What Raw Story does

Raw Story, operating as Raw Story Media, Inc., is a privately held, for-profit digital news publication founded in 2006 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The company provides independent progressive journalism through a single flagship platform at rawstory.com, covering US politics, the Trump administration, the 2026 midterm elections, world news, science, social justice, and civil rights, with dedicated sections for investigations, opinion/commentary, and video content. It also operates wholly owned sub-brands PoliticsObserved.com, Blue Lemur, and RawPrint.com, and acquired Alternet and The New Civil Rights Movement in April 2018.

The core product surface is the Raw Story website, augmented by a Daily News Update audio brief powered by Trinity Audio AI text-to-speech, a newsletter subscription funnel, video news segments, interactive word puzzles ('Raw Word Daily'), and a dedicated 2026 Midterm Elections hub. Content is distributed directly through rawstory.com and syndicated via third-party aggregators including SmartNews, MSN, and Super Head, with a Mastodon presence and corrections/support contact channels.

The business model is advertising-only: Raw Story monetizes exclusively through third-party programmatic and agency-served display advertising against a free, no-paywall readership. There are no disclosed subscription tiers, pricing models, or B2B contracts. Select_customers data is empty, consistent with an anonymous consumer-audience model. The firm employs 11-50 staff, has no disclosed funding rounds, operates without institutional or PE backing, and conducts active first-party journalism recognized by the Fair Media Council Folio Award and the David Carr Investigative Reporting Award.

Name

Raw Story

Legal name

Raw Story Media, Inc.

Website

https://rawstory.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Raw Story is a privately held, advertising-funded digital news publication founded in 2006 that provides independent progressive journalism and investigative reporting on US politics to free general-news readers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital News Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines (MPAJAEAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

News & Current Affairs Aggregators (MPACAKAA), Digital Newsstand & Aggregation Platforms (Magazine/News Apps, Bundles) (MPAJAKAE)

Keywords

• Progressive news
• Investigative journalism
• Political commentary
• Digital news media
• Independent journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The site generates revenue through display advertising, working with third-party advertising agencies who serve ads to the site. The company and its advertisers collect non-personally identifiable information such as browser type, country, and operating system for ad targeting purposes.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Raw Story is an independent digital news publication that delivers progressive political news, investigative journalism, opinion commentary, and video content to U.S. readers through its website. The platform covers U.S. politics, world news, science, and social justice issues, supported by audio news briefings, an email newsletter, and content syndication through SmartNews, MSN, and Super Head. Revenue is generated through display advertising served by third-party agencies.

Product overview

Raw Story is a digital news media company operating a single integrated platform for independent journalism. The core product is the Raw Story website providing breaking news, political news, investigative reporting, opinion commentary, and video content. The platform includes multiple content delivery modules: Raw Story Investigations for in-depth investigative journalism, Daily News Update for audio content powered by Trinity Audio AI, Video Content for news coverage, Opinion/Commentary for editorial pieces, SmartNews and Super Head for content distribution partnerships, Puzzler Games for reader engagement, a dedicated 2026 Midterm Elections Section, and a Newsletter subscription service. The company also distributes content through third-party platforms including SmartNews and MSN.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PoliticsObserved.com: Political news and commentary website operated by Raw Story Media
• Blue Lemur
• RawPrint.com

Products and services

• Raw Story Digital News Platform The core digital news platform providing breaking news, political coverage, investigative reporting, opinion commentary, and video content on U.S. politics, world news, and social justice issues for general news readers.
• Daily News Update Audio news briefing service delivering top stories in audio format, powered by Trinity Audio AI text-to-speech technology, for news readers who prefer audio consumption.
• Raw Story Email Newsletter Email newsletter subscription service delivering daily news updates and breaking news alerts directly to subscribers' inboxes.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• SmartNewsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent syndication partnership where Raw Story articles are distributed through the SmartNews aggregation platform.
• MSNminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorContent syndication partnership where Raw Story articles are distributed through the MSN platform.
• Third-Party Advertising AgenciesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRaw Story works with third-party advertising agencies who serve ads to the site. These agencies have their own privacy policies.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Media Matters for America: Progressive media watchdog covering conservative media criticism. Comparable in progressive editorial mission and digital publishing model, with overlapping audience of politically engaged progressive readers.
• Alternet: Progressive online news and opinion outlet covering politics, media, and culture. Directly comparable as a digital-first progressive news publication; notably, Alternet was acquired by Raw Story in 2018, making it both a historical peer and current subsidiary.
• Daily Kos: Progressive political news and community site. Comparable as a digital-first progressive outlet focused on political coverage and opinion, though larger and more community-driven than Raw Story.
• The Nation: Progressive magazine and digital publisher covering politics, culture, and investigative reporting. Highly comparable in editorial perspective and digital-first news publishing model, with similarly strong opinion and investigative journalism focus.
• Mother Jones: Investigative progressive magazine publishing in print and digital. Closely comparable to Raw Story's investigative journalism focus and progressive editorial stance, with similar award-winning reporting DNA though structured as a nonprofit.
• HuffPost: Large progressive-leaning digital news and opinion site covering politics, entertainment, and lifestyle. Comparable in digital-first news model and progressive editorial perspective, though significantly larger and broader in scope.
• Talking Points Memo: Independent progressive political news and opinion site. Closely comparable in independent progressive positioning, political news focus, and digital-native publishing model with similar scale.
• The Daily Beast: Digital news and opinion site with strong political, news, and pop-culture coverage. Comparable to Raw Story as an ad-supported digital news outlet with opinion-driven editorial mix and progressive-leaning positioning, though with broader entertainment coverage.
• Crooks and Liars: Progressive political blog and news site with video and commentary focus. Highly comparable in editorial mix of political news, opinion, and video commentary from a progressive perspective; David Edwards writes for both outlets.

Broad incumbents

• Politico: Major political news outlet covering politics and policy across digital and print. Comparable as a political news publisher with significant digital reach, though much larger and more establishment-focused than Raw Story's progressive perspective.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rawstory
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheRawStory
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/raw-story

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Raw Story