Poverty activist Jeff 4 Justice evaluates whether or not The Young Turks recent Indiegogo campaign was ethical. When does "indie" media get too big to have to e-beg?
When does "indie" media get too big to have to e-beg?
I am homeless by choice but I am also in poverty as a disabled recession refugee which is not by choice. As a person struggling to survive and overcome poverty in a time when half of people in The United States are also in poverty, pardon me if I get pissed off when I see rich or wealthy or well-to-do people such as actor Zach Braff or director Spike Lee e-begging on crowdfunding websites.
Recently, online "news" show The Young Turks (TYT) used the Indiegogo crowdfunding website to raise $402,950 of a $250,000 goal so they can build a production studio. On December 5th and 6th, 2013 they held a "24hr LIVE Turk-a-thon Extravaganza" broadcast to ramp up the fundraising efforts. I used to be an enthusiastic TYT fan when I first discovered them and saw main host Cenk Uygur calling out Obama for the many ways he was behaving as GWB's third term. I even interviewed TYT's Epic Politics Man Michael Shure on my own YouTube channel. However, after TYT launched its "Let's Build It Together!" campaign, being fatigued from previous crowdfunding efforts by some of my other favorite indie media personalities such as Lee Camp and the overly-ambitious Ben Swann, I began to ask myself, "When is indie media too big and well-connected to be considered "indie" and also too big to need to e-beg?" I then started researching TYT's fiances to see if they really needed the help and if it was fair of them to ask their "We are the 99%" type followers for cash just before the holidays.
After doing some research and finding out that TYT made a few million last year, I sent an email to TYT's public relations team to inquire about the ethics of the campaign. I was unimpressed with the PR team's spin-ish reply which included a response from TYT's Chief Operating Office and on-air personality Steven Oh. I then made a YouTube video titled "Was Young Turks Studio Fundraiser Unethical?" in which I provide my skeptical analysis about their crowdfunding efforts.
Was Young Turks Studio Fundraiser Unethical?
http://youtu.be/...
Meanwhile, after checking in with TYT's live shows while researching them more, in the midst of their crowdfunding, I was shocked to hear Uygur make homelessphobic and prejudicial comments about how he will not give cash to a street homeless person for fear they may use it for drugs or drinking and instead prefers to donate directly to a nonprofit that serves the homeless. How can he be so ignorant of the many homeless people ignored by nonprofits and places of worship in rural and suburb areas? How can he be so ignorant of how nonprofits can be irresponsible with money too? With the recent news of phony liberal Democrats trying to pass laws criminalizing the homeless in Hawaii, Philadelphia, and now Los Angeles, you'll pardon me if I have little patience for a phony progressive who "personally makes a healthy income" evoking anti-homeless sentiment while himself e-begging.
In response to my videos critiquing and questioning their crowdfunding, TYT personality Ana Kasparian apparently began to bash me on-air and then got cut off abruptly by Oh. How cowardly not to invite me to hear my critique face-to-face and also to decline my interview requests.
I am NOT opposed to indie media asking for money, profiting, or trying to make it big-time. As a 1-person-crew, infotainer, vlogger in poverty, I too ask for financial
contributions from my followers. I reach a whopping 20,000-25,000 people per month so as you can imagine I am a dollaraire. I am also not opposed to some silly entertainment content since my YouTube channel
has that too. But I also don't posture myself as a grand changer-of-the-world for the better or posture as a serious "journalist" - which is an over-valued term in my opinion. While I do have 10+ years of verifiable on-the-ground grassroots experience making things better working for
LGBT equality and
homeless outreach that I did both in times of property and poverty, I am a realist and won't promise that we can take down the establishment. I have more of a
George Carlin cynical outlook. If you donate to me I let you know straight up that it helps me survive while I am in poverty, or it helps me get new equipment now and then, or it helps me go do some homeless outreach to other people living out of their vehicles who are unserved by the nonprofits and faith communities.
So here's the gist of what bothered me about TYT's crowdfunding campaign:
● TYT did not disclose in the main campaign video and Indiegogo page they made at least 4 million last year.
in our email exchange, the TYT team refused to answer how much money the main on-air personalities donated out-of-pocket to the campaign as well as whether or not they made more than 4 million last year. They avoided many of my questions about the ethics of the fundraiser and declined a recorded interview request. To put that into perspective, they pride themselves as challenging the establishment yet declined my interview request. Hmmm... Then again, I am a nobody.
● TYT uses "Yes We Can" type rhetoric such as labeling their fans as a "TYT Army" to brainwash well-meaning people into thinking they are fighting the "establishment." On their Indiegogo page they promise, "We will stand up against the establishment. We will challenge conventional wisdom. Together we will not accept the fabricated truth that the mainstream media tells us." In their crowdfunding vids they repeat over and over statements to the effect,"You are TYT." Again, these are brainwashing tactics. But what do they do aside from repeat headlines and gossip about pop culture? They had a Charity Water campaign to build clean water wells for needy people. But TYT fans paid for that. They also have their political action committee Wolf-PAC to try to amend the Constitution to take money out of politics but - get this - they need your money to stop lobbyist money. TYT fans paid for that too. TYT fans likely also paid for a previous Indiegogo campaign to create filmmaker Andrew Napier's "Mad As Hell: Rise of the Young Turks" film. In our email exchange, the TYT representatives refused to provide specifics about how much TYT as a business or TYT's main on-air personalities donated to those causes. There seems to be a disparity between their constant hype about TYT taking on "the establishment" and the difference between the time, money, and energy they apply towards repeating headlines one can find anywhere else and also celeb gossiping compared to their good works such as Charity Water and Wolf-PAC. What's more, in the comments section of TYT's crowdfunding vids, it was painful reading statements to the effect, "I don't have much but I sent $20." No wonder this country is so economically screwed up when people in poverty feel guilty for not donating to a business that made 4 million.
● TYT continually insist they are better than mainstream media yet, again, they more or less repeat the same headlines one can find on just about any mainstream or "indie" media venue in addition to spending half of their resources and time on celebrity gossip content. They often just comment on stories written by other journalists. What exactly is on TYT that one cannot also find on countless other media venues such as Huffington Post, Democracy Now, RT News, or InfoWars? Also just because something is "indie" does not mean it's quality. Likewise, just because something is popular does not mean it's quality either - think Paris Hilton, Psy, or the reelection of GWB. Additionally, would you donate to TMZ or E! News?
● TYT seems uninterested in scaling back like any of us in the 99% have to do in these though times. When I point out the absurdity of a business that made at least 4 million dollars asking you to help them make celeb gossip vids, their fans reply by insisting that it's a necessary evil because those type of TYT's monetized vids generate more revenue through YouTube partners' AdSense program. What's more TYT and their fans insist their production overhead is high and therefore 4 million is not that much. Um... so why don't those necessary evil celeb gossip vids bring in enough revenue to cause TYT to not have to e-beg? Why doesn't TYT scale back? Why not build a studio someplace cheaper than in L.A.? Cut back on the celeb gossip vids and TYT Sports and TYT Comedy which ARE overhead expenses. Those frivolous productions cost TYT in terms of on-set electric use, hosting storage use, and staff time for researching, editing, uploading, and typing up the vid and audio file accompanying info on TYT's website and YouTube channel. That's a lot of collective time and money being spent to "stand up against the establishment" by making Justin Bieber and Kanye West gossip vids. Did Obama dissolve NDAA or get Monsanto heads out of the FDA due to TYT's amazing analysis of Miley Cyrus' twerking at the VMAs?
● TYT personalities have publicly decried rich people who complain that 6-figure salaries are not enough yet TYT made 4 million which was not enough... so they created an the Indiegogo campaign with a $250,000 goal and got that... but that was still not enough for them so they went for more, more, more
● TYT claims to be "indie" yet YouTube helps them with studio space, Indiegogo campaign promotion, and the YouTube Certification Program. TYT also has deals with Roku, and are also pursuing deals with Hulu.
● Using a third party crowdfunding website is a needless middle man waste of money. Since TYT already have their own big website, why not just have a web designer turn one of their pages into the "Let's Build It Together" campaign?
● If TYT wants money out of politics and is supposedly so anti-establishment then why not dedicate a huge chunk of their on-air time during non-election cycles to get their viewers educated about what the alternative politcal parties are doing all the time - instead of covering the same tired 2-party system charade stories that every other media venue is also discussing? Heck, instead of or in addition to Wolf-PAC, since they brag about reaching a million people per day, why not try to start their own alternative political party that rejects corporate donations or pick an existing one such as the Green, Justice, or Peace & Freedom parties and back one of them relentlessly though 2014 and 2016?
I repeat. I am NOT opposed to indie media asking for money, profiting, or trying to make it big. But let's just be intellectually honest about it. While I appreciate the idealism of TYT's PR rhetoric, let's stop with the propaganda about how commenting on recycled headlines and gossiping about celebs is some heroic, progressive cause that is essential for you to donate to. How self-congratulating is that? Let's face it, if you're a TYT donor you just want to donate to fit in with the cool kids and ensure your online buds are around to BS with you.
Just as TYT boats how they are right to challenge Obama to make good on his many failed promises, I am challenging TYT to be better than mainstream news as they claim to be. I challenge them to truly fight the establishment harder, smarter, better. Then again, as TYT's Ana Kasparian would say, maybe I am just "jelly." As Mitt Romney would say, maybe I have class envy. Now if anyone is wondering why I don't do more, it's because I am in poverty. I can flip that and ask anyone, "Why aren't you as rich as Donald Trump or Oprah?" They can do it, so can you! But with my verifiable history of activism, I'd like to thank that if I had 4 million dollars and a TYT Army at my disposal I would be producing TYT Activism or TYT Homeless Outreach. In fact, I already do that on my YouTube channel and my activism and "anti-establishment" content far exceeds my frivolous content.
Lastly and for the third time - there's nothing wrong with indie media charging for content. However when they already do that, making 4 million, and then e-begging just before the holidays while appealing to how "the fans are TYT" and how ya'll are fighting the establishment together while making more and more Miley Cyrus gossip vids, in the words of Macklemore, "I call that getting swindled and pimped...I call that getting tricked by a business." The next time TYT e-begs, think about it.
-Jeff 4 Justice
The Young Turks On Shark Tank - Let's Build It Together
http://youtu.be/...