Outlet profile

Washington Free Beacon

U.S. right (conservative, Republican-aligned)

Owned byPrivately owned, for-profit company. It began in 2012 as a project of the nonprofit Center for American Freedom. Michael Goldfarb is chairman and Eliana Johnson is editor in chief. It has never fully disclosed its owners or backers.

FundingIt has been financed largely by billionaire hedge fund manager and Republican donor Paul Singer, according to press reports. Its other revenue sources are not publicly detailed. It also earns some income from advertising and from subscriptions, newsletters and podcasts.

On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The Free Beacon launched in February 2012. Michael Goldfarb, Aaron Harison and Matthew Continetti founded it as a project of the Center for American Freedom, a conservative group modeled on the liberal Center for American Progress. It started as a nonprofit and later became a privately owned for-profit company. The New York Times and other outlets have reported that Paul Singer provides a large share of its funding, and the site has never disclosed its owners or backers. Matthew Continetti was the first editor in chief, and Eliana Johnson is the current one. It is known for opposition-style investigative reporting on Democrats, the left, universities, unions and Iran policy, and for conservative commentary. In the 2016 campaign, it was one of the Republican-aligned backers of early opposition research on Donald Trump that was later passed to Fusion GPS. Its owners ended their involvement before the Steele dossier was commissioned, and the site has said it did not pay for or see that dossier. Critics describe it as a partisan, donor-backed outlet. Supporters say it breaks stories that other outlets miss. Its stance toward Trump has shifted over time, from hostile in the 2016 primaries to generally favorable policy coverage since.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record