I would add 404 Media to this list. Though their focus is on technology and its effects/consequences, they have a decidedly lefty perspective.

It's a shame that Substack's promotion and support of fascists will be a dealbreaker for many people considering outlets on that platform. One would think that especially anyone starting a "new left media" publication would take that into account.
posted by Pedantzilla at 8:29 AM on September 19 [15 favorites]

Hard pass on handing subscriber money to any media run by Soon-Shiong or his nepo baby.
posted by dantheclamman at 8:33 AM on September 19 [16 favorites]

Substack is not the only game in town. These creators are choosing to use a platform that gives voices to Nazi sympathizers, and asking their readers to fund them.

They don't have to do that. It's only a shame that they're making that choice, not that I'm choosing to not support it.
posted by neuracnu at 8:35 AM on September 19 [17 favorites]

Just for clarification: Nika Soon-Shiong has been active in local LA politics for a long time and appears to be pretty sincere about her left politics and has been accused of meddling previously with the LA Times with her input. However, when her dad opted not to have LATimes endorse any candidate in the last Presidential election, she basically lied and said it was because of the genocide, which Patrick Soon-Shiong denied. So there's that.
posted by toastyk at 8:41 AM on September 19 [8 favorites]

What I appreciate most is a site where reporting is based on solid scientific knowledge and information is critically examined. What consistently irritates me about partisan news is the political motive that can give people false views.

Facts without context: "Murder in City!" without noting rural crime rates and long term trends. "Four children die of influenza in Colorado" (Each year I see these and cringe a little. I understand they are communicating the importance of vaccination better than linking to the CDC flu trends map, but...)

Uncritically reporting political opinion as fact when it's said by a prominent person: Cutting taxes on the wealthy will increase government revenue, climate change denial

Places that I find consistently excellent: Ars Technica, metafilter. Guardian and Al-jazeera seem pretty good about US politics. I think Mother Jones generally is good at explaining the leftist position about policy in a way that's accurate.

What else is usually accurate for economic and social policy? Leftist is welcome as long as it doesn't skew from reality too much.
posted by Emmy Noether at 8:45 AM on September 19 [5 favorites]

Techdirt's become a political blog, thanks to everything Trump et al have been doing.
posted by Spike Glee at 8:52 AM on September 19 [7 favorites]

That Patrick Soon-Shiong? Unless she breaks with her Dad, hard pass.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:55 AM on September 19 [1 favorite]

Statnews has been around for a decade, and pretty clear-eyed on health and science issues. I have also seen good journalism from KFF Health News.

I really like Akbar Shahid Ahmed over at HuffPost as the Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, based in DC.
posted by toastyk at 9:07 AM on September 19 [6 favorites]

The Verge has been publishing really great political reporting since Sarah Jeong took over as features editor.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 9:08 AM on September 19 [4 favorites]

And High Country News is indispensable for understanding politics in the West, where everything always comes down to water and land use.
posted by Just the one swan, actually at 9:09 AM on September 19 [12 favorites]

I don't consider DropSiteNews a reliable source, as they have in the past hosted a number of propaganda articles for Russia and China. Will the new publisher push back on that, or are they fishing for delicious BRICS bux?

Until then, I think The Intercept is a much more trustworthy source.
posted by CynicalKnight at 9:10 AM on September 19 [3 favorites]

Substack? lol, no thanks. Like, I maybe get the complaints from users that are already on Substack and have a substantial following not moving from there (I mostly find those arguments wanting as well), but starting out, right now on Substack. Come on, dude.
posted by snwod at 9:29 AM on September 19 [12 favorites]

Unraveled Press is doing essential news following ICE actions in the Chicago area, and they have a staff of two; they're doing a better job than most of our legacy publications in Chicago.
posted by carrienation at 9:57 AM on September 19 [8 favorites]

I occasionally buy lottery tickets just to see if I can light it all on fire by starting an alternative media company. The need right now is just so overwhelming, and the number of talented, connected journalists looking for work is so large, it boggles my mind that there hasn't been anyone willing to jump into the breach and try and put these things together. I know the revenue model is extremely difficult to work out, but come on. There must be at least a few relatively lefty people with inherited wealth, or decent human beings with tech money that has enough zeros after it, right???

In any case, thank you for posting. I have seen Marissa Kabas on Bluesky, but haven't checked out her website. I will put it in rotation. I hope more people have interesting things to check out that haven't been on my radar yet.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 10:58 AM on September 19 [6 favorites]

Same same for a privacy-friendly phone, by the way. The whole "submit to our spyware if you want any services at all (and the whole world basically demands that you have a phone)" model of technological development just makes me so furious, and I cannot be the only one. Shocking to me that no one has tried to build a phone that meets that market.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 11:04 AM on September 19 [8 favorites]

I know the revenue model is extremely difficult to work out, but come on. There must be at least a few relatively lefty people with inherited wealth, or decent human beings with tech money that has enough zeros after it, right???

right? whatever happened to the "...next instalment coming soon. also, engels, i'm gonna need you to cover my rent again." model of leftwing media?
posted by nobody_truncates at 11:26 AM on September 19 [3 favorites]

I like non-profit news sources:
ProPublica does serious investigative reporting on a range of topics. I think of it as "what NPR used to do"
Grist does environmental reporting, these days especially climate change stories
The Xylom does environmental and health reporting, with a special focus on Asia and the Asian-American community
Bolts does criminal justice and voting rights stories (I just heard about this one from this excellent post)
And in the US, never forget your local public radio station. My own, WABE, does great local news coverage without the bias of our corporate owned newspaper or tv stations and produces its own awesome podcasts.
posted by hydropsyche at 12:22 PM on September 19 [23 favorites]

I read 404 media, the verge, and the intercept, as well as the wallstreet journal and the washington post.

And then I read some profession-specific newsletters:
Medpage Today - good way to follow RFK's trail of destruction at HHS, the Senate CDC hearings, etc
Above the Law - good way to follow the lawsuits, Supreme Court malfeasance, etc

I also follow individual writers (who often have teams behind them) on substack, here's some who produce their own analysis and don't just repackage or react to the mainstream news:

Heather Cox Richardson - historian, contextualizes the news
Matt Stoller - anti-monopoly news
Paul Krugman - economist and interviewer
Jared Bernstein - economist
G. Elliot Morris - polling and public opinion
Joshua Weitz - science matters
Marisa Kabas - she breaks a lot of news, a lot of whistleblowers send her things

I read everything via newsletter, so following the news for me looks like opening my email inbox.

I do think the left needs a platform, like substack, that allows people to easily monetize their newsletters and find an audience but isn't owned by Marc Andreesen.
posted by subdee at 12:37 PM on September 19 [7 favorites]

Seconding ProPublica - they're really great. Their reporting isn't as broad as some other news outlets, but in my opinion, it's uniformly excellent.
posted by kristi at 12:57 PM on September 19 [16 favorites]

There's also this one (Substack, but they're on all major social media):

People Power United

It's not quite news, more advocacy, they call themselves the "largest grassroots organization in the country" with over 350,000 subscribers. They also have a spinoff for ICE specifically called ICEBlock.

I'm mentioning them because they always publish the dates of upcoming nationwide protests, marches and rallies so people who are having a hard time finding the protests can start here.
posted by subdee at 1:20 PM on September 19 [2 favorites]

Heather Cox Richardson's little Substack newsletter is estimated to earn at least $5MM per year, meaning that she's paying at least $500,000/year directly to fascists and their enablers while exhorting people to resist fascism.

Here's some recommendations for indie media outlets that i previously made in the Kimmel thread. None of these are producing income for the Nazi-fondlers who make and fund Substack.

• TruthOut
• The Racket
• Luke O'Neil's Welcome to Hell World
• Spencer Ackerman's Forever Wars
• Marisa Kabas' Handbasket
• Defector

posted by adrienneleigh at 1:24 PM on September 19 [10 favorites]

subdee: Marisa Kabas is not on Substack; she helped Jonathan Katz break the story about their Nazi problem, and left for beehiiv, quite awhile ago.
posted by adrienneleigh at 1:26 PM on September 19 [7 favorites]

Heather Cox Richardson's little Substack newsletter is estimated to earn at least $5MM per year, meaning that she's paying at least $500,000/year directly to fascists and their enablers while exhorting people to resist fascism.

O
M
F
G
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 1:38 PM on September 19 [2 favorites]

I barely know anything about the situation, but it is QUITE possible that Patrick Soon-Shiong lied to his daughter. Since he lies to the scientific community and the general public quite a bit.

Perhaps he'll 'will' the LA Times to her (ahahahahah, but one can hope) cause are there ANY big city progressive outlets that are the main one? One in LA would be a really really good thing....

Although LA Tacos becoming the City's main journalism hub would always be very welcome....
posted by WatTylerJr at 1:42 PM on September 19 [2 favorites]

Others - Defector (employee owned and freaking awesome). Flaming Hydra. And Prison Journalism Project are very worthy of your time and whatever $ you can spare.
posted by WatTylerJr at 1:44 PM on September 19 [5 favorites]

You guys gotta get over the Yellow Peril fears. China isn't your enemy, and a source that says a positive word about the country is not somehow inherently less reliable than your preferred neutral pro-State Dept paper.
posted by jy4m at 1:59 PM on September 19 [6 favorites]

LAPublicPress is an independent non-profit news org that "interrogates systems of power while supporting those trying to build more equitable and resilient communities".

Rest of World covers technology's impact outside the West.

CalMatters for nonpartisan news about CA.
posted by toastyk at 2:14 PM on September 19 [4 favorites]

Molly White has a beat about crypto called Citation Needed and you can give her money for it. I wish crypto was irrelevant but right now it really isn't given how much corruption it's enabling.
posted by foxfirefey at 2:36 PM on September 19 [5 favorites]

https://statesnewsroom.com/ has been starting up papers in state capitols. (All of them together.) The Philadelphia Inquirer is a big old city paper owned by a foundation, and nonprofit news in general has really taken off, there's over 500 outlets in this search engine: https://findyournews.org/

Lithub recently highlighted 13 worker-owned outlets: https://lithub.com/fed-up-with-big-legacy-news-here-are-13-independent-worker-owned-outlets-to-support/

Talking Points Memo covers DC closely ¡ª https://talkingpointsmemo.com/ Someone else mentioned TechDirt, I really appreciate how quickly/thoroughly they were covering the DOGE destruction, along with Rolling Stone, and https://www.crisesnotes.com/

Buttondown, Ghost, and Beehiiv seem to be the popular alternatives to Substack. See https://leavesubstack.com/

A local nonprofit (I'm in Eugene, Oregon) has compiled this handy directory of Eugene-and-region news outlets. https://www.publicnewspapers.org/support-local-civic-journalism Maybe someone could make a directory of such local directories? EDIT: They don't have https://dissonanttimes.org/ yet, will suggest they add it.
posted by johnabbe at 3:48 PM on September 19 [6 favorites]

You guys gotta get over the Yellow Peril fears

False accusations of racism are a common component in Chinese propaganda.

China isn't your enemy

Just to be sure we are talking about the same country, I am referring to the conservative capitalist authoritarian empire that is very closely and publicly allied with Russia... who in turn is not-so-secretly allied with Trump. The one that floated fake spy balloons over the US to make the sitting government look ineffectual.

Maybe ask the Uyghurs about that. Or all of Tibet. Or perhaps Taiwan will have some instructive feedback for you.

a source that says a positive word about the country

Oh, I trust Xi will make sure the doners are dead first. /s

Jy4m, the only thing sadder than getting paid to simp for empire is doing it for free.
posted by CynicalKnight at 4:17 PM on September 19 [5 favorites]

General News:
DemocracyNow.org

Israel/Palestine News
www.972mag.com

Deep Dive Open Source Investigation (geopolitical, white nationalism)
www.bellingcat.com

LA Local
knock-la.com/tag/news
lapublicpress.org
lataco.com
posted by chromecow at 4:24 PM on September 19 [6 favorites]

Been appreciating Kelly Hayes' Movement Memos, also Tad Stoermer. https://www.anarchistfederation.net/ aggregates news from a bunch of anarchist sites.

The Conversation https://theconversation.com/ ¡ª some really great in-depth reporting, *and* they allow republication.

Global Voices https://globalvoices.org/ ¡ª grassroots news from around the world

Unapologetic https://uttn.net/ ¡ª podcast from a couple of Israeli Palestinians, great guests too

Texas Tribune https://www.texastribune.org/

Christianity Today ¡ª relatively clear-eyed evangelicals, who dared to stand up to Trump

Strong Towns https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/ for city planning and such, Civil Eats https://civileats.com/ for food and agriculture news. (Also look up Sarah Taber.) Someone mentioned High Country News already, but it's definitely worth another shout-out. Also see Investigate West https://www.invw.org/

Labor Notes https://www.labornotes.org/ - independent labor news

The Marshall Project https://www.themarshallproject.org/ ¡ª jail, prison, etc. news, including immigration-related

Waging Nonviolence https://wagingnonviolence.org/ ¡ª their 'be prepared' post in case Trump won is still worth revisiting
posted by johnabbe at 4:27 PM on September 19 [8 favorites]

Yes yes ProPublica, Truthout, 404, Democracy Now, and Your Local Community radio (e.g. KBOO Portland) and local papers (Street Roots in Pdx has been one of ProPublica's partners). And many others already mentioned (Grist, The Conversation, Labor Notes, STAT....)

And (maybe not yet mentioned?) Portside, and Rebecca Solnit's Meditations in an Emergency.

Also (uneven & not new but) worthy: Counterpunch.

Johnabbe, my criticism of the https://www.publicnewspapers.org/support-local-civic-journalism list is that they include Willamette Week (in the pocket of & a member of the egregious chamber of commerce, the PBA) while they omit the Portland Mercury (its more genuinely independent competitor--I guess I'll go suggest that to them).

I'm looking forward to checking out titles new to me. Thanks, all!
posted by girandole at 7:06 PM on September 19 [1 favorite]

Nika Soon-Shiong made a statement on her x account about what she hopes to achieve as publisher for DropSiteNews.

DropSiteNews is one of the few Western media outlets that has hired Palestinians journalists in Gaza to report and they recently started a fund to help them survive. I can¡¯t speak to their Chinese or Russian coverage because that hasn¡¯t seemed to be their focus lately.
posted by toastyk at 7:09 PM on September 19 [7 favorites]

I suggest Freedom House for an international focus.
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:19 PM on September 19

CynicalKnight: "I suggest Freedom House for an international focus."

lol, of course you do.
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:23 PM on September 19 [3 favorites]

Counterpunch, Truthout and Anarchist Federation (as soon as you see "anarchist" you know it's going to be a woo-magnet) also host a few dubious articles, but host a fair bit of pro Taiwan/Ukraine content as well. All the rest of these many, many links are excellent.

lol

What's the issue with the link I suggested?
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:27 PM on September 19 [2 favorites]

Freedom House was founded in 1941 to rally policymakers and a broadly isolationist American public around the fight against Nazi Germany, and to raise awareness of the fascist threat to American security and values. In the decades since, Freedom House has established itself through its advocacy, programs, and research as the leading American organization devoted to the support and defense of democracy around the world.

(emphasis mine, not in the original)
posted by adrienneleigh at 7:33 PM on September 19 [3 favorites]

"Jeffrey Dahmer House has established itself through its advocacy, programs, and research as the leading organization devoted to the defense and support of fine cuisine around the world."
posted by adrienneleigh at 8:04 PM on September 19 [4 favorites]

Nika Soon-Shiong is the real fucking deal. She spent two years trying to find out how much the LASD was billing West Hollywood for police services and trying to reform that agreement. Her efforts ran the spectrum from good neoliberal cost containment questions to force reduction and trying to create institutional change (non-armed patrols, even looking at possibly leaving the LASD relationship). Everyone hates her because she's the face of Defund the Police (yeah, some days it feels like WeHo is mostly a pro-cop haven) here.
posted by 99_ at 9:31 PM on September 19 [6 favorites]

Jeffrey Dahmer House

i finally got around to coming back to this thread to actually check out the suggestions and make a list and in so doing i enjoyed being reminded of this classic comment.
posted by nobody_truncates at 2:55 AM on September 27 [1 favorite]

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