BreakThrough News (BTN)

The outlet has been described as part of a network of content creators allegedly funded by American businessman Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai and has been accused of aligning with the Chinese Communist Party while funding far-left activist groups in the United States. ^{3 4}

In June 2026, it was announced that BreakThrough News would be merging with The People’s Dispatch, a media group and affiliated with the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA). According to the announcement, both groups agreed to “join into a single, unified text and video outlet” to advocate against the alleged “corporate-controlled media [that] has reconsolidated its control in the social media era.” ⁵

Background

BreakThrough News was founded in January 2020 by Ben Becker and Eugene Puryear, both leaders in the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a communist political party in the United States. ^{6 7 8} The organization began posting content to Instagram and YouTube in early 2020, covering the COVID-19 pandemic, the George Floyd protests, racial injustice, and economic inequality. ³

BreakThrough News operates out of the People’s Forum building in New York City, with which it shares staff and resources. The People’s Forum has acknowledged receiving funding from Neville Roy Singham, a self-described Marxist-Leninist who sold his IT consulting company for $785 million in 2017 and subsequently moved to Shanghai. ^{9 10} The organization receives funding through the Justice and Education Fund, a nonprofit entity linked to Singham, which provided the bulk of BreakThrough News’s financial support according to tax filings.  ¹¹

Leadership and Hosts

As of 2025, the editor-in-chief of BreakThrough News is Ben Becker, a central committee member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. ⁶ The outlet’s anchors and hosts are PSL activists Brian Becker and Eugene Puryear, along with Rania Khalek. ⁶ BreakThrough News produces several programs, including The Freedom Side, The Socialist Program,  and Dispatches. ¹² Other contributors include Kei Pritsker and Katie Halper. ^{13 14}

BreakThrough News works closely with the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and frequently hosts its founder, Vijay Prashad, who is also a senior fellow at a think tank linked to China’s Ministry of Education. ¹⁰ In 2023, Pacifica Radio‘s New York station, WBAI, began hosting a one-hour slot for BreakThrough News programming. ¹³

Advocacy and Activities

BreakThrough News describes itself as a media organization that tells “the untold stories of resistance from poor and working-class communities” and discusses national and international issues through an anti-capitalist and leftist lens. ¹⁵ The outlet has more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube and publishes content that aligns with Chinese Communist Party positions, including support for the People’s Republic of China, Venezuela’s former de facto president Nicolas Maduro, and the communist regime in Cuba. ^{16 17 18}

In 2022, the think tank Newlines Institute claimed that BreakThrough News had denied the persecution of Uyghurs in China and described contributor Rania Khalek as an apologist for former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad with links to Russian state-funded media. ¹⁹ In 2024, BreakThrough News journalists provided on-the-ground coverage of pro-Palestinian campus protests, including at Columbia University, which was cited by outlets, including Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Independent, and Fortune. ^{20 21 22 23}

In June 2026, it was announced that BreakThrough News would be merging with The People’s Dispatch, a media group and affiliated with the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA). According to the announcement, both groups agreed to “join into a single, unified text and video outlet” to advocate against the alleged “corporate-controlled media [that] has reconsolidated its control in the social media era.” ⁵

Controversy

In February 2026, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing examining alleged foreign influence in American nonprofit organizations, with particular focus on Neville Roy Singham’s network of organizations. Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) accused Singham of funding and operating a network of American nonprofits, including BreakThrough News, that “serve as his conduits to spread pro-CCP narratives.” Smith sent a letter to BreakThrough BT Media Inc. requesting documents and questioning whether the organization deserves to maintain its tax-exempt status. ²⁴

U.S. Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL) described a funding structure in which money originates with Singham in Shanghai, moves through LLCs and donor-advised funds, and is then transferred to nonprofits, such as the Justice and Education Fund, which subsequently distribute funds to organizations in the alleged network, including BreakThrough News. ⁹ In 2025, BreakThrough News was also named in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform demand for documents regarding Singham’s funding and control over far-left groups, with investigators examining whether his activities violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. ²⁵

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2024 BreakthroughBT Media Inc. reported $1,547,233 in revenues, $1,485,913 in expenses, and $242,184 in assets. ²⁶