Truthdig is a Web magazine that provides a mix of long-form articles, interviews, and blog

Blog

A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

-like commentary on current events, delivered from a progressive

Progressivism in the United States

Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...

 point of view. The site is built around major "digs" led by authorities in their fields who write multifaceted pieces about contemporary, often controversial, topics. Articles on Truthdig are open for comments, and the participants in the discussions tend to be left-leaning.

Truthdig was co-founded by Los Angeles entrepreneur Zuade Kaufman, who serves as publisher, and journalist Robert Scheer

Robert Scheer

Robert Scheer is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Nation...

, who serves as editor in chief and writes a weekly column for the site.

Contributors

Some of Truthdig's most popular articles include "An Atheist Manifesto" by Sam Harris

Sam Harris (author)

Sam Harris is an American author, and neuroscientist, as well as the co-founder and current CEO of Project Reason. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University, before receiving a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA...

, and "President Jonah" by Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...

, which compared President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 to the biblical Jonah

Jonah

Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...

.

In October 2006, Truthdig featured an exclusive 660-word essay titled "After Pat's Birthday" about the late NFL player and American soldier Pat Tillman

Pat Tillman

Corporal Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman Jr. was an American football player who left his professional career and enlisted in the United States Army in June 2002 in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He joined the Army Rangers and served several tours in combat before he died in the...

's death written by his brother Kevin. The essay was widely distributed and was cited in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

and Associated Press

Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

.

Other significant contributors include Robert Scheer

Robert Scheer

Robert Scheer is an American journalist who writes a column for Truthdig which is nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Nation...

, Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges

Christopher Lynn Hedges is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies...

, John Dean

John Dean

John Wesley Dean III is an American lawyer who served as White House Counsel to United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. In this position, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover-up...

, Larry Gross, Scott Ritter

Scott Ritter

William Scott Ritter, Jr. was an important United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, and later a critic of United States foreign policy in the Middle East. Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Ritter stated that Iraq possessed no significant weapons of mass...

, Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman is an American progressive broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter and author. Goodman is the host of Democracy Now!, an independent global news program broadcast daily on radio, television and the internet.-Early life:Goodman was born in Bay Shore, New York...

, Juan Cole

Juan Cole

John Ricardo I. "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on...

, Bill Boyarsky and editorial cartoonist Mr. Fish.

Exclusive weekly contributions such as Chris Hedges' columns and Mr. Fish's cartoons have won the news site a variety of awards and recognition throughout the years.

Awards

In both 2011 and 2010, Truthdig won the Webby Award jury prize for Best Political Blog against nominees including Atlantic Politics, Comedy Central's Indecision and The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...

.. In 2007, Truthdig was nominated for Webby Awards

Webby Awards

A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....

 in the categories of News, Politics and Political Blog. The site won the judges' award as well as the people's voice award for Best Political Blog.

In 2011 and 2010 the Society of Professional Journalists

Society of Professional Journalists

The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...

 honored Truthdig resident cartoonist Mr. Fish as the recipient of its Sigma Delta Chi Award

Sigma Delta Chi Award

The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists for excellence in journalism.- History :The Awards, according to the SPJ, did not begin in 1932 when the society chose six individuals for their contributions to journalism. In 1939 the awards program began...

for Editorial Cartooning in the Online Independent category.

Also in 2011 and 2010, the Los Angeles Press Club named Truthdig Best Website Exclusive to the Internet in its annual Southern California Journalism Awards. Between 2009 and 2011, the Press Club has awarded top honors to Truthdig columnists, including Online Journalists of the Year Chris Hedges and Bill Boyarsky; Mark Heisler, Best Online Sports Feature for his Truthdig columns, "Role Models for the Id" and "It’s Not About Tiger Woods, It’s About Us"; Chris Hedges, Best Online Column for "One Day We'll All Be Terrorists" and "Party to Murder"; and Scott Ritter, Best Online News Story for the feature "Dinner with Ahmed."

In 2009 and 2008, the weekly Truthdig Book Review, then edited by former Los Angeles Times book editor Steve Wasserman, won the Western Publishing Association's Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column.