A phrase attributed to Mark Twain captures our shared challenge: “A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes.” And that was long before Twitter.
The truth can be labor-intensive to dig up—and when it is dug up, it is often avoided like kale. Falsehoods, in contrast, not to mention mindless listicles and other clickbait, are shared and rewarded in the marketplace and come with demosclerosis consequences for the body politic.
Herein lies a harsh reality of online news and Internet economics—and a major reason behind the RealClearFoundation (RCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working in partnership with RealClearPolitics.
Deep investigative journalism, essential news of democracy, is expensive. Deeply sourced, fact-based investigations can take weeks—even months—to produce.
Consider some of the recent stories published by RealClearInvestigations—RCF’s signature initiative.
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Vince Bielski’s series on violence in schools, following efforts to roll back stricter disciplinary policies and limit the presence of police officers
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Mark Hemingway’s examination of the curious career of Stefan Halper, who worked with the FBI to uncover connections between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian government
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Paul Sperry’s chronicling of the political context of U.S.-Ukraine relations that preceded the Russian invasion
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James Varney’s series on the migrant crisis at the Mexican border
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Steve Miller’s reporting on how states are reckoning with the fallout of hundreds of millions of dollars used to support public elections in 2020 (most of which came from Mark Zuckerberg)
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In anticipation of the first anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, RCI updated its database, which put the violence of that day into context, comparing it with the unrest that occurred in the summer of 2020.
Even as masterful as the RCI editors are at crafting intriguing titles, we could not enable this reporting based on ad revenue. This is where support from our readers comes in.
Your support helps us investigate areas of civic life that would not otherwise get the coverage they deserve—and to bring that reporting to bear on the national conversation. In addition to having our stories linked to on RealClearPolitics, which reaches a broad, cross-partisan audience, we amplify our influence through syndication of articles in other news outlets and broadcast interviews.
Citations or republications of our investigations have appeared, so far this year, in national outlets such as Yahoo News and the New York Post and nearly 150 local newspapers and broadcast stations across the country—from the Poconos to Santa Barbara. Our reporters have appeared on prime-time cable news shows, chart-topping podcasts, and syndicated radio shows, reaching key markets across the country (including Chicago, New York City, and Washington, DC).
America’s public life benefits from honest journalism. If you are concerned about the embrace of partisan agendas in many corners of the media landscape (for example), please join our effort to build a RealClear counterweight by supporting our spring fund-raising drive.
With your support, RealClear’s shoes are on. Our reporters are up early, go to bed late, and are in the race to catch up to and overcome falsehood. Our enterprise is not a sprint. It’s a marathon, and the truth needs to win. Join us. We can’t do it without you.