Truthout
| File:Tologo.jpg | |
Type of site | News, political analysis & commentary |
|---|---|
| URL | www.truthout.org |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
Truthout is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,[1] progressive news organization that operates a web site[2] and distributes a daily newsletter. Registered in September 2001,[3] Truthout.org is ranked in the top 6,000 web sites on the Internet, with an estimated 2.5 million visits per month.[4] Truthout publishes original political news articles, opinion pieces, video reports and artwork. According to its web site, "As an organization, Truthout works to broaden and diversify the political discussion by introducing independent voices and focusing on undercovered issues and unconventional thinking."[5]
Some of Truthout's prominent contributors include Dahr Jamail, Henry Giroux, Howard Zinn, Jason Leopold, Bill Moyers, Andy Worthington, Kathy Kelly, Norman Solomon, Joshua Frank, Anne Elizabeth Moore[6], William Rivers Pitt, Art Levine[7], Kelpie Wilson[8] and Dean Baker. The organization has reported extensively on the torture policies of the Bush administration, the health care debate, veterans' issues, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the labor movement, prison reform and election politics.
Issues
Torture Coverage
Truthout has published many reports exposing the Bush administration’s policy and practice of torture implemented by senior White House officials in the aftermath of 9/11. A report published in May 2009, in which Truthout identified an FBI email released under the Freedom of Information Act that stated, unequivocally, that George W. Bush had personally ordered military interrogators to use dogs and other methods, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, to intimidate detainees captured in the so-called "war on terror." The report was picked up by Keith Olbermann of MSNBC’s Countdown, who called into question previous claims by the former president that he was not directly involved in the decision-making process regarding interrogation policy.
Additionally, Truthout was the first news organization to report that the CIA and the White House micromanaged the torture of the first “high-value detainee” captured after 9/11, Abu Zubaydah. It was also the first to report that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had advised the White House on how to avoid war crimes charges, just a few months before CIA interrogators began to use “enhanced interrogation techniques” against prisoners held at secret black site prisons.
In a story published in mid-2009, Truthout reported that Justice Department attorneys under the Reagan administration prosecuted law enforcement officials for torturing prisoners by waterboarding them in an effort to extract confessions. This news report was later used by legal scholars to demonstrate that the Bush administration knowingly failed to cite existing legal precedent when Justice Department attorneys drafted legal memos that said waterboarding was not a form of torture. Additionally, Truthout was the first news outlet to report that Yoo used a statute governing health benefits when he provided the White House with a legal opinion defining torture.
Veterans' Issues
Truthout has closely followed issues affecting Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Coverage has especially focused on veteran health care and post-traumatic stress disorder. An ongoing Truthout investigation has shown widespread neglect within the VA of veterans with PTSD[9][10][11][12]. Suicide within the military and the veteran community has been another major focus of Truthout's work[13][14].
Truthout reporters covered the first Winter Soldier conference on Iraq and Afghanistan on site in 2009, reporting on some of the never-before-heard testimony of veterans[15][16].
Truthout has also focused on the peace movement within the veteran community[17], including the work of groups such as Veterans for Common Sense and Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Controversies
On May 13, 2006, Truthout.org reporter Jason Leopold wrote that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was being indicted as part of the investigation into the Valerie Plame affair[18]. On June 14, news reports indicated that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald would not be pursuing charges against Rove.
Personnel
Truthout's Board of Directors include McMaster University Professor and educational theorist Henry A. Giroux, University of Massachusetts statistician Arlene Ash[19], Stanford professor and HIV researcher Lee Herzenberg[20], International Humanities Center Director Steve Sugarman[21], and Robert Naiman, Policy Director of Just Foreign Policy.
Truthout's Board of Advisors include Dean Baker, Rinaldo Brutoco, Maxon Buscher, Sam Ferguson, Jaclyn Friedman, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Dina Rasor, Robert Reich and the late Howard Zinn.
Principle Truthout staff include Executive Director Maya Schenwar, Managing Editor Victoria Harper, Creative Director Joshua Jacobo, Director of Development Matt Renner, and Deputy Managing Editor Jason Leopold[22].
Notes
- ^ "Truthout." Melissa Data, April 9, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
- ^ http://www.truthout.org November 18, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
- ^ http://74.208.44.119/index.php?mode=whois&db=content%2FWebsite&tbl=Registrants&id=3&whois_query_field=truthout.org&Submit=Search
- ^ http://www.quantcast.com/truthout.org
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/about-us
- ^ http://www.anneelizabethmoore.com
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine
- ^ http://www.kelpiewilson.com
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/1202095
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/article/veterans-attest-ptsd-neglect-va
- ^ http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0901/S00425.htm
- ^ http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.php/archives/848-maya-schenwar
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/healing-suicidal-veterans-an-interview-with-vic-montgomery56074
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/1207092
- ^ https://www.truthout.org/article/winter-soldier-2008-the-rules-war-jason-hurd
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/article/profile-a-conscientious-objector
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/1214091
- ^ McLeary, Paul. "Jason Leopold Caught Sourceless Again." Columbia Journalism Review, June 13, 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2008.]
- ^ www.amstat.org/about/statisticiansinhistory/bios/asharlene.pdf
- ^ http://herzenberg.stanford.edu/
- ^ http://ihcenter.org/bod
- ^ http://www.truthout.org/About