The non-profit startup Liars & Phonies is NOT a digital newspaper. Instead, it is a “pedpaper” that publishes op-eds, especially those focused on how democracy, human rights and freedoms have been violated in different countries or how political structures can be made more efficient. It is releasing daily op-eds on its website, a classic monthly digital pedpaper and a publication of the ranking of the world’s most powerful op-eds every year.
All prominent newspapers in the world publish op-eds as part of their offerings. These op-eds have a very iconic history, and no they do not mean opinion editorials as most people think. Op-eds were first introduced as a way to solicit the opinions of the public on certain social and political issues that go on in their countries. These op-eds were published along with editorials from the newspaper staff.
Liars & Phonies was founded because unfortunately, as a result of the limited space in newspapers, only few op-eds are included and a lot of others, that could have provided valuable insight into status quo are unpublished and eventually become irrelevant to the current news cycle.
That’s where Liars & Phonies come in, the not-for profit startup, begun by Ghanaian author Gabriel Opare has the mission of managing the world’s opinions by creating a channel where powerful op-eds not just in the political sphere but also religious, entertainment, sports that affect vital human conditions can be published. In popular newspapers around the world, op-eds and columns are usually reserved for experts and professionals in their fields.
However, the non-profit is welcoming every one, experienced or not, to write and submit their opinions for publication to “create a new information culture that goes beyond snappy tweets and fragmented Facebook quotes that do not reflect the full perspectives of writers and often offend rather than convince skeptics” of a person’s social or political viewpoints.
The term “pedpaper” was coined by Gabriel from op-edpaper as opposed to a newspaper. Furthermore “ped” is a morpheme that means foot(as seen in pedicure or pedicurist) and so symbolically, writers of Liars & Phonies op-eds are putting their foot down to address certain injustices and violations of democratic principles like press freedom, immigration and disability rights among others.
The founder, Gabriel Opare is a University of Ghana Sociology student and the author of The Face of Poverty Is Black & Other Poems, an anthology of poems about the uneven influence of developed and developing cultures on the global stage. He has contributed to the Hill Times Canada and Independent Australia newspaper. He currently acts as the public editor for Liars & Phonies (Liarsandphonies.com).