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

The Conversation

U.S. center-left (academic nonprofit)

Owned byOperated by The Conversation US Inc., an independent nonprofit. Part of a global network of separately incorporated nonprofits under a shared model; the Australian edition operates under The Conversation Trust. No single corporate or individual owner.
FundingUniversity and college membership fees (64+ U.S. universities and systems, including the University of California system), foundation grants (including the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation), and reader donations. Carries no traditional advertising.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Conversation was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in March 2011 by journalist Andrew Jaspan—former editor-in-chief of The Age—and co-founder Jack Rejtman, with early backing from the University of Melbourne and several other Australian universities and government bodies. Its founding premise was that academic experts should engage directly with public audiences through a model combining scholar authorship with professional editorial oversight, published open-access under a Creative Commons license. A UK edition launched in 2013, and the U.S. edition launched in 2014, initially housed at Boston University, with $2.3 million in launch funding raised by Jaspan. Editions in Africa, France, Canada, Indonesia, and Spain followed between 2015 and 2018, each operating as an independent nonprofit. Jaspan departed in 2021 to found a rival venture, 360info. The outlet grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when demand for expert-sourced science and health journalism surged, and by 2020 more than 20,000 readers had made financial contributions. Media bias trackers rate its factual accuracy as very high; AllSides places it at 'Lean Left,' while Media Bias/Fact Check rates it 'Least Biased,' reflecting that its contributors span a range of academic perspectives, though the overall tilt of its commentary tends center-left. In January 2025, Nieman Lab reported the outlet was exploring ways to apply its university-partnership model to local and regional news coverage.

Sources

  1. The Conversation (website) - Wikipedia
  2. About us - The Conversation U.S.
  3. Who funds The Conversation?
  4. The Conversation - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
  5. The Conversation Media Bias Rating - AllSides
  6. Andrew Jaspan - Wikipedia
  7. The Conversation: A New Kind of Online News Site - Hewlett Foundation
  8. The Conversation is trying to make its academia-fueled model work for local news - Nieman Journalism Lab
  9. The Conversation US Inc - Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica
  10. Trump administration News, Research and Analysis - The Conversation

Profile compiled 2026-06-30; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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