Outlet profile

Truthout

U.S. left / progressive (nonprofit advocacy journalism)

Owned byIndependent 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Truthout), governed by a board. It has no corporate parent or individual owner. Maya Schenwar, its longtime editor, is now board president and editor-at-large.

FundingMostly reader donations, which the outlet says make up about 80 percent of its budget. The rest comes from foundation grants, including the Schumann Media Center, the Lannan Foundation and the Cloud Mountain Foundation. It does not run advertising and says it takes no corporate funding.

On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Truthout was founded in 2001 by Marc Ash, a former fashion photographer and graphic designer who had volunteered for Al Gore's 2000 campaign. Ash and friends believed mainstream media was underreporting key issues. It began as an online news site and later became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Early contributors included William Rivers Pitt and reporter Jason Leopold, and it has also carried work from writers such as Noam Chomsky, Paul Krugman and Dahr Jamail. Maya Schenwar later became its editor. In 2023 it launched the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism, which Schenwar directs, to help small progressive news groups. Truthout describes its work as independent journalism on social justice, and it openly takes a left-leaning, advocacy-oriented view rather than aiming for neutrality. Media-bias raters generally place it on the left, and critics from the right say its framing is one-sided. In 2026 it has covered Trump's attempted White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, plans to denaturalize citizens, and the White House counterterrorism strategy, which it says targets progressives. I could not retrieve full details on past leadership changes or controversies, so this history is partial.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-06; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record