About Crosscut

Based in Seattle, Crosscut is a daily guide to local and Northwest news, and a forum where writers and citizens with many points of view can report and discuss local news. News coverage as traditionally practiced by mainstream media outlets coexists with advocacy journalism and opinion. Crosscut is a general-interest news site, with coverage ranging over politics, business, arts and lifestyle, and the world of ideas. It does thoughtful and fresh analysis of the important issues of the day, not routine breaking news.

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. Editors select all out-links, not computerized programs.
Crosscut publishes its own journalism and commentary. Our news coverage aims to deepen exploration of events and issues, and to encourage resolution of long-standing issues not just more conflict and impasse. 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 and commentary: just about anything that is non-fiction. Crosscut also welcomes content that suggests new ideas or ways of looking at problems. We have no editorial page and do not endorse candidates, though our writers often take their own stands.

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 and evidence. We are "multi-partisan" and so are interested in points of view that may not readily find expression in mainstream media, or that balance the points of view of other writers on Crosscut. We write stories and link to stories based on their journalistic value, not according to their ideological slant or appeal to a certain demographic or mindset.

Crosscut is a local Web site. We pay particular attention to what we call "News of the Great Nearby," meaning the Pacific Northwest states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or Montana, and the province of British Columbia. This regional coverage is meant to help draw the region together and to give readers a sense that they live in a large, varied "nation-state." We also draw attention to stories around the nation that bear on issues in our region.

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. We link to whoever's got the best stuff, focusing on good journalism not ideological consistency. 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. Our contributors (numbering about 40) 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. Contributors are paid, ranging from $25-$300 per story. We encourage you to send queries at any time, on any subject: editor@crosscut.com.

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

Crosscut links to other news sites and stories that readers otherwise might not have. The Web is a new kind of information ecoology of sharing and partnering, and we are glad to encourage good journalism on other sites by spotlighting it on our site, and vice versa. We link to articles in other media that are judged by Crosscut editors to contain essential knowledge, solid and fresh reporting, lively writing, and noteworthy perspective.

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. We do not have an editorial page and make no endorsements in elections.

Who owns Crosscut? What are your sources of revenue?

Crosscut is an independent not-for-profit entity whose mission is to produce journalism in the public interest. The entity, Crosscut Public Media, is a tax-exempt nonprofit Washington corporation overseen by a board of civic-minded members. David Brewster is the president of the board; other members as of 12/20/2010 are: Gene Carlson, Jerry Grinstein, Carol Lewis, Barry Mitzman, Bill Ruckelshaus, Chuck Sitkin and Mike Vaska. Crosscut Public Media has applied for 501-c-3 status with the IRS, and approval is pending. Contributions are tax exempt as of November 2008; or they may be made through our fiscal agent, The Seattle Foundation.

Crosscut began publishing in April 2007. Its initial ownership was a group of civic-minded Seattle investors, who created Crosscut LLC. This entity elected to go out of business in December 2008, when all assets of Crosscut.com were donated to the new nonprofit entity, Crosscut Public Media. David Brewster was a founder of Crosscut and served as managing member of Crosscut LLC. The owners chose this new direction in order to be able to support more quality journalism, by having more sources of revenue, and to ratify the commitment to the public interest by becoming a community-controlled nonprofit with a mission of "journalism in the public interest."

Goals of the backers of Crosscut have been: to attract younger readers by being on their medium-of-choice, the Web; to provide some high-quality replacement media as others falter; to provide an outlet for fine writers and thinkers in the region; to encourage broad public discussion through commenting features and other interactive aspects of the Web; and to fill in missing parts of coverage by other media.

Crosscut's revenue sources are: annual memberships, donations from individuals, grants and foundation support, and advertising sponsorships. In the future, we expect to produce some events, such as conferences, that will also generate income. This model resembles public broadcast, except there is no government money in the mix.

Is there anything else like Crosscut out there?

There are similar efforts around the country. The closest parallels are Minnpost in Minnesota; Voice of San Diego in San Diego; the St. Louis Beacon; the New Haven Independent; New West in Missoula and other Rocky Mountain cities; The Tyee in Vancouver, B.C.; the Texas Tribune in Austin; and The Bay Citizen in San Francisco. The general definition of these sites is: all-local, Web-only, locally owned, news-oriented (as opposed to ideological sites), publishing daily, and broad range of topics. This new form is growing fast, with most of the sites nonprofits, such as Crosscut. Here's a recent overview of the trend in a New York Times article.