Grist Magazine is an online-only environmentalist magazine that supports left-of-center policy viewpoints. Grist is almost entirely funded by grants, including from major left-of-center grantmaking nonprofits like the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Miami Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2022, Grist had 30 journalists and claimed nearly two million monthly readers. ¹

History

In 1999, Grist was founded as an environmentalist newsletter by journalist Chip Giller as part of the Earth Day Network. Giller wanted “to counter the notion of environmentalists as dour doomsayers and to spread a new, positive form of green journalism with a humorous twist.” ² The newsletter soon became a blog and took on other authors who gained popularity through a “snarky” and “cheeky” writing style. ^{3 4}

In the mid-2000s, Grist’s leadership and staff struggled to find a consistent direction for the organization as it straddled the line between a blog and formal news outlet. In a 2020 interview, former Grist journalist David Roberts commented that Grist “underperformed its potential” during these years. ⁵

In 2017, Giller recruited Brady Piñero Walkinshaw to lead Grist. Walkinshaw had previously worked as a program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, served as a Washington state Representative, and unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress. Under Walkinshaw, Grist formally committed to becoming a more professional news outlet with higher editorial standards and less snarky writing. Due to successful fundraising, Grist expanded considerably as its revenue rose from about $3 million annually from 2015 to 2018, to $11 million in 2019. Walkinshaw’s efforts were supported by current CEO and then-senior editor Nikhil Swaminathan who had previously worked at the now-defunct Al Jazeera America. ⁶

In June 2020, Grist acquired the digital archives and brand assets of Pacific Standard, an “online social and environmental-social justice magazine.” ⁷

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

According to a 2020 Blue Tent article, Grist Magazine has a strong emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and purposefully cultivates freelance ethnic and racial minority writers through organizations like the Ida B. Wells Society. ⁸

Grist’s leadership also promised not to oppose unionization efforts by its staff. ⁹

Bias

Media Bias/Fact Check rates Grist’s ideological bias as “left-center,” and its factual reporting rating as “high,” the second best rating out of six rankings. ¹⁰

Media watchdog AllSides rates Grist’s ideological bias as “lean left.” ¹¹

Controversy

In 2013, Grist Magazine published a criticism of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)  for praising Walmart’s environmental initiatives. EDF responded with an article that accused Grist of “mischaracterizing” EDF’s relationship with Walmart and pointing out many of Walmart’s environmental achievements. ^{12 13}

In April 2012, Grist published a story exploring a proposed link between autism and high fructose corn syrup in food. According to Poynter, Grist faced widespread criticism from the scientific community for exploring a largely debunked theory associated with conspiracy theories concerning specious causal explanations for rising autism rates. However, Poynter also commended Grist for publishing a follow-up article casting an even more critical light on the alleged autism-corn syrup connection informed by criticism it received. ^{14 15}

Leadership

Chip Giller is the founder of Grist Magazine and remains its creative officer and board member. Giller was a three-time fellow with the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources and is or was a senior fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program. Giller is on the University of Washington’s Earth Lab’s advisory council. Before starting Grist, Giller was an editor at Greenwire. ^{16 17 18 19 20}

In September 2022, Nikhil Swaminathan became the chief executive officer of Grist, and had served as executive editor since 2018, and senior editor since 2017. Prior to Grist, Swaminathan worked at Scientific American, Al Jazeera America, GOOD, and Archaeology. He is also a board member at Grist. ^{21 22}

Susan Chira is a Grist board member and the editor in chief of the Marshall Project. ²³

Former Grist chief executive officer Brady Piñero Walkinshaw is the chief executive officer of Earth Alliance and still sits on the Grist board. ²⁴

Funding

In 2021, Grist Magazine earned $8,488,096 in revenue, the majority of which came through grants. ²⁵ According to a 2020 article, about 60 percent of Grist’s funding comes from large individual donors, 30 percent comes from foundations, and 10 percent comes from “brand partnerships, memberships and earned income.” ²⁶

Grist’s nonprofit funders include the Miami Foundation, the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Barr Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the David Bohnett Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Bullitt Foundation, the Emerson Collective, the Germeshausen Foundation, the Kendeda Fund, the Libra Foundation, Northlight Foundation, the Pisces Foundation, and the Waterloo Foundation. ²⁷

Grist has received advertising revenue from numerous for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations, including Arizona State University, the University of Washington, the University of Wisconsin, Anheuser-Busch, Earthjustice, the Kresge Foundation, the National Resource Defense Council, Simon and Schuster, the Post Carbon Institute, Climate Advisers, and the Just Transition Fund. ²⁸

1. “Grist names Nikhil Swaminathan as CEO.” Grist. September 20, 2022. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/article/grist-names-nikhil-swaminathan-as-ceo/.
2. “Chip Giller.” The Heinz Awards. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.heinzawards.org/pages/chip-giller.
3. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
4. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/about/faq/.
5. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
6. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
7. Fuller, Melynda. “Grist Acquiers Assets Of Environnemental Magazine ‘Pacific Standard’.” Media Post. June 2, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7MQZ2l4WeokJ:https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/352088/grist-acquires-assets-of-environmental-magazine-p.html&cd=29&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us.
8. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
9. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
10. “Grist – Bias and Credibility.” Media Bias/ Fact Check. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/grist/.
11. “Grist.” AllSides. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.allsides.com/news-source/grist.
12. Murray, Tom. “Why EDF celebrates Walmart’s environmental gains.” Environmental Defense Fund. November 7, 2013. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.edf.org/blog/2013/11/07/why-edf-celebrates-walmarts-environmental-gains.
13. Pooley, Eric. “A year of environmental controversy – and that’s a good thing.” Environmental Defense Fund. December 27, 2013. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.edf.org/blog/2013/12/27/year-environmental-controversy-and-thats-good-thing.
14. Silverman, Craig. “5 was Grist turned critics into fans after publishing controversial story.” Poynter. May 2, 2012. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/5-ways-grist-turned-critics-into-fans-after-it-published-a-problematic-story/.
15. Laskawy, Tom. “Paper asks: Does high-fructose corny syrup contribute to a rise in autism?” Grist. April 19, 2012. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/scary-food/new-study-links-autism-to-high-fructose-corn-syrup/.
16. “Articles by Founder and Creative Officer Chip Giller.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/author/chip-giller/.
17. “Chip Giller.” The Heinz Awards. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.heinzawards.org/pages/chip-giller.
18. “Earth Lab Advisory Council.” Earth Lab. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://earthlab.uw.edu/about/people/advisory-council/.
19. “Chris Giller.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chipgiller?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F.
20. “Team.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/team/.
21. “Grist names Nikhil Swaminathan as CEO.” Grist. September 20, 2022. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/article/grist-names-nikhil-swaminathan-as-ceo/.
22. “Team.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/team/.
23. “Grist names Nikhil Swaminathan as CEO.” Grist. September 20, 2022. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/article/grist-names-nikhil-swaminathan-as-ceo/.
24. “Team.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/team/.
25. “Grist Magazine.” ProPublica. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/61664153/202242279349302934/full.
26. Brennan, Trip. “Once a Snarky Blog, Grist Has Become a Leading Voice for Climate Justice.” Blue Tent. December 22, 2020. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://bluetent.us/articles/media-message/how-grist/.
27. “Funding Partners.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/funding-partners/.
28. “Funding Partners.” Grist. Accessed September 10, 2023. https://grist.org/funding-partners/.