Daily Kos
U.S. left (progressive, pro-Democratic Party)
Background
Markos Moulitsas launched Daily Kos in May 2002 in Berkeley, California as a personal political blog; the name 'Kos' comes from a military nickname derived from his first name. The site grew rapidly during the Bush era and became the largest liberal community blog in the United States, eventually attracting millions of registered users and drawing in community contributors alongside staff writers. In 2006, the community organized YearlyKos, one of the first large-scale political blogger conventions. Moulitsas has been explicit that Daily Kos is an activist platform rather than a traditional journalism outlet, describing its goal as turning readers into left-of-center political actors to influence elections. Media bias monitors including Media Bias/Fact Check rate it 'Left' with mixed factual reliability, while Ad Fontes Media characterizes it as hyper-partisan left and somewhat unreliable. In May 2025, the FBI served Daily Kos with a preservation order targeting a user account whose comment history was largely critical of Trump; the site challenged the order legally and published a full account of the episode in June 2026, which drew attention as a press-freedom concern. The outlet remains independently owned and reader-funded, with no major ownership or funding changes reported as of mid-2026.
Sources
- Daily Kos – Wikipedia
- Daily Kos – Ballotpedia
- Daily Kos Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
- Daily Kos Bias and Reliability – Ad Fontes Media
- Daily Kos Media Bias – AllSides
- Markos Moulitsas – InfluenceWatch
- Daily Kos – InfluenceWatch
- The DOJ came after Daily Kos. Here's the full story. – Daily Kos
- Daily Kos About Us
Profile compiled 2026-07-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.