Former CNN anchor and journalism professor Stephen Goforth launched Deaf News Today (DNT). 

What led you to create DNT?

I started Deaf News Today in 2001 after taking an HTML class while I was working at CNN. Our instructor suggested creating a website based on what we had learned. I decided to create a site focused on gathering information from unbiased news outlets relevant to Deaf Culture. I first built a site from scratch and in 2007 moved it to Blogger where it received more than 3 million pageviews according to Google, then to Wix in 2021.

Since you are hearing, what got you interested in news related to the deaf and hard of hearing? 

I am one of the many people who have come in contact with the Deaf Community over the course of my life and learned to appreciate the depth and rich culture it offers. One of those people was a deaf man in his 70s who spent one summer living with me. The site is for the times I saw him struggle through daily interactions with the hearing community. He was often misunderstood by impatient people and sometimes ignored. This site is for a friend who chose to let her child have a cochlear implant -- and for another friend who decided to have her cochlear implant removed. Deaf News Today is for my good friend who is a CODA and built a sign language interpreting agency in order to serve the deaf community she grew up in. I'm doing it for someone I know who works in church ministry, who shares his faith with other signers. Deaf News Today is for the hopeful faces looking toward the future that I saw at one of Gallaudet’s graduation ceremonies. It's for the audiologists and parents and students who write appreciative notes and those who work with the deaf every day -- and even for those who don't know anything about Deaf Culture but want to learn. Providing quality information is making a difference in these people's lives. I am learning a lot as well.

 

Does Deaf News Today contain original reporting?

 

Instead of trying to do original reporting, Deaf News Today is an aggregation site. In other words, instead of doing interviews myself, I pull together information from reputable news sites, looking for stories of special interest to the Deaf Community. The fact a topic is on the site, does not mean I agree with the topic. In fact, I try to keep my opinion out of it and just let readers come to their own conclusions. 

What if someone has questions about a post or if there is a mistake?

Questions and suggestions are welcome. Feel free to write. Just scroll down to Drop Me a Line.