Type of site News and Analysis Website wsws.org Launched February 14, 1998 | Headquarters Oak Park, Michigan Alexa rank 35,876 (January 2017) | |
Owner International Committee of the Fourth International | ||
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is a widely accessed international socialist news site that is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The site is closely associated with the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Party. The World Socialist Web Site publishes articles and analysis of news and events all around the world updated on a daily basis. The site also includes extensive coverage of the history of working class political and organized labor movements.
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The American right-wing press has referenced the World Socialist Web Site as an example of left-wing extremism, and Glenn Beck, formerly of Fox News, cited the web site on numerous occasions while on air, calling it an example of "radical Islamists, communists, socialists" all working together.
Establishment
The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) was established on February 14, 1998, as an online purveyor of socialist news and analysis. The site was launched as a means of turning the official organ of the Workers League, the newspaper The Bulletin, into an online newspaper.
Structure
The site was redesigned and launched on October 22, 2008, enhancing the visual and technical aspects of the content and web site.
The WSWS supports and helps campaign for the Socialist Equality Parties in elections. The site has no corporate sponsorship and runs no advertisements except for material from Mehring Books, the ICFI's publishing arm. Instead, it sustains itself through the donations of readers and supporters. The content is published in 19 different languages. David North serves as Chairman of the site's International Editorial Board.
The World Socialist Web Site periodically undertakes focused political campaigns, during which numerous articles, videos, interviews, and perspectives are published on the topic. Some notable campaigns undertaken by the WSWS include the defense of Edward Snowden and opposition to NSA spying, opposition to the 2015 UAW autoworkers concessions contract, opposition to the war in Syria, and the opposition to utility shutoffs in Detroit.
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Contemporary impact
The World Socialist Web Site is regularly cited by journals, newspapers, and books for its coverage of social inequality and workers' rights, social struggles, international politics and economics, and American wars and war crimes. WSWS articles are often collated by the Asian Tribune and AllAfrica.com regional news sites, and its articles are also regularly cited in newspapers in Africa, the Middle East and in Asia.