The New York Times is paying top-dollar for a 30-second commercial spot during the Academy Awards

The New York Times emphasized the importance of quality journalism during the Oscars Sunday night.

The newspaper debuted its first-ever ad to run during the Academy Awards, joining major companies like Walmart and McDonald’s that are paying top-dollar for commercial spots during the awards show. (According to Ad Age, 30-second ad slots during ABC’s broadcast cost anywhere between $2-2.5 million.)

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Titled “The Truth Is Hard,” the ultra-simplistic 30-second ad was released Thursday on YouTube. Opening with a white background, the first words appear on the screen in simple black type: “The truth is our nation is more divided than ever.”

As the ad goes on, a series of conflicting statements — always beginning with the same three words, “The truth is” — begin to flash across the screen as voiceovers of various people proclaiming their own truth play in the background.

Image zoom Oliver Morris/Getty

“The truth is alternative facts are lies.” “The truth is the media is dishonest.” “The truth is a woman should dress like a woman.” “The truth is women’s rights are human rights.” “The truth is we have to protect our borders.” “The truth is his refugee policy is a backdoor Muslim ban.” “The truth is we need a full investigation of Russian ties.” “The truth is leaking classified information is the real scandal.” “The truth is climate change is a hoax.”

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Eventually, the images and voices speed up beyond recognition until the sound cuts suddenly and the screen goes blank. Bolder, larger type then appears on the screen.

“The truth is hard. The truth is hard to find. The truth is hard to know,” reads the text, concluding with a final line — “The truth is more important now than ever.” The ad closes with the iconic New York Times logo.

The Times‘ campaign emerges as the media continues to face intense scrutiny under the current administration, with President Donald Trump blasting major news organizations as “fake.”

Two weeks after winning the presidential election, Trump sat down with editors from The Times, who reported that he proclaimedthe publication “a great, great American jewel, a world jewel.” However, before and since he has repeatedly called the publication “failing.”

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“There’s a national dialogue going on now about facts and truth and how does one know what the truth is,” New York Times senior vice president and head of brand David Rubin told Ad Age. “We saw an opportunity to be part of that dialogue. We also found in our research that people don’t always understand what it takes to do quality original reporting, but when they do, when that becomes part of the dialogue — about how one finds the truth and about the role journalists can play, they are more interested in supporting it.”

“If one of our objectives was to insert ourselves in the debate that’s going on that, frankly, we’ve been a part of, a high-profile media buy made sense,” he added.