Payday Report

What Payday Report does

Payday Report is an independent, crowdfunded digital news outlet founded in 2016 by Emmy-nominated labor reporter Mike Elk and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The publication covers labor movements, strikes, union organizing, and workers' rights in U.S. "news deserts" — areas underserved by mainstream media — and has extended coverage internationally to include Brazilian and broader LATAM labor stories. Its core products include a Ghost CMS-based website and blog (paydayreport.com), an interactive U.S. Strike Tracker mapping tool, video/multimedia content hosted on YouTube (150,000+ cumulative views), and an audio podcast feed.

The outlet's underlying technology stack is conventional: a Ghost-based publishing platform supplemented by interactive mapping, video production, and standard social distribution (Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube, with prior Twitter presence lost). Its proprietary differentiator is the Strike Tracker, a domain-specialized tool built on a decade of accumulated labor-action reporting. The business model is consumer-direct and donation-driven, with revenue from monthly and annual recurring donations processed via PayPal, Venmo, and Patreon (773 recurring donors across tiers ranging from $3–$100/month and $36–$1,200/year), supplemented historically by foundation grants and, as of 2026, by sliding-scale media training services sold to unions and community organizations. Total annual fundraising in 2025 was $97,540 against a ~$100,000 budget; the loss of an Illumine Service Foundation grant (~$35,000, roughly one-third of budget) in 2026 is the principal near-term financial pressure point, which management is actively offsetting through the media training service line and co-publishing partnerships.

Name

Payday Report

Legal name

Payday Report

Website

https://paydayreport.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Payday Report is an independent, crowdfunded labor news outlet founded in 2016 and based in Pittsburgh, covering strikes, union organizing, and workers' rights in U.S. news deserts via articles, video, podcast, and an interactive Strike Tracker, funded by ~773 recurring donors and media training services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pittsburgh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Recurring Donor Subscriptions: Monthly and yearly donations from readers through PayPal, Venmo, and Patreon platforms. 773 recurring donors currently support the publication.
2. Foundation Grants: Previously received grants from organizations like Illumine Service Foundation. Lost approximately $35,000 annual grant due to Trump administration funding cuts.
3. Media Training Services: Offers media training sessions for unions and community groups on building newsletters, media projects, and navigating the media landscape. Sliding scale fee structure.
4. Crowdfunding Campaigns: Occasional targeted fundraising campaigns for specific coverage projects and organizational sustainability.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Payday Report is an independent digital news outlet that covers labor, unions, and working-class stories in news deserts across the United States. It publishes investigative journalism, multimedia features, and an interactive worker-strike map, and offers media training services to working-class journalists.

Product overview

Payday Report is a crowdfunded independent labor news publication founded in 2016 by Emmy-nominated reporter Mike Elk. The company operates a single unified digital platform that publishes written articles, video content, and podcast/audio material covering labor movements, strikes, and workplace issues in news deserts across the United States and internationally. Key offerings include the Payday Report Website (core publication), the Payday Interactive Strike Tracker (interactive mapping tool for tracking labor strikes), video content production, podcast/audio content, and Media Training Services (a fee-based workshop program for unions and community groups). Revenue is generated through subscriptions, recurring donations via PayPal/Venmo/Patreon, and one-time contributions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Payday Report Digital News Publication An independent online news outlet that reports on labor, unions, and workers' issues, with a particular focus on labor stories in U.S. news deserts where mainstream coverage is limited.
• Interactive Worker Strike Map An interactive map tracking worker strikes, labor actions, and union activity across the United States, used by journalists, labor organizers, and the general public to monitor labor disputes.
• Media Training for Working-Class Journalists A training service that teaches working-class journalists and labor activists journalism skills such as investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, and news writing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Founded 2016, published 1,500+ articles, Emmy nominated, cited by major publications

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American ProspectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2026Co-publishing partnership for labor journalism. Article 'Lula Sees Boosts as He Pushes to Reduce Brazilian Workweek' was co-published with the American Prospect, extending reach and credibility for labor coverage.
• Boots Riley (Filmmaker)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFilmmaker Boots Riley is a longtime subscriber and prominent supporter of Payday Report. His film 'I Love Boosters' received coverage through the publication.
• Labor Unions and Community GroupscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPayday Report offers media training services to unions and community organizations, teaching them to build newsletters, media projects, and navigate the media landscape. Already working with immigrant rights and labor groups.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• In These Times: Independent progressive magazine with strong labor and working-class coverage. Comparable business model combining donor support, subscriptions, and labor-focused investigative reporting serving a similar progressive-labor audience.
• The American Prospect: Progressive magazine covering politics, policy, and labor. Already an active co-publishing partner with Payday Report, sharing similar editorial scope and an overlapping progressive readership.
• Labor Notes: Independent labor journalism publication focused on union reform, organizing, and rank-and-file worker struggles. Directly comparable to Payday Report as a niche labor news outlet serving union members and labor activists.
• Common Dreams: Independent nonprofit news outlet covering progressive politics, labor, and social justice. Similar reader-funded business model and overlapping audience of progressive activists and union supporters.
• Jacobin: Independent socialist magazine with prominent labor and union coverage. Comparable in ideological positioning, labor beat focus, and direct-to-reader subscription revenue model.
• Current Affairs: Independent progressive publication covering politics, labor, and media criticism with a subscription-supported model. Comparable in niche scope, founder-led operations, and direct subscriber revenue.

Broad incumbents

• ProPublica: Major nonprofit investigative journalism outlet funded by foundations and reader donations. Comparable nonprofit, donor-funded independent journalism model, but operates at vastly larger scale across many beats beyond labor.
• The Nation: Long-established progressive magazine covering politics, labor, and culture. Overlaps with Payday Report's labor beat but operates at significantly larger scale and broader editorial scope.
• Mother Jones: Established nonprofit investigative magazine covering labor, politics, and social justice. Comparable progressive audience and donor-supported model but with much larger staff and broader editorial mandate.
• The Intercept: Independent investigative outlet covering labor, civil liberties, and social justice. Comparable in independent reader-supported progressive journalism positioning, though with broader editorial scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/paydayreport
• YouTubeyoutube.com/embed/5a7UtuvG99A
• Facebookfacebook.com/paydayreport

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Payday Report