Sanders: 1 Percent Has Sapped $79T in Wealth From Bottom 90 Percent Since 1975
A news outlet says billionaire-backed media consolidation is warping public information, and it is turning to reader-funded recurring donations to keep basic reporting alive.
Mar 5, 2025
Sources
Summary
Truthout says it has launched a seven-day fundraiser to add 432 new monthly donors and states that over 80 percent of its funding comes from small individual donations. The outlet frames its funding appeal as a response to what it describes as Trump-aligned billionaires and allies taking over legacy media outlets and concentrating narrative control. The practical consequence is a direct request for recurring and one-time donations to cover basic operating expenses and sustain its reporting.
Reality Check
Threats to democratic stability intensify when information ecosystems become dependent on concentrated private power—whether through ownership consolidation or donor pressure—because the public’s ability to verify reality and hold officials accountable collapses. The conduct described here is not presented as a criminal act; a fundraising appeal and claims about media ownership, standing alone, do not map onto federal crimes like bribery (18 U.S.C. § 201) or honest-services fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, 1346) without an identified quid pro quo involving public officials. The institutional danger is structural: when civic reporting must survive on emergency fundraising while legacy outlets are alleged to be captured by aligned billionaires, our shared baseline of facts—and the rights that depend on informed consent—becomes fragile.
Detail
<p>Truthout states that it has launched a fundraiser aimed at adding 432 new monthly donors within seven days. The outlet says the fundraising goal is tied to covering “basic expenses” and notes that over 80 percent of its funding comes from small individual donations from readers.</p><p>It also states that more than a third of its total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors. The message asks readers to contribute either a small monthly donation or a larger one-time gift, asserting that its work depends on reader support.</p><p>In describing the context for the appeal, Truthout claims that “Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets,” characterizing this as the culmination of a decades-long effort to control media narratives. It further asserts that recent weeks have involved an “authoritarian assault” on communities in Minnesota and across the nation, and frames its request as part of sustaining “truthful, grassroots reporting.”</p>