We have haters. I know. That’s not surprising, and no, I’m not that sensitive. Haters come with the territory. Having haters also means you’re somehow making?an impact. So, having haters is a good thing. My first piece of hate mail sent through Facebook is saved as a memento to look back on.
We are absolutely accustomed to the usual conservative vitriol we receive; however, I never realized how much inner turmoil there could be within one’s own party until I started contributing and editing for Liberal America. It’s especially worse between media publications. It’s a cutthroat world even when you’re supposedly playing for the same team.
So after 36 hours of being awake, seeing an article published that completely trashed Liberal America for an article recently written did not sit well with me at all. The fact that it was written by a progressive Democrat, George Chidi, angered me further. It’s one thing to disagree. It’s fine to try to point out the flaws in an article. It’s another to jump on a blog and smear the entire organization. Remember in school when that ONE kid would get everyone?punished because they wouldn’t shut up? It’s sort of like that.
First and foremost though, I do respect Mr. Chidi’s experience. He has much more experience than I have, and I have to respect that. He is published in several publications. He has every right to write what he wants to about Liberal America. That’s how free speech is supposed to work. I hate what he has to say about us, and I disagree vehemently. However, I respect his right to say it, and I defend that right.
Liberal America does NOT play the cutthroat game. We do not go for blood. We like?bridging relationships with others. We know each of our writers, and we care about each one. We love our readers. We try to reach our readers on a personal basis. They are MORE than a view on an article behind a screen. They are people with opinions, beliefs, and feelings. Sometimes we make them happy. Sometimes we can’t make them happy. That’s just how it goes. I’ve sat and read through 400 individual comments and replied back to most of them. I’m not saying this to get a pat on the back. I’m just trying to show that this is not trivial sugary bullshit coming out of my fingers at 150 words/minute (yes, I type that fast). Maybe we would get farther faster if we did go for blood, but?as long as Tiffany is the owner and chief editor of this wonderful establishment, we won’t be going for blood.
I would like to respond directly to Mr. Chidi’s articles…
“I question the credibility of the story.”
I’m glad you question the credibility of our article. We shouldn’t trust everything at face value. Please, question our articles. We welcome it.
“The report began with a relatively new site, LiberalAmerica.org… Right now, LiberalAmerica.org’s Facebook page has just under 180,000 subscribers, including 16 who are friends of mine.”
As for our age, that’s right. We were founded in 2012. In two years, Liberal America has 179,982 likes.?On our best day to date, we had 668,709 views on the site. We have an all time view of 18,586,673. That’s pretty?significant in my meager opinion. That’s all it is though… a meager opinion.?I really don’t like saying things like this. I’m a pretty humble person. I’m not trying to have a pissing contest to see who is bigger with you, Mr. Chidi. Those numbers, however, are facts. I respect that you are and probably will always remain a much more accomplished journalist/writer than I will ever be. However, why the vendetta? Why the vitriol? Are you that mad that journalism is not what it used to be anymore? No, it’s not as romantic as it was when they wore fedoras looking for the next big scoop. It will never be like that anymore, unfortunately.?Technology changes daily. Rather than attempting to tear us apart in a blog that has a grand total of 1,338 likes, why not offer us real advice??How about approaching us in less of an accusatory manner and more in a collaborative manner and maybe we could bridge this major difference?
“Liberal America itself was founded by Tiffany Willis, a social media strategist who appears to have little background in hard journalism…”
She has a love for politics and a love for writing that is greater than most. She eats, breathes, and lives this stuff. Liberal America is her brain child. She is more dedicated to this than I can imagine anyone else being. She’s been like this for years. She is an unforgiving Liberal, and she will probably die?an unforgiving Liberal. Her love and passion for both of these fields are what make her such an amazing person to work with – not what experience she may or may not have.?Mr. Chidi, you would probably even enjoy speaking to her on an intellectual basis on political stances.?Either that or you would both enjoy picking each other apart.
“The site publishes no biographies for its reporters.”
Please see?below. The editor may have forgot to put Andrew’s bio in his article. We do ask that writers include bios and a picture of some sorts for their articles.
“Notably, Mr. Bradford reported?that Deal could not be reached for comment. He doesn’t indicate what effort he made to speak with Deal’s office. But somehow the AJC managed to get Deal’s lawyer on the phone in an afternoon.”
I’m going to imagine the Atlanta Journal-Constitution?is going to have a much easier time with getting in touch with someone who can put them through to the governor’s lawyer. I mean, we’re just a “relatively new site” right? It’s not like we have any major clout right? See how using the years we’ve been established can work to benefit us both, Mr. Chidi? In no way is this an excuse for poor writing, but it serves as an example of how we can all twist information to our benefit.
“…the truth of the story comes second to using the confirmation biases of the reader to make money. The latter is information pollution, a side effect of a world in which page views can and must be monetized.”
Someone has to pay the server and upkeep costs. We’re not rich. We’re not rich with our worth combined. We do our best to keep the site running and pay writers the few beans they earn and pay them fairly at that.
“DailyKos has withdrawn the story under criticism. LiberalAmerica.org has merely “lost it.”
Story is back up live after our missing publications were retrieved. In the?last email I sent, I gave you a fairly correct explanation as to what happened to our servers. My husband stepped in and helped late that night. Also, I spoke with Mr. Lewis. Mr. Lewis did repost the story. 
?I did not ask him to do so. I only asked if he planned on it or not, so I could include it here if so. I asked him for his feelings on you, your personality, were you aggressive, etc. He had nothing but kind words to say about you including these few statements:
“He seemed like a reporter trying to figure out how the story began and got passed around. He was very nice.”
“I don’t think he had a vendetta, but who knows.?I remember his saying that liberalamerica.org struck him as “just a place for clickbait.” I didn’t protest his impression, as I am not very familiar with your site, and I was a bit embarrassed that I had run with a story that at least appeared to have been retracted. At any rate, he seemed more concerned with the nuts and bolts of why I picked it up, etc.”
On whether he had an issue with the article itself:
“Not at all – I really liked the article, and it seemed very credible, despite the anonymous sources, which is why I shared it on Daily Kos. I was bummed when I saw that it had been taken down.”
On whether this was a “mass?amount of wasted time:”
“No, not at all! It was an intriguing story, and I am glad to learn that your site is, in fact, standing by it. Perhaps we’ll all know more in January!!!”
Back?to you, Mr. Chidi:
“Willis blames a technical glitch for the story falling off of LiberalAmerica.org’s page”
As I explained in the email I sent (which I hope you read), the company did make a mistake in making the transfer from one server to the other. They backed up the site two days before actually moving it. By backing it up two days before moving it everything in between those two days were lost as they were not backed up. They were retrievable after Tiffany?consistently called, emailed, etc. My husband finally stepped in and helped with the last part and has promised he will help from now on. This was?the worst timing that could ever happen. I understand that. I understand that it seems quite suspicious. I understand you also felt ignored. Tiffany was in the middle of the server issues, and I was the one in charge of talking to our writer, which I did. I had everything compiled and waiting for her to look over before it was to be sent to you. As I said in my email, she’s my boss, and I have to ultimately answer to her.
“This afternoon, Willis decided to get cute… You all know what the restraining order was about.”
Was it a low blow? Sure. Our concern was with protecting our writer’s identity. Surely, you can understand that? Our writer has received death threats in the past. He has family, and he wants to be protected. I, myself, write under a pen name. Liz is nowhere near my real name. Why? Because I live in Southern Georgia in the Okefenokee Swamp area, and I write for a liberal outlet. Do I really have to describe what I’d deal with if I went into Walmart and someone recognized me because I wrote about something locally (which I do sometimes)? Do you really want to know what would happen if I protested at the new Hobby Lobby opening in Waycross, Georgia for a woman’s right to choose??It?wouldn’t matter so much to me, but I am the mother of a?three-year-old boy. My baby comes first always. I would be a bad mother if he didn’t, and people would tell me so. Is it unethical or ethical to not disclose whether we write under pen names? I’m not sure. Send me something about it. I’d love to read some articles on the subject. Again, help us instead of smearing us. We would help someone including another organization. Also,?LA readers should know I write under a pen name as I post it in some of my blurbs that Liz isn’t my real name.
“I asked again to speak on the phone, because email exchanges are generally a terrible way to conduct an interview.”
I’m only speaking for myself. I hate talking on the phone. I’m in my 20s. I type better than I can write by hand (which is a shame). I also live where I don’t have very good signal on my cellphone, and my house phone runs off of the cell towers. I only have that line from when I was pregnant in case I needed to make a call. It’s maybe a tad bit better than my actual cellphone.?I would have been happy to speak to you via email or even a live chat messenger. If I would have felt more comfortable, I possibly would have spoke with you via Skype, Mumble, or Ventrilo. Again, I hate talking on the phone. I will pay my mother’s Internet bill just so she will message me instead of call me. My son also knows that the only person I call on the phone is his “Gigi,” and I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to conduct an interview with a child screaming to speak to his grandmother. As for Tiffany, server?fiasco. She was?occupied with keeping our site UP which at the time was more important (still is in my opinion).
Tiffany was truly concerned with the credibility of the story. It’s not like we just said “F— it.” Perhaps, we misunderstood your approach. Perhaps you would have come off a lot more affable over the phone if we could have made a phone call happen. Who knows. However, insinuating we are lying about a server issue to get out of answering questions is not what we do (I’m talking about your last email to us). It’s not what I do. My mom may be?a Dick Cheney-loving conservative, but she didn’t teach this girl to lie.
Mr. Chidi, I apologize that there was what appears to be a misunderstanding with the disappearance of our article.?Again,?it was the worst time?that it could possibly happen. I apologize that?I, myself, could not get back with you any sooner. During that period, I had been awake for 36 hours. I spent most of the day working on dealing with your questions, taking care of my son, and wanting a nap. We were all busy that day with various emergencies. However, I will not apologize for?what we do here at Liberal America. If we weren’t doing something right, we wouldn’t have the readership that we have (not that it’s super huge). If we weren’t doing something right, we wouldn’t have people trolling us in comments, private messages, emails, and apparently now blogs. When we hit bumps in the road, we’ll learn from them and keep truckin’.
For now, our story is back live. After speaking with Andrew, I feel he did the best he could and worked with what he had. He felt his sources could possibly be in danger of retribution or harm, so he granted them anonymity. I feel he most likely could?never find any other way to confirm his story. I also know Gov. Deal’s lawyer would deny it whether it was the truth or not. It’s a politician. It’s Governor Nathan Deal! He’s who this article should have been about. He’s who your piece should have been about. Media outlets should be working against the corruption in this country; however, we’re working against each other.?I agree we could have handled vetting the story better. This is something we can learn from and have. We will be instituting a plan from here on for vetting. Do I stand behind the story at this time? Yes. If?I have more reasons to not stand behind it, I’ll retract it with an apology, and I’ll send you a gift card to whatever restaurant of your choosing sir with a beautifully made handcrafted card. If the story stands, well, plan to hear from me. I love Skittles and Mtn. Dew.
Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to receive more great stories like this one.
Liz Lee considers herself an uppity Southern woman and the only sane person left in the swamps of South Georgia. She has all her teeth and knows how to spell fairly well. She graduated high school and has some college learnin?. She’s also a nursing school dropout. She is a wife to a man that ain?t her cousin, mother of one human child, mother to one furry American Bully, and also your typical everyday Wonder Woman. When she hangs up her cape, you can find her curled up in her office sewing while gossiping, writing, playing World of Warcraft, or practicing banjo in hopes of being the greatest at pickin? and a grinnin?. You can follow her on Facebook to see what she is up to. She also has a Twitter she can’t figure out how to use and is working on a website at this time.
