The template for daily newspapers keeps morphing, and here’s another indication. The Tampa Bay Times is soliciting donations from readers so it can expand its impactful PolitiFact reporting. It’s a membership program called the Truth Squad. “The chaos in the information market has meant PolitiFact has been busier–and more important–than ever,” explains PolitiFact editor Angie Drobnic Holan.
The financial reality is that funding from the newspaper, digital advertising and grants is still not enough. And yet, in a world of fake news and dissembling political leaders, there’s never been a greater need in this self-governing democracy for verifiable information. It’s what you do.