The letter below, was listed in the Truthdig email of that date, but had
been taken off the website. I've been looking for it. Today, I saw the
response to it and I began searching again and found it in an issue of
Common Dreams. If I can find the very nasty response again, I'll place it
below this letter.
Published on
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
byCommon Dreams
Editorial Staff and Key Contributors at Progressive Media Outlet Truthdig
Announce Work Stoppage
"Truthdig has long provided an essential voice for the progressive movement.
Together, we're calling on it to live up to its own values."
by
TruthDig Staff
In recent months, as has been publicly reported, Truthdig Publisher Zuade
Kaufman and Editor in Chief Robert Scheer have evidently been engaged in an
ongoing dispute. That dispute is approaching its nadir. (Cartoon: Mr. Fish)
In recent months, as has been publicly reported, Truthdig Publisher Zuade
Kaufman and Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer (pictured) have evidently been
engaged in an ongoing dispute. That dispute is approaching its nadir.
(Cartoon: Mr. Fish)
Note: Senior editors and contributors at Truthdig, including Executive
Editor Kasia Anderson, Managing Editor, Jacob Sugarman, Foreign Editor
Natasha Hakimi Zapata and Book Editor Eunice Wong, along with columnists
Chris Hedges, Lee Camp and Paul Street and the cartoonist Dwayne Booth, aka
Mr. Fish, as well as blogger Ilana Novick, announced in a joint letter today
they were beginning a work stoppage today to protest what they describe as
unfair labor conditions and the effort by the publisher, Zuade Kaufman, to
remove the site's founding Editor-in-Chief and co-owner Robert Scheer.
The letter, posted briefly on the site before being taken down, follows:
This letter is to announce that the undersigned members of Truthdig's
editorial team: Executive Editor Kasia Anderson, Managing Editor Jacob
Sugarman, Foreign Editor Natasha Hakimi Zapata, Book Editor Eunice Wong, and
blogger Ilana Novick, along with columnists Chris Hedges, Lee Camp, and Paul
Street and cartoonist Mr. Fish will begin a work stoppage, effective
immediately.
In recent months, as has been publicly reported, Truthdig Publisher Zuade
Kaufman and Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer have evidently been engaged in an
ongoing dispute. That dispute is approaching its nadir as we are concerned
Ms. Kaufman is attempting to take control of Truthdig, thus effectively
removing Mr. Scheer from the website he co-owns and co-founded. This is
unacceptable to us.
Since the website's launch in 2005, Robert has helped guide Truthdig's
editorial voice, fearlessly exposing the corruption of Republican and
Democratic administrations alike-an exception that proves the rule in
progressive media. While liberals have largely turned their back on Julian
Assange in recent years, Robert has remained one of his greatest champions.
And as the mainstream media has resorted to the most cynical form of
red-baiting against Sen. Bernie Sanders this election cycle, he has pushed
back against it at every turn.
Robert is the rare editor who urges readers to examine the legitimate
alienation and rage of those pushed aside by globalization and
de-industrialization, rather than allow the election of Donald Trump to be
blamed on Vladimir Putin and Russia. Under his guidance, Truthdig has stood
beside Occupy Wall Street, Wikileaks, the indigenous people of Standing
Rock, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and countless other protest movements that
have challenged entrenched power. We believe that he is irreplaceable.
But this work stoppage is ultimately about more than just Robert. For years,
the Truthdig staff has worked under conditions that it feels fall well short
of the website's progressive values. Those include, but are not limited to,
employment conditions that very possibly flout California's labor laws. To
ameliorate this situation, we are asking that management honor the following
requests:
*Robert retain his position as Truthdig's editor in chief
*The editorial team retain its independence from publishing
*Full-time staffers (anyone working more than 32-hour weeks) receive no less
than 10 paid vacation days per year, excluding national holidays. Those
working between 20 and 30 hours per week will receive 7 paid vacation days,
while those working between 10 and 20 hours per week will receive 5 paid
vacation days, respectively
*Full-time staffers be compensated if they are ineligible for the company's
health insurance plan
*Full-time staffers receive four month's paid parental leave
*Copy editors be compensated for full shifts
*All staffers be paid double for federal holidays or enjoy a full day off at
normal rates
*All staffers receive annual performance reviews and scheduled pay increases
*All staffers be issued new contracts to ensure compliance with labor laws
This list remains a work in progress, but management's willingness to
negotiate with the editorial team would demonstrate that all are acting in
good faith, paving the way for future unionization. We maintain that a
progressive publication cannot, and more essentially should not, exist
without a union.
To reiterate, we are not striking because we want to harm Truthdig or anyone
at the publication. Quite the opposite: We are striking because we care
deeply about the website and are committed to its long-term health. We hope
to receive a response in a timely fashion and that this work stoppage will
be short-lived.
Sincerely,
Chris Hedges
Kasia Anderson
Jacob Sugarman
Natasha Hakimi
Zapata Eunice Wong
Ilana Novick
Mr. Fish
Paul Street
Lee Camp
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
Below is the response. I trust Robert Scheer and Chris Hedges and I think
that there are women who are using the mistreatment of other women for their
own advantage. So here's the publisher's letter.
Truthdig: Expert Reporting,
Open Letter from Truthdig's Publisher & CEO: Breaking My Silence
Truthdig
I am proud of what Truthdig has accomplished. Truthdig has received wide
acclaim and many awards. We are a voice for progressive politics, social
justice, humanitarian issues, the environment, women's rights and more. We
created our Global Voices initiative to encourage progressive female
journalists around the world. We fight violence against women and strive to
empower them.
As you may know, a statement was posted March 11th by some Truthdig staff
and contributors. Contrary to the statement, the real underlying issue is
negotiations to end the business partnership between me, Truthdig's
Publisher and CEO, and Robert Scheer, its Editor-in-Chief. Unfortunately,
the staff and contributors have gotten caught in the middle. While I sought
to shield them and to respect confidentiality, Bob internally and externally
waged a campaign of misinformation.
Sadly, the situation seems to have devolved into Bob having an attitude of
"If-I-can't-have-Truthdig, no-one-will." Indeed, he even pushed me to
permanently shut down Truthdig. But I care deeply about Truthdig's staff and
contributors, loyal readers, donors, and other supporters. I am committed to
maintaining Truthdig's important mission and work.
As a female executive and professional, I have had to endure a certain
amount of harassment and bullying. Fortunately, society now recognizes that
men no longer get to disrespect women in the workplace without recourse.
When multiple female staffers came to me and complained about mistreatment
by Bob, my moral compass required me to take action. While I sought legal
advice, Bob, through his personal lawyer, sent a letter seeking to forbid
Truthdig from conducting an investigation of allegations regarding Bob's
behavior.
Because of a variety of untenable actions by Bob and because he previously
indicated to me that he desired to step aside from Truthdig to pursue other
projects, I asked him to leave. But he refused to go unless I personally
paid him a large sum of money. When I refused, he began to feed employees
and the public misinformation about the underlying issues and resulting
separation negotiations.
I am a progressive and care deeply about workers' rights. As such, I was
surprised to read the allegations of labor and employment issues raised in
the statement, which were never previously brought up to me, to our HR or,
as far as I know, to Bob. I have always had an open-door policy with staff
and contributors.
While Truthdig is a small organization, we have always sought to be generous
with the benefits we provide our employees. Beyond complying with labor and
employment laws, we provide subsidized medical, dental, and eye care
benefits, up to 3 weeks paid vacation depending on tenure, and a number of
paid religious and national holidays as well as employees' respective
birthdays as a paid day off.
Our dream at Truthdig is for a democratic culture and a just society. I'm
sure you share this goal. We thank you for your support of Truthdig as we
pursue this vision and continue to dig for the truth.
Sincerely,
Zuade Kaufman
Publisher and CEO, Truthdig
