The Daily Moth shows what Deaf-first journalism looks like

Sign language news outlet has been putting out news and commentary since 2016

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When Alex Abenchuchan started The Daily Moth, he was responding to a gap that had been hiding in plain sight.

“I started The Daily Moth because there was nothing out there that provided ASL translations or ASL commentary of everyday news,” he said, using the acronym for American Sign Language.

The idea began when Abenchuchan was teaching world history at a high school for deaf students. He opened his classes with a 10-minute recap of the day’s news, and his students responded well to it. When he left the school in 2015, he decided to turn the concept into a news outlet for the signing community across the U.S. By some estimates, ASL is the primary language for up to 1 million Americans.

Abenchuchan has been doing it ever since. “Kind of like Forrest Gump not stopping his long-running journey,” he said.

Shining a light on news access

The name itself carries some of the purpose behind the work. Abenchuchan said The Daily Moth is a play on the idea that moths are attracted to light, much like deaf people often rely on bright light to communicate visually at night.

“I think it’s just shining a light on providing access to information in ASL,” he said, using the acronym. “It’s a place where deaf people can gather online and share their thoughts and hot takes.”

The news in video format began just before the 2016 presidential campaign, which placed it in the middle of a news environment that would soon become more politically divided. For Abenchuchan, that has made balance an ongoing challenge.

“It’s been a difficult balance to share information without people feeling that I am biased to one side more than the other,” he said. “I will say that the more things change, the more things stay the same.”

Covering Deaf and hearing communities

The Daily Moth covers major news stories, but Abenchuchan also wants it to serve as a place where deaf-related events receive more consistent attention.

“The aim of Daily Moth is to deliver news that covers both the Deaf and hearing communities,” he said. That can include legal action involving interpreter access, Deaf people in entertainment, or cases where Deaf people are directly affected by public systems. Abenchuchan pointed to stories such as police brutality involving a deaf Lyft driver in Arizona and advocacy around ASL interpreters at White House press conferences during a recent interview.

He also said mainstream coverage of Deaf issues often feels distant from the community itself. “As a deaf person and part of the community, I can see that all news is distorted to some degree,” he said. “I know no one can ever really know the ins and outs of any given community.”

That is one reason trust matters so much in his work. That trust also affects timing. Abenchuchan said he sometimes lets a story develop before giving a recap, especially when it involves the Deaf community. The community is tight-knit but spread out, and reaching people involved in a story can take a couple of days.

However, moving too quickly can mean missing key perspectives, while waiting too long can make a story feel old.

“We’re trying to do two things,” he said. “We want to explain what’s going on in the world and what’s going on in the community, and you can’t do any of that without trust.”

ASL changes the shape of a story

There is no AP Stylebook equivalent for ASL journalism, Abenchuchan said. His process starts with an English script, then he practices how to sign it clearly.

ASL can also make certain stories easier to understand visually. In a recent interview, Abenchuchan used the Strait of Hormuz as an example. He explained that he can sign about it almost like a map to show where countries are and who is involved.

Additionally, The Daily Moth also provides written transcripts, summaries, and blog posts when possible. Abenchuchan said those are especially important for deafblind viewers. He also uses a dark background and plain dark tops so his hands are easier to see, and he asks reporters who work with him to do the same.

However, he did stress that captions remain a harder issue. Hearing creators can often use automatic captioning, but Deaf creators signing without audio usually have to add captions manually.

“For a 20-minute video, it can take an hour to finish,” he said.

AI tools such as virtual avatars that can read ASL and translate it automatically are still not ready, he added; they may be useful one day, but only if they are accurate.

The cost of keeping ASL news alive

The Daily Moth faces the same pressure that has shaped many independent and community-based media projects and that pressure is funding.

Abenchuchan said he started with sponsors so the show could stay free. However, unfortunately, last year, when two sponsors did not continue, he moved to a paid app and appealed to the community.

“I have done my best to keep the price down and as low as possible,” he said. “Doing this is a full-time job, so unfortunately, it cannot be free currently.”

The paywall made the audience smaller, but it also helped keep the operation going. Abenchuchan pays contractors, reporters, and editors. He said other Deaf media projects have shut down because of funding, and the landscape remains limited.

Still, the need is clear.

“People are hungry to have ASL news,” he said.

Giving deaf journalists a chance

Abenchuchan said hearing journalists covering Deaf topics should start by speaking with Deaf people directly.

“Often we will see articles covering an ASL interpreter or centering a person who works with deaf people, but they don’t interview the deaf person involved,” he said.

He said it may not be intentional, but the result is that Deaf people become background figures in their own stories. Yet, he did remark that video relay services, interpreters and Deaf freelancers can help change that.

“There are many deaf people in the U.S. who are intelligent and qualified, but they may not have as much experience yet,” he said. “They deserve a chance.”

His own vision for the future includes more regional and global Deaf reporters, more videographers, stronger captioning support, and broader coverage of Deaf stories around the world. With more resources, he said, The Daily Moth could be closer to the product he knows is possible.

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