Raw Story

U.S. left/progressive

Background

John K. Byrne launched Raw Story in 2004, explicitly positioning it as a left-leaning counterpoint to the conservative-leaning Drudge Report. The site is based in Washington, D.C., and built its early reputation on aggregating and summarizing investigative and political news with a progressive slant. In 2018, Byrne and business partner Michael Rogers expanded the company by acquiring AlterNet and The New Civil Rights Movement, folding them under a shared corporate structure. Raw Story's newsroom staff are unionized with the Baltimore-Washington NewsGuild, and the outlet has been rated by NewsGuard as generally reliable. Independent bias monitors, including Media Bias/Fact Check and AllSides, consistently rate it as left-biased, while also crediting it with a high factual-reporting record and a clean recent corrections history. It remains a mid-sized, independently owned outlet rather than part of a major media conglomerate, relying on digital ads, subscriptions, and reader donations rather than a single wealthy backer.

Sources

1. Raw Story - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
2. Raw Story
3. John K. Byrne
4. Ownership & Funding - Raw Story
5. Raw Story Media Bias | AllSides
6. Behind Raw Story's Progressive Mission | Editor and Publisher

Profile compiled 2026-09-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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