Outlet profile

Carolina Journal (Opinion)

U.S. right / North Carolina conservative-libertarian

Owned byPublished by the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh-based nonprofit think tank. The foundation was co-founded in 1990 by Art Pope, and Pope's family foundation is its main backer.

FundingMostly philanthropy. The foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit supported by donations and grants. The John William Pope Foundation has been the largest funder, giving $2.5 million of the foundation's $3.9 million in 2011 revenue. The foundation reported about $5 million in revenue in 2024. The outlet is free online, with limited advertising.

On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The John Locke Foundation was founded in 1990 and began producing Carolina Journal in 1991, first as a print newsletter. The foundation was co-founded by Art Pope, a North Carolina businessman and Republican political figure. It is named for the philosopher John Locke. The outlet grew from a bi-monthly print publication into a daily website with a reporting staff and a separate opinion section. It has a reputation for government-watchdog and investigative reporting, such as its 1997 exposure of a $21 million legislative slush fund. Critics and watchdog groups such as SourceWatch describe it as part of a network of Pope-funded conservative advocacy organizations. The foundation says it advances free-market and limited-government ideas, and its opinion section reflects those views. It is affiliated with the State Policy Network of state-level think tanks. Its news and opinion sections share a parent organization and a publicly stated ideological mission, so readers should treat the opinion content as advocacy from a conservative perspective.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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