Reason (Opinion)
U.S. libertarian
Background
Reason magazine was founded in 1968 by Lanny Friedlander, then a student at Boston University, who produced it as a small newsletter on a typewriter. In 1971, Robert Poole, Tibor Machan, and Manny Klausner acquired the magazine from Friedlander and transformed it into a professionally produced publication. In 1978, the three founded the Reason Foundation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to provide a permanent institutional home for the magazine and related policy research. Over the following decades Reason grew into a nationally distributed monthly with a consistent libertarian editorial line — supporting drug legalization, open immigration, free trade, civil liberties, and skepticism of government power regardless of party. The Reason Foundation has received substantial funding from Koch-family foundations over the years, a fact critics cite to argue the outlet favors business-friendly libertarianism over other strands; the foundation discloses its donors and describes itself as entirely supported by voluntary contributions. During the Trump second term (beginning January 2025), Reason has published sustained criticism of tariff and trade policy, characterizing it as economically harmful and ideologically inconsistent with free-market principles, and has criticized immigration bond requirements, executive expansions of power, and what one 2026 article called a 'pivot toward socialism' in economic policy. The outlet's criticism applies across party lines — it has historically criticized Democratic administrations on civil liberties, spending, and regulation as well.
Sources
- Reason (magazine) — Wikipedia
- Reason Foundation — Wikipedia
- Reason Foundation — InfluenceWatch
- Reason — Media Bias/Fact Check
- Reason: An Oral History, 1968–2018
- Trump Administration Archives — Reason
- Tourism to the U.S. is Declining (July 2026) — Reason
- Reason Foundation — SourceWatch
Profile compiled 2026-07-23; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.