Open Letter from Truthdig’s Publisher & CEO: Breaking My Silence

Update: 11/1/2022

Truthdig has had a change in its management structure. In 2019, there had been complaints by staff members regarding then-Editor-in-Chief Robert Scheer. Over Scheer’s objections, Publisher & CEO Zuade Kaufman hired an outside law firm to investigate those complaints. Kaufman asked Scheer to step down, but he refused. Kaufman was protective of the work environment and sought to shield employees from what was happening, but Scheer took a different tack and created false narratives. As legal filings and processes bore out, Kaufman was awarded sole ownership of Truthdig, and her then-partner Scheer was required to leave the company. 

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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 11^th 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