managing Editor Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief Orville Schell, Contributor Nicholas Schmidle, Contributor Sharon Scranage, Contributor Barry F. Seidman, Contributor Jonathan Shapiro, Reviewer The Rev. Madison Shockley, Contributor Nicholas Shumaker, Contributor Aram Sinnreich, Contributor Demitrious C. Sinor, Contributor David Sirota, Contributor Travis Smith, Web Developer Timothy Snyder, Reviewer Norman Solomon, Columnist Paul Szep, Cartoonist Sunsara Taylor, Contributor Kevin Tillman, Contributor Sandy Tolan, Contributor Scott Tucker, Contributor Gore Vidal, Contributor Milton Viorst, Reviewer Nicholas von Hoffman, Contributor Richard Walden, Contributor Ed Ward, Reviewer Curren Warf, Contributor Steve Wasserman, Literary Editor Bernard Weisberger, Contributor Geoffrey Wheatcroft, Reviewer Jon Wiener, Contributor Amy Wilentz, Reviewer Wellford Wilms, Contributor Brenda Wineapple, Reviewer Eunice Wong, Contributor Col. Ann Wright, Contributor Kassandra Zuanich,