| The Young Turks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | TYT |
| Genre | |
| Created by |
|
| Directed by | Jesus Godoy[2] |
| Presented by |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Jayar Jackson[3] |
| Production location | Los Angeles, California |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 120 minutes (including ads) |
| Original release | |
| Network |
|
| Release | February 14, 2002 (2002-02-14) – present |
The Young Turks (TYT) is an Americanprogressive andleft-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program[6][7][8][9][10] live streamed on social media platformsYouTube andTwitch, and additionally selected television channels.TYT serves as the flagship program of the TYT Network, amulti-channel network of associated web series focusing on news and current events.TYT covers American politics, wars and conflicts around the world, sports, pop culture, and a wide array of other topics.[11][12] The program was created byCenk Uygur,Ben Mankiewicz and Dave Koller in 2002. Uygur isTurkish American and named the program after theYoung Turks movement of the 20th century. Co-hosted by Uygur andAna Kasparian,[13] it is also often accompanied by various other in-studio contributors.
The Young Turks began as aradio program that premiered on February 14, 2002, onSirius Satellite Radio before launching a web series component in 2005 on YouTube, and then later Twitch; at some point it was also carried onAir America.[citation needed] In addition to being carried on Twitch and YouTube, it is available onAmazon Prime Direct,iTunes,Hulu,Roku, and on social media platformsInstagram,Facebook, andX.[14][15] It has spawned twospin-offtelevision series, one airing onCurrent TV[16] from 2011 to 2013 and a second which debuted onFusion in 2016 as a limited-run program developed to cover the2016 United States presidential election.The Young Turks also served as the subject of a documentary, entitledMad as Hell, which was released in 2014.[17] The network has a channel onYouTube TV.[14]
For most of its existenceTYT relied on small grassroots financial contributions from its viewership to sustain itself as an independent news organization.[18] However, in 2017TYT sought to expand its media network and hire more staff through various venture capital fundraising efforts which raised $20 million.[19][20]The Young Turks is the second longest-running online news and politics talk show (afterThe Alex Jones Show started in 1999).[11][21][22][23]
The Young Turkslive streams for up to three hours, with its story selection and associated commentary broken up by format. Issues that the show focuses on include national political news, theinfluence of money in the political process, drug policy,social security, the privatization of public services,climate change, the influence ofreligion,abortion andreproductive rights,civil rights and issues of injustice towardspeople of color andsexual minorities, sexual morality, and the influence of corporations, neutrality and establishment political thought on traditional news media. The program maintains a liberal/progressive ideology in its political commentary.[23][24][25][11] Co-creator and host Cenk Uygur describes himself as an "independent progressive" and asserts that the show is aimed at the "98 percent 'not in power'" and what he describes as the 60 percent of Americans who hold progressive views.[26]
The two-hour main show is usually hosted by Uygur andAna Kasparian, with a rotating cast of other progressive co-hosts, includingJohn Iadarola, Jayar Jackson and more. The first hour usually focuses onAmerican politics, foreign policy andbreaking news headlines.[27] The second hour generally provides social commentary on a wide range of topics, both domestic and foreign. The program also features apost-game show, in which Uygur and Kasparian discuss their personal lives. Uygur has regular bits and on-air interaction with other staff members who create and run the show, including among others Jesús Godoy, Dave Koller, Jayar Jackson and Steve Oh.
Each Friday,The Young Turks features apanel of guests from the worlds of politics, journalism, pop culture, sports and comedy – dubbed the "TYT Power Panel" – that is led by Uygur and John Iadarola in the first hour, and Ugyur and/or Jayar Jackson in the second hour. Along with Iadarola and Jackson, other fill-in hosts and recurring guests include series co-creator/contributorBen Mankiewicz, television personalityBrian Unger, Becca Frucht,Brett Erlich, Wes Clark Jr.,Michael Shure,Cara Santa Maria, RJ Eskow, Gina Grad, Samantha Schacher, and Jayde Lovell.
.jpg)
The Young Turks is broadcast in a two-to-three hour live stream format, which airs Monday through Fridays at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. The program was originally based out of the living room of creator/host Cenk Uygur, but it moved production to a small office inLos Angeles after the show hired a limited staff to produce the program. When the program was given a secondary live show on Current TV in 2011, the network provided a larger studio in Los Angeles to house its television and online broadcasts; production was forced to leave the facility after Current TV was sold toAl Jazeera, prior to the network's conversion into the now-defunct generalized news serviceAl Jazeera America.
In 2013,The Young Turks' production staff relocated temporarily to new studio quarters at YouTube Space LA in Los Angeles.[15] In October 2013,The Young Turks launched anIndiegogo campaign, aimed at raising $250,000 in order to build a new studio. Fundraising completed with $400,000 being raised.[28] The program moved its production facilities and staff operations to a new studio facilities in Los Angeles later that year, with construction of their new studio being completed in June 2015. In 2017, TYT sought to expand its media network and hire more staff through various venture capital fundraising efforts that raised $20-million.[19][20]
The Young Turks was originally developed as a radiotalk show that was similar in format to a Los Angeles-basedpublic access television program that Cenk Uygur had hosted, titledThe Young Turk. With the help of friendBen Mankiewicz (with whom he had previously worked), his childhood friend Dave Koller, and Jill Pike, Uygur beganThe Young Turks as a radio program in February 2002 onSirius Satellite Radio.[11][18][23]
In 2006, the program received attention for its 99-hour "Live on Air Filibuster," conducted during Congressional hearings for thenomination ofSamuel Alito to theU.S. Supreme Court.[18] Hosts includingThom Hartmann andJohn Amato filled in during the event, to allow the show's regular hosts and contributors to rest or take breaks.[29]
Prior to signing a distribution deal to carry the program onAir America in 2006, the show was broadcast onSirius Satellite Radio,[18] on Sirius Left 143 and later 146, airing weekdays from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Eastern Time; a day-behind rebroadcast of the program aired on Sirius Talk Central 148 weekday afternoons from 12:00 to 2:00 pm. Eastern. Being carried exclusively on Sirius for several years,The Young Turks was the first show to air exclusively on Sirius Left that was not distributed through a syndication network.[citation needed] TYT was also carried by KFH (1330 AM and 98.7 FM, nowKNSS (AM) andKNSS-FM) inWichita, Kansas each weeknight from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.Central Time andwebcast by RadioPower.org.
On February 2, 2009, TYT was removed from the broadcast schedule ofAmerica Left, a progressive talk channel carried on Sirius/XM Channel 167, and replaced by an additional hour ofThe Bill Press Show. The program returned to Sirius/XM on March 16, 2009. In late 2010, TYT announced through itsFacebook page that it would discontinue carrying the program on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio; the last edition ofThe Young Turks to be carried on the service aired on November 19, 2010. TYT rejoined Sirius/XM in 2017 with the show being run onSiriusXM Progress.[30]
.jpg)
The Young Turks was the first daily streaming online talk show, having begun airing in that format in 2006,[23] with an official website on the internet and a channel hosted on YouTube.[18] The show provides in-depth coverage on politics, news topics, current events, and other issues.[12]
In August 2007, Ben Mankiewicz left the show to serve as a contributor forTMZ's syndicated entertainment news programTMZ on TV.[31] At roughly the same time, Jill Pike left to pursue a job inWashington, D.C. Ana Kasparian, then working as an intern for the program, was hired to do pop culture-focused segments. Mankiewicz eventually returned toThe Young Turks as a regular correspondent.
During the2008 elections, the show developed close ties toBrave New Films. The program aired commercials for the independent film production company and featured actors includingRobert Greenwald and Jonathan Kim as guests.
The success of TYT is due to a large extent of their shift from radio to the internet through the broadcast of programming content on online platforms.[18] Uygur and co-host Kasparian applied a populist left branding and programming strategy that made TYT a successful global online organization, with larger numbers of YouTube subscribers and viewers than several other notable news networks likeFOX,MSNBC, andCNN.[32][33] The presence of TYT on YouTube has given the network a platform to democratize production of content and practices associated with its online distribution through an ability to share, comment and like material on its channel.[18] Through likes and shares of TYT content on many online platforms, audience members have become a "virtual word of mouth" expanding the network's reach to other people with similar views and stimulating the growth of the TYT community.[18]
Support by viewers for alternative media outlets like TYT adopting new technology has meant the network was able to overcome being a small sized organization of the traditional alternative media landscape.[18] The emergence of TYT in the digital era has resulted in fewer operational costs regarding organizing and communication.[18] TYT nonetheless has relied on small grassroots financial contributions from its viewers that gave it the ability to emerge as an alternative media organization that does not advocate for the interests of corporations.[18] The financial contributions TYT received went to renting a studio, and to purchase production equipment and furniture.[34] By 2010, TYT employed people and maintained a budget resembling the size of a small newspaper.[35]
On July 30, 2013,The Young Turks launched a TYT Networkapp onRoku,[36] which features much of the same content that is already available for free through the program's YouTube channel,[18] which has over 4.2 million subscribers and generates 50 million monthly views. The network is among the few online channels to generate more than 1 billion views since launching on YouTube, which does not market a channel on the Roku app store. Young Turks COO Steve Oh acknowledged that making the TYT Network available on Roku was the first part of a strategy to continue the network's growth, regardless of what medium in which its viewers are watching its content, with the intent to figure out a way to monetize its programming through multiple distribution channels, rather than relying on one or two larger channels (such as YouTube or cable television distribution). The network also announced plans to unveil native apps foriOS andAndroid devices. Oh also said that the network's representatives were speaking with other media platforms about expanding its programming.
In April 2014,The Young Turks began offering its content onHulu. With this, it began providing a condensed 30-minute version of the program featuring excerpts from the full two-hour daily show, along with a 30-minute weekly version of its daily pop-culture showPopTrigger, with other shows being added shortly afterward. Oh stated on the Hulu launch that, "as TYT Network has grown from a single show to an entire network, we've consistently found ways to bring our shows to more people[..] We've long admired Hulu as a leader of online video and both parties saw an opportunity to bring digitally-native politics and pop culture talk shows to Hulu's audience." He also stated that the company is pitching shows to cable network, but had no immediate plans to revive a television broadcast as either a relaunched program or a show similar in format to the one it formerly produced for Current TV.[37]
The website's yearly revenue was roughly US$3 million in 2013. According to Cenk Uygur, "about a third of the revenue comes from subscriptions, and the rest comes from YouTube ads." At the time, the company maintained a staff of 30 employees.[38] In 2014, the company received a $4 million investment from Roemer, Robinson, Melville & Co., LLC, aprivate equity firm led by Republican formerLouisiana GovernorBuddy Roemer.[39] In December 2016, TYT Network launched a crowdfunding campaign aiming to raise US$2 million for the hiring of four further investigative teams.[40] In May 2017, the aim was met.[41] In August 2017, it was announced that The Young Turks have raised $20 million in venture-capital from 3L Capital, WndrCo (owned by businessmanJeffrey Katzenberg),[42][19][20]Greycroft, ande.ventures. TYT said that it would use the funds to "hire additional management execs and creative talent, as well as enhance its subscription-video offering and expand marketing initiatives". Shawn Colo, managing partner of 3L Capital, joined the TYT Network's board.[42][19][20]
TYT operates under a strategy of diversifying its finances that involves the airing of socially responsible advertisements, offering subscriptions for TYT membership, selling its own merchandise and other investments.[14] Among its advertising partners is Aspiration Bank, an organization involved in "socially conscious and sustainable banking services" and whom TYT presents as different from other banks and their fossil fuel and campaign financing investments.[14] Due to popular demand from viewers, TYT established an online outlet selling its own label branded merchandise, such as t-shirts, that are often designed and voted upon through the input of its audience.[14] Its online subscription membership has two plans, "insider" offering full web content access and discounts, and "activist", offering additional access to its townhalls and political events.[14]
After the 2016 election, TYT fundraised for small grassroots donations among its members, raising thousands of dollars and created a media division namedTYT Investigates devoted to investigative journalism with the aim to hold people with power to account.[43] Operating as a watchdog outfit,TYT Investigates investigative journalists report on issues such as inequalities in the economic system, power held by corporations, and other topics sidelined by traditional media like the views of ordinary citizens at political events.[43] For example, TYT journalist Emma Vigeland has attended PresidentDonald Trump's political rallies and interviewed supporters.[43]
In November 2017,TYT fired field reporterJordan Chariton oversexual assault allegations made against him byThe Huffington Post.[44][45] Chariton denied the accusations, considered legal action,[45] and later settled the matter withTYT.[46] In mid-December 2017,Politico reported that TYT was courting formerCBS Evening News anchorDan Rather to host a news show.[47] On January 21, 2018, TYT confirmed that it will showThe News with Dan Rather, a half-hour "untraditional evening newscast" weekly on Mondays in the time slot before the main Young Turks show.[48]
On May 17, 2018, The Young Turks launched a 24-hourlinear channel onYouTube TV which includes all of TYT's current shows and four new shows calledThe Damage Report,"#NoFilter","The Happy Half Hour" and"Old-School Sports".[49] The channel has since been made available on The Roku Channel andXumo as well.
In late February 2020, theInternational Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) sought to unionize the production and post-production staff atTYT.[50][51] Uygur urged his employees not to join a union. He said thatTYT is a small media organization and the move would endanger its financial viability; however, the network supported its workers holding a secret ballot to unionize.[52][53] Employees expressed support for an open ballot and a bargaining process followed.[52][53] On April 9, 2020, nine of fifteen members voted in favor to have their own union and unionize withIATSE, with the majority decision being approved byTYT.[54]
In December 2024,TYT contributor and mayor ofEnfield, North Carolina, Mondale Robinson, resigned live on air over what he viewed as Uygur and Kasparian's shift away from progressive principles and embrace of theMake America Great Again movement and conservative personalities likeGlenn Beck.[55]
In a September 2006 article, Paul Bedard, aU.S. News & World Report contributor, wrote that TYT is "the loudly liberal counter to the right-leaning presets on my Sirius Satellite Radio."[56] In 2014,The Independent, aBritish newspaper, said it was "the most-watched online news show in the world."[26]
The network is reliant on its multimedia platforms to attract online viewers and its audience are "young, educated, affluent and politically interested" people who consume news from online sources.[14] As a result of ongoing TYT membership drives, its base of subscribed members has grown numbering 32,000 in 2019.[14] Per month, the media outlet receives 200 million views.[54] On YouTube, its main show, The Young Turks, has more than 4.7 million subscribers.[54] Over 12 million viewers (2019) are subscribed to its multiple online channels.[14] TYT has become one of the largest watched online networks, with its videos seen over 8 billion times (2019).[14] Itsmillennial viewership ranks the network first for news and politics across its online platforms.[14]
The Young Turks has won and been nominated for numerous Internet content awards, including, but not limited to the following:
Other awards won byThe Young Turks in the 2010s were "Best Political News Site" and the "People's Voice Webby Award" in all five of its categories.[14]
The nameYoung Turks has been criticized due the historicalYoung Turks movement's association with theCommittee of Union and Progress, which committed theArmenian genocide duringWorld War I. Activists have opposed the name due to the Armenian community'stransgenerational trauma alongsideTurkey's continueddenial of the Armenian genocide.[65][66][67] They have compared it to naming an organization after theHitler Youth;[65][66] Alex Galitsky, who works for theArmenian National Committee of America, said, "If a group decided to call themselves 'the Young Nazis', and pitched themselves as a disruptor or anti-establishment news outlet, people would be rightly outraged".[65]
Criticism escalated after a 1991 article that Uygur wrote forThe Daily Pennsylvanian, in which he denied the Armenian genocide, resurfaced.[66][67] In 2016, he posted a statement onTYT's website in which he retracted the article: "My mistake at the time was confusing myself for a scholar of history, which I most certainly am not. I don't want to make the same mistake again, so I am going to refrain from commenting on the topic of the Armenian Genocide, which I do not know nearly enough about."[68] Herecognized the genocide during a broadcast in 2019.[69] Nonetheless,TYT has rejected calls to change its name. Uygur noted that "Young Turk" is a popular colloquialism referring to a young radical who fights the status quo, and said the name was not intended as a historical reference.[66]TYT's website includes a disclaimer that the name "does not refer to any specific, historical incarnation of the Young Turks".[65] In 2017, it shut down a symposium atCalifornia State University after an audience member confronted its hosts about the name.[66]
On April 20, 2013,The Young Turks announced that its YouTube channel had received over a billion video views.[70] In September 2018, the company launched a membership drive, reporting the number of members to be around 27,000.[71] As of August 2018, TYT had approximately 27,000 paying subscribers online.[38]
As of September 2017, the program'sYouTube channel averaged two million views.[72] By August 2016, Uygur reported that the channel had more than 23,000 subscribers.[73] By October 2016, the number of views for the TYT Network's YouTube channel had surpassed 3 billion.[74]
The first linear television incarnation of the program began as an hour-long show which premiered onCurrent TV on December 5, 2011. Co-created and hosted by Cenk Uygur (who executive produced the series with original program co-creator Dave Koller, with Jesus Godoy, Jayar Jackson and Mark Register serving as producers), the program was co-presented by Ana Kasparian with Ben Mankiewicz,Michael Shure, Brian Unger, Wes Clark Jr., and RJ Eskow as contributors and correspondents. It was filmed at studio facilities inCulver City, an Los Angeles suburb.
Current TV announced the launch of a separate television broadcast ofThe Young Turks on September 20, 2011, with the program intending to air Monday through Friday evenings at 7:00 pm. Eastern Time beginning in the fourth quarter of 2011. It was the second news and opinion program to air on Current, alongsideCountdown with Keith Olbermann, and was part of a strategy to refocus the network's prime time schedule around progressive talk programming (which was followed by the debut ofThe War Room with Jennifer Granholm in January 2012). According to the show's website, the show was titledThe Young Turks with Cenk Uygur to differentiate itself from the popular web series.[75] For two years, the two separate shows were produced each Monday through Thursday, with a one-hour break between the production airtimes of the television and web shows. In a press release, representatives for Current described TYT as "a group of progressive, outspoken journalists and commentators discussing politics and pop culture" and Uygur as bringing a "uniquely progressive and topical commentary about politics and pop culture."[75]
On January 2, 2013, Current TV was sold toQatar-owned broadcasterAl Jazeera Media Network,[76] which announced plans to reorganize the channel asAl Jazeera America, focusing on world news and investigative content with a more neutral tone; with the move, the channel would discontinue its talk programming slate, includingThe Young Turks with Cenk Ugyur, which ended its run on Current TV on August 15, 2013, shortly before the network's relaunch.[38][77]
In an interview with theLos Angeles Times, Uygur commented that with the discontinuance of the television broadcast, he was relieved to move on and focus on his web show and the TYT Network site, expressing that he had been "exhausted from doing the two shows at once" and that he was glad to put his energies there, as he believes that the future of media will gravitate towards online content. Uygur also noted that he talked with Al Jazeera after the company bought Current, reaching a mutual agreement not to continue with the television broadcast due to the change in ideological tone that Al Jazeera America would maintain.[38] However, members ofThe Young Turks' on-air contributing staff including Shure (who served as a political and general assignment contributor),Cara Santa Maria (part ofTechKnow) and Mankiewicz (who worked as a movie critic), regularly appeared on Al Jazeera America.The Young Turks also maintain a partnership with Al Jazeera's digital channelAJ+, in an arrangement first announced in March 2015.[78]
The Young Turks returned to television with a weekly, hour-long program onFusion,The Young Turks on Fusion, which premiered on September 12, 2016, for a twelve-week limited run. Hosted by Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola, the program–which was broadcast from college campuses around the United States, in a live-audience format modelled afterESPN'sCollege GameDay–focused on coverage of the2016 United States presidential campaign. The show also featured Cenk Uygur, Jimmy Dore, Ben Mankiewicz, Hannah Cranston,Hasan Piker, and Kim Horcher as contributors, as well as Fusion reporters and celebrity guest hosts.[79][80] Piker is the nephew of Uygur and went on to become a well-knownTwitch streamer and commentator in his own right.
| Type | Digitallinear /multi-channel network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Broadcast area | Worldwide |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles,California |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | The Young Turks, LLC |
| Links | |
| Webcast | tyt |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Linear channel (United States only) | Roku,Xumo,Samsung TV Plus,Local Now,FuboTV,Xfinity X1,Xfinity Flex,YouTube TV |
The Young Turks[81] has spawned amulti-channel network of associated web series and shows, known as the TYT Network.
Some of the programs are produced in-house including:
Other shows are not produced in-house:
Programs produced for the TYT Network which aare no longer in production include:
Programs no longer produced or owned by the TYT Network, but are still in production:
TYT promotes itself as the "Home of Progressives".[123] Uygur has stated that "TYT values journalistic objectivity".[123] TYT commentary generates "hybridized content".[123] This involves TYT referencing news from mainstream sources and providing its own content analysis by connecting it to different narratives and discourses related to the social realities of its audience.[123] The network's commentary has generated counter narratives in relation to traditional policy discussions.[123] TYT places news in its context and connects it to the decision-making process.[12] By engaging with social movements, the station has called on its audience to become part of its "TYT army".[35] The network uses its platforms for advocacy, such as calling for its audience to participate in the political process and give candidates support.[123]
As part of new media, TYT coverage conveys the frustration and discontent held by youth with the political system.[22] Progressive social policies and liberal values are promoted through commentary by TYT.[123] Examples include TYT calling forgun control and the need to mitigateviolence by police during its coverage of the 2018Parkland school shooting.[123] In similar coverage ofshootings, TYT has provided information ongun and crime related homicide numbers and placed into context thelaws, police training and additional factors that worsen the situation.[123] Hosts on TYT advocate for unionization in large companies and the sharing of profits with their workers.[52] The network has spoken out against corruption in politics and for the need to remove corporate donations out of the political system.[22] The station has been critical of what it regards as a "corporate coup" in the US.[33] TYT has criticized politicians from the USDemocratic Party for alleged attachment to financial interests and for appearing to be progressive.[33] Hosts on TYT have called for the Democratic Party to undergo a revitalization process.[33] The network has been critical of theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and its supporters like Hillary Clinton, whereas TYT approved of SenatorBernie Sanders' opposition to it.[33] The station has defended thewhistleblowerWikiLeaks organization and its data disclosures on several issues such as the TPP, theDNC email leak and theHillary Clinton email controversy.[124] TYT was skeptical about claims of allegedRussian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.[125]
The station uses traditional and online media platforms regarding political action and mobilization for citizen engagement with institutional politics.[43][33] For example, TYT townhalls are hosted in local communities involving a moderator asking questions of the expert panel followed by audience questions, with the events streamed on YouTube and on-demand web access for its subscription membership.[14] Viewers also have the option to send video questions to the network if they are unable to be present at the townhall.[43] TYT townhall events involve detailed commentary by hosts and guests on political topics ranging from personal experiences to abstract notions on issues of concern that serve to connect their audience and lived experiences with politics.[43] During the 2016 US presidential election, TYT hosted townhalls with Sanders andGreen party candidateJill Stein.[43] In the late 2010s, other TYT townhalls were held with Sanders on theclimate change crisis.[43] Several hosts for TYT have expressed support for Sanders.[126][127][128]
.jpg)
The network supports political candidates who are from the same ideological persuasion.[123] Following the 2016 presidential election, Uygur co-founded Justice Democrats, an organization that seeks to get progressive candidates elected into office.[129] During the US mid-term elections (2018), the network endorsed all candidates from the Justice Democrats (JD).[129] TYT was the first network to give airtime to progressive candidates such asAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez to discuss policies and contrast themselves from electoral opponents on its shows likeRebel HQ, a half an hour interview based program created in 2017.[130] In 2018, TYT also featured other progressive political candidates onRebel HQ such asRichard Ojeda during his congressional run, gubernatorial candidatesCynthia Nixon who ran inNew York State andChristine Hallquist inVermont to discuss their policies.[130]
As a platform for online and offline civic engagement and political action,Rebel HQ offers information about a candidate, their website and campaign.[123] The show informs viewers on how they can contact politicians, assist progressive candidates affiliated or unaffiliated with the Justice Democrats through donations or to participate by volunteering, canvassing and attending events like rallies in local communities.[131] TYT's online platforms facilitate the encouragement of civic participation with the political system that in 2018 assisted Justice Democrats in getting 7 congressional victories, 25 candidates during the general election and 78 in the primaries.[123] After Ocasio-Cortez became a congresswoman, TYT has continued to cover and defend her from slants by the political and media elite.[129] Other Justice Democrats congressional members likeRo Khanna andRashida Tlaib have appeared on TYT discussing progressive policies and issues.[130]
In June 2019, during a high-profile Democratic presidential candidate campaign weekend in Iowa, TYT and a group of supporters launched the Progressive Economic Pledge campaign, challenging presidential candidates to sign. The pledge is to support higher wages, Medicare for All, Green New Deal, college for all and the end of private campaign financing.[132][133]
In mid-November 2019, Uygur filed to run for Congress inCalifornia's 25th district, a seat recently vacated by the resignation ofKatie Hill, an office also being pursued by former Trump campaign aideGeorge Papadopoulos.[134][135][136] He received 6.6% of the vote and did not advance to the runoff, which was won by RepublicanMike Garcia.
On October 11, 2023, Uygur announced his campaign forpresident in the Democratic primary.[137] He was kept out of the primary because he was not a natural-born American citizen.[138]
On December 6, 2023, TYT hosted a forum featuring Democratic Party presidential primary candidates CongressmanDean Phillips,Marianne Williamson, and Cenk Uygur. Biden was invited but declined to attend. The candidates responded to theGOP debate being held inTuscaloosa, Alabama which was scheduled to end at the same time. The discussion was moderated byJohn Iadarola, the main host ofThe Damage Report on the same network.[139]
On January 12, 2024,NewsNation hosted a second forum featuring Phillips, Williamson, and Uygur. Biden was invited but did not attend. The discussion was moderated byDan Abrams.[140]
The channel's new owners have opted not to keep The Young Turks on the network due to it being political commentary rather than reporting/analysis.
Mondale Robinson, former TYT contributor and founder of the Black Male Voter Project, resigned live on air, citing concerns about TYT's shift toward normalizing MAGA ideologies. He criticized TYT leadership, including Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, for prioritizing mainstream appeal over progressive values, engaging with conservative figures like Glenn Beck, and abandoning the fight against systemic oppression.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Free Talk Live | Podcast Award for Best Political Podcast/Best Political Website 2009 | Succeeded by Free Talk Live |
