With raw newsflow in the financial, political, economic and geopolitical realms hurtling ever faster – scrambling toward some yet unknown climax – facilitated by a world that has never been more interconnected, and where the noise to signal ratio (especially over the past few months courtesy of certain… events) has hit unprecedented levels, sometime we get so focused on trying to share our own, unique (we hope) vision and take on things, that we lose connection, and direct communication, with the only thing that really matters for this little project: our readers.
That would be you.
Without you, dear reader, this website would not exist.
The truth is that while we always try to represent, interpret and explain events as they happen objectively and in real time (a challenge which at times is literally painful) we may not get everything right or accurate, but we try.
We try to do as well as we can within the confines of our modest staffing, infrastructure and financial capabilities. Unlike media behemoths and “titans” of industry, many of whom have infinitely more in resources and outside “access”, our growth is only possible if you – dear reader – keep coming back. Incidentally, and contrary to various amusing rumors, Zero Hedge does not, and has never had any financial, political, or any other affiliation or relation to an external entity or organization; no we are not funded by the KGB, no we are not on Trump’s secret payroll, no we have never raised one dollar of outside funding. From day one, all our revenue has been through advertising, and your kind donations.
Which, simply stated, means that we write what we believe in, even if it is ultimately proven to be dead wrong.
Which is not to say readers should accept everything, or anything, at face value. Quite the contrary: as we have warned since the very start, our main intention, while informing readers, has been to make them think critically – to present a different side to thing, even if it is ultimately dead wrong. For pete’s sake, this a blog after all, not some established pillar of the fourth estate with editors, sub-editors, reporters, journalists, crossword puzzle makers, back office, and so forth.
This should be nothing new: for those still unfamiliar, here is a brief excerpt from our “full disclosure” policy, which we hope most of you are familiar with:
The reality is, critical readers should read analytic posts and the rest of Zero Hedge with the blanket assumption that the author is totally “conflicted.” (Phrased more logically, that the author stands to benefit from being right- imagine that). This turns the conversation to the content, and away from the author, the author’s biography and the contents of their IRA account / blind trust. This (the content) is, of course, where the focus should be. If you think otherwise you might be one of those people who thinks it was a good idea for a news program hosted by Dan Rather, and where viewers spend 66% of the non-commercial time watching his mug, to be in HDTV. If you still get something out of our writing with the assumption that we are invested in our position and stand to gain personally from you believing us, well, we’ve done our job. If not, then our being “unconflicted” isn’t going to change the fact that we have a weak argument or poorly reasoned prose. At least, if you’re not one of the “optics” idiots.
People, you don’t test a safe under ideal conditions for the safe and call it good. You test it with all the advantages to the burglar. And then you let the burglar cheat. If it still remains closed after that, then it’s secure.
We wrote the above in 2009. In light of the recent unprecedented implosion of trust in the “mainstream”, it has never been more relevant, and we bring it up because in recent weeks the tension between the so called “mainstream” and “alternative” medias has never been greater. Perhaps that’s a good thing.
However, no matter how the growing conflict within the fourth estate turns out, we would like you – our reader – to know that we have survived this long, nearly eight years since our modest start in January 2009, in the process clocking in nearly three billion page views, because of your faith in us and the fact that you – for whatever reason – keep coming back.
And for that, from the entire tiny staff here at Zero Hedge, we thank you.
