Your Slant on True/Slant
Welcome to the Beta launch of True/Slant.
True/Slant sprang to life eight weeks ago as an original content news network. Before that, it was a PowerPoint presentation. Before that, it was an idea. Before that, it was a dream.
We’re a small team. Each joined at just the right time, with just the right background. At one point, we worked in a tiny, windowless room we called the “Box.” Still, we always believed.
Along the way came our contributors. A few curious souls listened to our pitch and signed up. Then a few more said, “I’m in.” Soon, we were at 65. Today, True/Slant has more than 100 experienced and knowledgeable contributors covering a broad range of topics.
For me, it has been an inspiring journey. Then, last month, 260,000 news enthusiasts visited our site. The entire team became fixated on what you clicked on, your comments and your interaction with contributors.
We’ve certainly learned a lot about what matters to digital news consumers:
– Knowledge and credibility. In the moments after Air France Flight 447 tragically disappeared off the coast of Brazil, you sought out Miles O’Brien to help make sense of it all. You asked him questions and he quickly answered.
– Deep insights. You gravitated to Phil Zabriskie’s report on what it is like to be “Young and Afghan.” And to Michael Hastings’s explanation of why “The Army is a 24-Hour Gay Joke.” And to Ali Eteraz’s analysis of Barack Obama’s trip to Cairo in “Obama Was Up Against Napoleon.”
– Provocative commentary. Matt Taibbi grabbed your attention when he chided Republicans — and you came back for more when he dinged the Democrats. Viv Bernstein certainly riled up up the NASCAR crowd when she cited its role in helping to bring down General Motors.
– Intimacy. You all responded when Lisa Takeuchi Cullen brought the drama of her life into full focus.
– One-on-one debates. Members and contributors alike can’t resist getting into it with Rick Ungar as he explores the intricacies of health care in America.
Yes, we’ve learned much. But we’re humbled every day by how your interests change. We’re challenged and exhilarated by the complex technology needed to make a dynamic news site like True/Slant work.
The news industry is undergoing a rapid and wrenching transformation as the digital world unfolds. We believe True/Slant separates itself from all other news sites in significant ways.
Yet, we also believe we’re a “bridge.” At its core, True/Slant has one critical mission: to combine the values and standards of traditional media that served the public interest so well for so long with the powerful dynamics of the Web.
We hope you will join True/Slant and engage with our contributors. As we like to say, “News is more than what happens.”
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Mr. Dvorkin:
I spent over a quarter century as a trade reporter then editor starting with the initiating of the Mercury program. I left the field in the ’80s. I hope True/Slant lives up to your idea.
It may be a little point (I covered military as well as commercial aviation) but I am tired of “reporters” calling Marines “soldiers” and “newspeople” shilling their corporate products.
John F Judge
Congratulations on the site, Lewis. It’s very interesting and I hope it’s a great success. It speaks to the issue you once taught me — “community, community, community.”
Bob Meyers, National Press Foundation
First learned about the site reading Howard Kurtz’s Media Notes in the Post this AM. I signed up as soon as I saw that you’ve got Matt Taibbi here.
Joining your site – merely by signing up and actually committing – already I’m feeling a wave of relief. Rather than fighting reality, you have embraced it. And in one grand idea you have solved two intolerable situations by creating a safe haven for well-informed commentators while percolating the most insightful feedback to the surface.
The web has so many unfiltered voices that it’s become a wild west of blogs and automatic news feeders and ill-informed ‘experts’ (and frankly, blowhards) into the hundreds of thousands. With so much chatter I just couldn’t bother with most of it anymore. It had become too time-consuming and tedious to find anything worth the trouble – or even something I didn’t already know (which is hardly asking very much!).
The regular news outlets have simply thrown the barn door open – allowing everyone to post whatever hair-brained notions they can imagine (with threads very often devolving into finger-pointing and bickering). To find insightful user feedback in all of this (which really does enhance the news and commentary experience) can be a nauseating endeavor – if not nearly impossible.
Thank you for thinking this through and embracing the future, rather than adding to the online cacophony.
Your site is a breath of fresh air!
This is exactly what an ever transforming industry (News) needs right now.
In response to another comment. See in context »I am a Tech Correspondent in Mexico. Since today, this is a site I’d be following! Congratulations, and I am looking forward to share with you.
You’ve got serious “speed” and other issues here. I made three comments today: to return to them and the various contributors has been slowwww.
Moving between contributors is difficult and looking for comments, the same. For example, I checked Stephney and repeatedly got his comments to comments but not the original comments themselves. I want to participate here, but something’s screwed up. This is the slowest site I know of. What’s up? You should check it out yourself.
It’s been fun watching you develop, but I gotta tell you I hate that non-called out comments are hidden. Not a problem with comments being called out by the thread author, but the extra clicks to see what everyone is saying are unnecessary.
Brian, I totally agree. Nasty or not, all comments deserve to be seen? (I can whack ‘em later heh he)
In response to another comment. See in context »Brian,
In response to another comment. See in context »The True/Slant commenting system is built to enable contributors to elevate, or highlight, those comments that add to the conversation. Our hope is that contributors spotlight interesting ideas and observations, even if they don’t agree with them. To often on the web, conversation goes off point or worse. When it does, it’s not a rewarding experience for anyone. The “All Comments” button enables the news consumer to see the full, noisy conversation.
I understand your point Lewis, but I don’t like the extra clicks required. Also if a contributor comments (since contributors comments always show up) responds to a non-called-out comment it often doesn’t make sense what’s going on. Also I think it gives the blog an elitist quality and I’m not sure if that’s what you want. I just find it clunky, my two cents worth.
In response to another comment. See in context »I would have to agree that called out comments should be separated…appreciate editing and as the site grows and I’m sure it will, it is going to be difficult to handle the amount of input. Any insight on that subject?
In response to another comment. See in context »P.S and if you’re not familiar with the system I suspect first time posters have assumed their post has dispersed. No way to know unless they know to click on “All comments”
Congratulations. Very cool concept.
[...] working toward helping this process and have an experienced team making it [...]
I have to say that True/Slant has become my go to website for news of ALL kinds. I love reading about different aspects of life from all different types of people.
I truely enjoy scanning through the different articles written by different contributors.
True/Slant is my homepage and that will NEVER change.