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The “Fringe Media“

“People shouldn’t expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the ‘fringe’ media.” -Ted Koppel

“People shouldn’t expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the ‘fringe’ media.”

-Ted Koppel

The Bush administration’s torture program went beyond “waterboarding” and sleep deprivation. The macabre reality is much more terrifying. Truthout has now documented an unprecedented human experimentation program which appears to have been officially sanctioned by top officials in the Bush Department of Defense.

There are only a handful of journalists who are still looking at this issue. At Truthout, forensic journalists including Andy Worthington, Jeffrey Kaye and Jason Leopold have been prying open the lid of secrecy, inch by inch, to try and shed some light on this ignored and ongoing tragedy.

There isn’t much commercial appetite for this line of investigative reporting. Whether it’s because the US public doesn’t want to deal with the implications and realities of living in a country which violates the Geneva Conventions, or because the Obama administration and the DOJ refuse to fulfill their obligation to prosecute those who committed torture, American media have shied away.

At Truthout we’re able to do this kind of deep forensic journalism because we’re accountable to our readers, not to advertisers or

Nielsen ratings.

This investigation may have been halted in boardrooms at big media conglomerates because it’s not profitable – or because it doesn’t segue well into commercials for car insurance – but Truthout will continue going after the facts and details and publishing what we find. The historical record must reflect what really happened at Guantanamo, at Bagram and at secret prisons around the globe.

This is the kind of work that can no longer be funded by passively watching commercials and hoping the next Edward R. Murrow will do the hard work for us. We have to fortify new, independent institutions. Right now at Truthout, we are working to reach our fundraising goal for the month, to keep our digital presses hot and keep our staff paid.

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We’re not going to stand for it. Are you?

You don’t bury your head in the sand. You know as well as we do what we’re facing as a country, as a people, and as a global community. Here at Truthout, we’re gearing up to meet these threats head on, but we need your support to do it: We must raise $23,000 before midnight tomorrow to ensure we can keep publishing independent journalism that doesn’t shy away from difficult — and often dangerous — topics.

We can do this vital work because unlike most media, our journalism is free from government or corporate influence and censorship. But this is only sustainable if we have your support. If you like what you’re reading or just value what we do, will you take a few seconds to contribute to our work?