ProPublica is a site I will definitely be keeping an eye on next year!

New York, NY (October 15, 2007)—A new, non-partisan, non-profit newsroom producing journalism in the public interest will launch here in January under the name ProPublica. Paul E. Steiger, former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, will serve as president and editor in chief.

ProPublica, when fully staffed in 2008, will include 24 fulltime reporters and editors, the largest staff in American journalism devoted solely to investigative reporting. ProPublica will be supported entirely by philanthropy and will provide the articles it produces, free of charge, both through its own Web site and to leading news organizations selected with an eye toward maximizing the impact of each article.

Commenting on the new organization Mr. Steiger said, “ProPublica will focus exclusively on journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them[my emphasis]. We will be non-partisan and non-ideological, adhering to the strictest standards of journalistic impartiality and fairness.” He continued, “We will look hard at the critical functions of business and of government, the two biggest centers of power. But we will also focus on such institutions as unions, universities, hospitals, foundations and the media when they appear to be exploiting or oppressing those weaker than they, or when there is evidence that they are abusing the public trust.”

At last progressives will have a real voice, a voice that does hard hitting real investigative journalism, not just opinion. It already has Rush “Chickenhawk Ass Boil” Limbaugh running scared

Sites like Media Matters, Daily KOS, Huffington Post, to name but a few, are important progressive sites but they don’t have the resources to dig out the truth, they have day jobs as it were. Having 24 full time investigative reporters whose sole task is to go after the corrupt politicians, the authority abusers, the corporatist bribers, anyone who takes advantage of the weak and helpless will be a very big nail in the coffin of the far right. This is very good news indeed.

By and large it is the GOP and its supporters who go after the weak and helpless. It is their kind of people who trample on rights and abuse their authority. Democratic Party members are by no means immune to such abuses of humanity but overall it is the mindset of those who vote for and blindly support the GOP who will find themselves targets of ProPublica. Not because they are GOP, but because of what they believe and do as a result of their beliefs.

Progressives believe in justice, fairness and equality for all. Progressives believe in helping others out of a sense of altruism not a sense of duty to some mythical being in the sky, or worse yet an attempt to hoodwink the public into believing they give a shit and get their votes for doing so.

Conservatives of the GOP kind ultimately believe in one thing and one thing only - self-interest and righteous self-interest at that, and have no use for anyone who differs from them.

ProPublica will be a very, very good asset for progressives. The right have every reason to fear. I hope every progressive blogger will keep an eye on this site and push their stories into every corner of the web in such a way that the MSM can not ignore the scandals that will be a result of ProPublica’s investigative journalism. Watch out MSM some real journalists are about to show you how it’s really done.

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