WEB SUMMIT HAS announced it will “conclude” its funding relationship with the Irish online investigative journalism platform The Ditch.
This comes after The Ditch, which was funded by Web Summit’s former CEO Paddy Cosgrave through the firm, in a now-deleted Tweet, labelled Israel a “racist, supremacist, apartheid state” earlier this evening.
Cosgrave, who was CEO and founder of the tech conference firm, recently resigned from his post after making remarks on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel were committing war crimes in Gaza last month.
Cosgrave confirmed to RTÉ in May of this year that he planned to fund the platform through the investment of €1 million over the next five years.
The tech conference said on X this evening: “Web Summit’s mission is connecting people and ideas that change the world. As Web Summit moves to focus on our core mission, the board has determined we will conclude our funding relationship with the Ditch.
“The Ditch is a separate investigative organisation with an independent editorial line. Web Summit respects independent media and editorial control.
“As we move forward, we will continue to focus our affiliations and investments to reflect our core mission. Our events will remain a platform for open discussion and rigorous debate,” the company added.
The firm said that its corporate lawyer, Adam Connon, transferred his shareholding in the Ditch Media Ltd..
In a mock apology the platform posted to its X account this evening, before Web Summit made its announcement, The Ditch sought to double down on its remarks about Israel, which they previously made one month ago.
The platform said: “…The Ditch has, upon reflection, decided it would like to apologise to: Nobody.”
The Ditch, founded by journalists Eoghan McNeill and Roman Shortall, then restated its remarks, labelling Israel a “racist, supremacist, apartheid state”.
The Ditch has been contacted for comment.
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