Opening Statements
Marc Ash, Executive Director:
We made Truthout work for years without talking "About Us." How did we do that? Well, it was never supposed to be about us. It was always about the issues that concern Truthout's readers. We simply focus on getting the news out there, and putting everything we have on display every single day. A critic once warned, "I intend to monitor Truthout!" So I recommended that he sign up for our newsletters. That way, "You'll be sure to get everything delivered right to your inbox."
But we're bigger now, and people who aren't very familiar with our work want to know if we're beholden to the DNC, the RNC, the FBI or the DMV. We're not. We are supported by our readers alone. And those readers are the only people to whom we're beholden.
If I can point to one thing that defines Truthout - that makes us unique - it's that we have accepted these readers as our sole supporters. And while that interdependency may occasionally be a bit stormy, it guarantees that whatever issues arise will be worked out between our organization and the community that we serve. The corporate hand will never rule here.
Stay active,
Marc
Victoria Harper, Managing Editor:
Our mission at Truthout is one of education aimed at perpetuating and strengthening our American democracy. We are committed to making available a broad range of political news and editorial analysis. This central theme is the driving force behind everything we do. And even though we acknowledge that not everyone will agree with all of the decisions we make, we have Jefferson's faith that a citizenry well-informed by an independent and free press will be better able to make wise decisions for themselves in the support of our democratic institutions and principles.
Be informed,
Victoria
Scott Galindez, DC Bureau Chief:
When I joined Truthout in early 2001, we were only a two-person operation. Marc cranked the pages and I mailed the newsletters via my ISP. We were both volunteers to the cause and didn't ask for money. We just wanted to make a difference. As we grew, however, it became apparent that we could no longer maintain our other jobs and the demand that Truthout was placing on us. We needed more people and we needed a budget to keep up with the growth of the site.
If you told me six years ago that we would have a staff of 30 and almost a quarter of a million readers per day, I would've thought you were nuts. But that's exactly where we stand today. With financial support coming only from our readership and a couple of small grants, we are able to employ all of these dedicated people, maintain multiple servers and produce high quality services. And we do this because we share a vision for a just society with you, our community.
In peace,
Scott
Our Mission
Truthout is a full-service news agency dedicated to establishing a powerful, stable voice for independent journalism. The core of our mission is educational, as we believe the biggest impediment to responsible decision-making is a lack of information. We provide citizens with reader-supported news instead of advertiser-supported news. Our direction is one of social progress, as we attempt to shed light on issues of vital interest to the community such as health care, the environment, international relations and human rights.
Our History
Truthout was started by fashion photographer Marc Ash in direct response to the mainstream media's coverage of the 2000 election. As the organization began to take shape in early 2001, veteran grass-roots organizer and peace activist Scott Galindez came on board and helped cement the core values that we follow to this day. In Scott's own words, "We're hoping to reach a few people, have a small impact on the dialogue, and maybe restore a little integrity."
What We Do
We report, fly, film, interview and opine day-in and day-out, 24x7, 365. We also scour the global news media for the most important stories we can find. We cover national issues concerning foreign policy, the war in Iraq, ethics in government, voter rights, human rights and the judiciary. We feature unique coverage of women, health, energy, environment and labor issues. We alert our readers to pivotal opinion pieces appearing in major newspapers and journals. Our home page is continually updated to display top headlines and arresting photography and other artwork. And we provide exciting multimedia reports and interviews of the most important national political events. Past assignments have included the 2004 political conventions, several major anti-war rallies, the Downing Street Memo hearings and teach-ins, and Cindy Sheehan's courageous stands at Camp Casey. Finally, we email free newsletters to our subscribers featuring the day's top stories.
Our Expenses
As of May 2007, Truthout pays semi-monthly salaries to 30 full-and part-time employees and contractors (no volunteers), as listed below. We also pay for numerous contributing writers (freelancers) who are not on staff. Additionally, we provide a full benefits package to our employees, including health care, dental, vacation and retirement. Other costs include rental of numerous dedicated servers, 24x7 server administration, multimedia production, travel expenses, creative fees, legal fees, administrative costs and maintaining insurance.
Our Funding
The growth and success of Truthout are linked directly to the support our readers show for the project. As many of you know, we are almost entirely reader-supported. There is absolutely no controlling financial interest behind this organization. Over 95% of our financing comes from small, individual donations. The remainder comes from a small number of grants. There have never been major investors, corporate sponsors or advertisers of any kind. We depend solely upon our readership for survival, and so we answer to them alone.
Our Goal
With a big thanks to our readers, Truthout has grown in leaps and bounds since its launch on New Year's Day 2001. We currently boast approximately 200,000 unique visitors and 200,000 newsletter subscribers per day. And our goal for future efforts is simple: To build on our already significant, six-year record of steady growth by continuing to provide our readers with content that will keep them informed and empowered. If we work hard to attain that goal and maximize our potential as a reader-supported news agency, we believe our readers will continue to show us loyal dedication and appreciation.
To maximize this potential and grow our current levels of reader attraction and support, we plan to significantly bolster our content development, acquisition and presentation capabilities. This will be accomplished by greatly increasing our original news reporting and on-camera interviewing efforts, the results of which will be offered to our readers in both text and multimedia formats. Accordingly, we will expand our reporting and writing staff, multimedia technologies, web development technologies, and overall production processes and values. These efforts will provide our readers with the sort of high-quality, timely content they demand and deserve. Hard-hitting, inspirational content that will keep them excited and motivated. And by focusing on and addressing the demands of our readers, we will accomplish something that our corporate competitors willfully disregard, thereby ensuring our viability, growth and success.
Our Staff
Marc Ash, Executive Director
Strategic direction, internal and external business operations, editorial strategy, edition publishing, content acquisition, creative partnerships, technological development, creative development, fundraising strategies and Board of Directors matters.
Victoria Harper, Managing Editor
Editorial strategy, edition publishing, content acquisition, creative partnerships, contractor management and assistant editor supervision.
Scott Galindez, DC Bureau Chief
Editorial strategy, edition publishing, content acquisition, creative partnerships, contractor management, assistant editor supervision and multimedia coverage.
Janelle Shank, Newsroom Director
Human resources, personnel management, administrative oversight, edition publishing, content acquisition, resource scheduling and assistant editor supervision.
Kelpie Wilson, Environmental Editor/Writer
Original content development, edition publishing, content acquisition and special event coverage.
Leslie Thatcher, French Language Editor
French language content acquisition and translation.
Sari Gelzer, Editor
Edition publishing, content acquisition, multimedia coverage and writing assignments.
Stacy Bannerman, Assistant Editor
Edition publishing and content acquisition.
Matt Renner, Editor
Edition publishing, content acquisition and writing assignments
Jackie Morse, Assistant Editor
Edition publishing and content acquisition.
Simona Perry, Senior Editor
Edition publishing and content acquisition.
Maya Schenwar, Editor
Edition publishing, content acquisition and writing assignments.
Christopher Kuttruff, Editor
Edition publishing, content acquisition and writing assignments.
Ionia Kershaw, Art Director
Creative development, web design, logo design, multimedia production and photography.
Joshua Jacobo, Development Lead
Interface design, feature and workflow development, web design, database management, QA and administration
Troy Page, Videographer
Creative development and multimedia production.
Lance Page, Videographer
Creative development and multimedia production.
Geoffrey Millard, Reporter
Multimedia coverage.
Additionally, we employ a technological staff including a List Administrator and three Web Page Designers. Together they handle list administration, web development and page generation. We also employ an administrative staff including a Financial Administrator and a Customer Service Administrator. Together they handle payment of business expenses, payroll, equipment acquisitions, phone inquiries, email inquiries, mail inquiries and donor support. Finally, we employ two proofreaders/copy editors.
Contributing Writers
Some of Truthout's prominent contributing writers include David Bacon, Dean Baker, John Corey, Tom Engelhardt, Leslie Guttman, Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Ray McGovern, Sarah Olson, Robert Parry, William Rivers Pitt, J. Sri Raman, Bill Simpich and David Swanson. They supply our readers with a valuable roster of opinion, news analysis and special reports, and have covered such underreported topics as the war on journalists, US human rights violations and the worldwide energy crisis.
