Outlet profile

Reason

U.S. libertarian

Owned byReason Foundation, a nonprofit libertarian think tank based in Los Angeles, California

FundingDonor-funded nonprofit; major funders have included Koch-related foundations (over $2.3 million since 1997) and the Sarah Scaife Foundation ($2 million+); also supported by individual donors, corporations, subscriptions, and publication sales

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Reason was founded in 1968 by Lanny Friedlander, a Boston University student who produced the first issues as a mimeographed newsletter from his mother's home in Massachusetts. In 1970, Robert Poole, Manuel Klausner, and Tibor Machan purchased the magazine and put it on a regular publishing schedule, expanding its reach and professionalism. In 1978, those same figures created the Reason Foundation as a nonprofit policy organization, which became the magazine's official publisher; early supporters of that founding included Charles Koch. Over the decades, Reason built ties to the broader Koch donor network, receiving millions in contributions from Koch-related foundations and the Sarah Scaife Foundation, though the magazine maintains editorial independence from its funders. Notable early contributors included Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, and Murray Rothbard, reflecting the publication's roots in free-market and classical-liberal thought. The magazine has consistently championed drug legalization, criminal justice reform, open immigration, free trade, and civil liberties—positions that have put it in conflict with both parties at different times. Media Bias/Fact Check rates it right-center; AllSides rates it center, reflecting how its libertarian orientation cuts across the standard partisan divide. During the second Trump administration (since January 2025), Reason has been broadly critical, publishing pieces that characterize Trump's rhetoric as authoritarian, oppose his tariff policies as economically harmful, and flag what the magazine sees as violations of First Amendment principles.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-16; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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