Thursday, March 28, 2024

Shaun King’s Fundraising Under Scrutiny Over Alleged Misuse of Finances

Shaun King

*Activist Shaun King is under fire again for his alleged failed attempt to recreate an online version of abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ newspaper, The North Star. 

As reported by SandraRose, last year, King collected more than $1.5 million to relaunch the newspaper, but now folks are wondering where exactly did the money go?

Here’s more via The Daily Beast:

King and progressive journalist Benjamin Dixon launched an ambitious multimedia reboot of Frederick Douglass’ abolitionist newspaper, The North Star, last February, it was celebrated across social media by prominent voices, including Susan Sarandon, Michael Eric Dyson, and Megan Mullally. A month later, the company boasted on Twitter that it already had “multiple angel investors” and more than 30,000 subscribers contributing $5 per month for students and $10 a month and up for the general public. 

The outlet also notes that King’s digital newspaper has pulled in between $60,000 and $625,000 a month — yet it has failed to deliver on several key promises, including building “multiple studios’’ and “hiring nearly 50 world class journalists,” the site said.

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King is now trying to raise money online for a “daily video news broadcast” — something he already secured when he raised money for North Star, the Daily Beast said.

“Remember—this is not just the cost of membership—we are going to be building multiple studios and offices and will be hiring nearly 50 world class journalists and staffers for The North Star,” King wrote in a fundraising letter last November. “We are going to be launching a full news website, an iPhone & Android app, four brand new podcasts, online video news broadcasts, and so much more. We are building The North Star together.”

Meanwhile, several North Star employees have described King as a “liar & a fraud,” and dealing with him is “really shady f–king business” and “self-sabotage,” the site said.

“Shaun and the word ‘accountability’ should never appear in the same sentence,” former North Star Editor-in-Chief Keisha Blain wrote in a tweet thread after leaving the company. “So many people warned me about him and I didn’t listen.”

King’s flailing North Star has sparked renewed scrutiny over his financial dealings, New York Post reports. 

King told The Daily Beast that his problems with the outlet stem from him being overzealous.

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