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Outlet profile

The Intercept

U.S. left / progressive

Owned byIndependent nonprofit; formerly a subsidiary of First Look Media (founded by Pierre Omidyar). Spun off as its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit in January 2023.
FundingReader donations and philanthropic grants; launched in 2014 with $250 million pledged by eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar via First Look Media. Omidyar ended his financial support in late 2022. Since the 2023 spinoff, the outlet has relied on reader donations and foundation grants, and has faced severe cash shortfalls — losing roughly $300,000 per month as of early 2024.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The Intercept launched on February 10, 2014, as a publication of First Look Media, Pierre Omidyar's media venture, created primarily to report on the National Security Agency documents leaked by Edward Snowden. It quickly expanded its focus to U.S. foreign policy, civil liberties, immigration, and corporate power, cultivating a reputation for adversarial, investigative journalism from a left-progressive viewpoint. Glenn Greenwald, one of its founding editors, departed in October 2020 after a well-publicized editorial dispute. Co-founder Laura Poitras was ousted in 2023 and subsequently sued the publication, alleging gender discrimination. In January 2023, the outlet formally split from First Look Media and incorporated as an independent nonprofit with a $14 million transition grant from Omidyar's organization. Financial troubles mounted after Omidyar withdrew ongoing support: by early 2024 the outlet was burning approximately $300,000 a month and laid off 16 staff — about one-third of its newsroom — in February 2024. Senior editors Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim left in mid-2024 to found a separate outlet, Drop Site News. Despite the turmoil, The Intercept continued publishing and filed multiple Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the Trump administration over topics including immigration surveillance. Its editorial orientation remains firmly on the left, consistently skeptical of U.S. government power, surveillance, and military intervention regardless of which party holds office, and sharply critical of the Trump administration's second term.

Sources

  1. The Intercept – Wikipedia
  2. Exclusive: The Intercept spinning off as an independent nonprofit – Axios
  3. The Intercept is running out of cash – Semafor
  4. The Intercept, a billionaire-funded public charity, cuts back – Columbia Journalism Review
  5. The Intercept – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
  6. How Trump's New Counterterrorism Strategy Puts You at Risk – The Intercept
  7. US News Outlet Sues Trump Admin Over Refusal to Release 'Secret List of Activities' – Common Dreams
  8. First Look Media lays off 20 people – Axios

Profile compiled 2026-06-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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