Welcome to Crosscut

Based in Seattle, Crosscut is a guide to local and Northwest news, a place to report and discuss local news, and a platform for new tools to convey local news. The journalism of regular citizens appears alongside that of professionals. News coverage with detachment, traditionally practiced by mainstream media outlets, coexists with advocacy journalism and opinion.

• Crosscut finds and highlights the best local journalism and the best local commentary, whether it's the work of the biggest metropolitan daily newspaper or a part-time blogger. There is a multitude of worthy sources of information on the Internet, but few people have time to navigate them all.
• Crosscut publishes its own journalism and commentary. These are stories and angles others have missed or ignored. Our news coverage aims to complement that of other providers, to extend exploration of events and issues, to possibly encourage resolution.
• Crosscut embraces new tools and tries new things as technology evolves, mindful of the relative strengths of textual, photo, audio, and video journalism.

Crosscut publishes news, commentary, news about commentary, commentary about news—just about anything that is non-fiction. Our broad definition of news is anything people want or ought to know. Commentary is opinionated or rhetorical expression. Crosscut also welcomes content that suggests new ideas or ways of looking at problems. We welcome contributions of words, photographs, audio, video, illustrations, charts, PowerPoint presentations, and anything else that is true to life. You don’t have to be a professional, but whatever you provide should be a rendering of reality supported by facts. Crosscut is a local Web site. We publish material that is endemic or has a significant connection to the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or Montana, or the province of British Columbia.

 

FAQ

Why do I need a middleman to navigate Internet news?

Perhaps you don't. But if you're like most people, you don't have time to read two or three daily papers and a handful of blogs, any of which on any given day might have something you shouldn't miss. Crosscut finds and highlights the best local journalism and the best local commentary, whether it's the work of the biggest metropolitan daily newspaper or a part-time blogger. There are a multitude of worthy sources of information on the Internet, but few people have time to navigate them all. We are "brand-neutral" — we link to whoever's got the best stuff. Other media sites aren't likely to steer you to a competitor's version of news, even if it's better.

Do you have your own writers?

Crosscut publishes its own journalism and commentary, mostly stories and angles other media outlets have missed or ignored. Our contributors are contract writers, freelancers, prominent figures in the community or in a given field, and normal folks and specialists who have something to report or something to say. We welcome anyone who brings something new to the community's conversations.

Our original content aims to complement that of other providers, to extend exploration of events and issues, to possibly play a role in resolution. We aren't a substitute for your favorite newspaper or radio station or TV show or online headline service.

Aren't you just leeching off existing media by writing about and linking to their stories?

We send those other news sites readers they otherwise might not have. We encourage them and promote them by highlighting their best journalism. The Web is a new kind of information ecology of sharing and partnering. Though they practice important journalism, self-contained, full-service news outlets no longer rule.

How do you decide what to link to?

We link to pages that are judged by Crosscut editors to contain essential knowledge, solid and fresh reporting, and noteworthy perspective. Our news report is drawn from mainstream-media and blog sites alike, from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska but with initial emphasis on metropolitan Seattle and Washington. We also try to keep you in touch with what the national media are writing about us here in the Northwest.

How does Crosscut make money? Is it profitable?

Like other Web sites, we make money from advertising. Crosscut's investors expect to lose money for a while, but they hope to see the site break even before long. We anticipate other sources of revenue, such as premium content and conferences.

If you're interested in advertising or other opportunities, e-mail us at advertising@crosscut.com.

What else differentiates Crosscut from other media outlets?

• Crosscut calls your attention to news throughout Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska -- not just that in the metropolitan areas, where the daily papers tend to give regional news short shrift.
• We impose some quality control on the vast volume of news and commentary on the Web.
• Crosscut embraces new tools and tries new things as technology and culture evolve. If you have ideas about new ways to mash up technology and journalism, let us know.

What is Crosscut's editorial stance? Are you liberal or conservative?

As an institution, Crosscut takes no stand except to encourage and strive for good journalism that is accurate, fair, civil, and transparent. Our political disposition is to encourage communities to find creative and sustainable solutions to major issues. That puts us in the zone of independent, bipartisan, "solutionist" politics. But we reflect good reporting and commentary from many points in the spectrum.

Who owns Crosscut?

More than a dozen local investors, none of whom has a stake greater than 20 percent.

Is there anything else like Crosscut out there?

Not exactly, but there are similar efforts around the country. We're most familiar with NewWest.net, based in Missoula, Mont., which has a string of correspondents in various Rocky Mountain cities and towns. In British Columbia, the Vancouver-based Tyee serves as an alternative to corporately owned media there.

 

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