Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

Reason

U.S. libertarian

Owned byOwned and published by the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit, tax-exempt libertarian think tank based in Los Angeles. A board of trustees governs it. It has no commercial parent company.
FundingMostly donations to the Reason Foundation from foundations and individuals. Reported major funders include the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, and the donor-advised fund DonorsTrust. The rest comes from magazine subscriptions, some advertising, and events. The Foundation also takes policy-research funding, which critics say can blur the line between its think-tank and editorial roles.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Reason was founded in 1968 as a mimeographed newsletter by Lanny Friedlander, a Boston student. Robert Poole and others bought it in the early 1970s and turned it into a libertarian monthly. In 1978 they created the nonprofit Reason Foundation, which has owned the magazine ever since. The Foundation also produces policy research on privatization, transportation, pensions, and housing, and Reason.com is now the main publishing platform. Reason is often seen as the leading mainstream libertarian outlet. Its editors have included Virginia Postrel, Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch, and Katherine Mangu-Ward, the current editor in chief. It supports free markets, free trade, drug legalization, civil liberties, and looser immigration rules, so it has criticized both parties at different times. It has drawn criticism for its funding ties to Koch and Scaife-linked foundations and for some skeptical coverage of climate policy and COVID-19 restrictions. Some on the left say it favors business interests, and some on the right say it is too permissive on social issues and immigration. Since January 2025 its coverage has often opposed Trump's tariffs, deportation tactics, and expansion of presidential power, while still approving of some deregulatory and tax moves.

Sources

  1. Reason (magazine) - Wikipedia
  2. Reason - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
  3. Reason Foundation - DeSmog
  4. Reason Foundation Media Bias - AllSides
  5. Trump Administration Archives - Reason

Profile compiled 2026-10-15; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record