ProPublica
U.S. left-center
Background
ProPublica was publicly announced in October 2007 and began publishing in June 2008, founded by billionaire philanthropists Herbert and Marion Sandler, who committed roughly $10 million per year to build a nonprofit newsroom focused exclusively on investigative journalism in the public interest. They recruited Paul Steiger, recently retired as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, as the outlet's first president and editor-in-chief. In 2010, ProPublica became the first digital-only news organization to win a Pulitzer Prize, for reporting on life-and-death medical decisions made during Hurricane Katrina; it has since collected nine Pulitzer Prizes. The Sandler Foundation originally provided over 90% of the budget, but ProPublica deliberately diversified its funding base to include dozens of foundations — most of which lean left-of-center — and individual reader donations, reducing dependence on any single donor. Critics on the right have cited this donor base as evidence of institutional bias; media rating organizations including AllSides and Media Bias/Fact Check independently rate the outlet as left-center or lean-left based on story selection and framing. ProPublica has expanded steadily, adding state and regional investigative desks and publishing investigations in partnership with hundreds of news outlets. In April 2026, more than 100 ProPublica journalists and staff represented by the outlet's union staged a 24-hour strike over a stalled contract negotiation.
Sources
- ProPublica – Wikipedia
- ProPublica Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
- ProPublica Media Bias – AllSides
- ProPublica – InfluenceWatch
- ProPublica's 2025 Annual Report
- Investigative Reporting on Trump Administration – ProPublica
- The Man Who Made ProPublica Possible – ProPublica
Profile compiled 2026-06-27; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.