The Opt Out Media foundation is a left-of-center news aggregation organization that operates the Opt Out News App, an app for iPhone and iPad launched in March 2022. The organization aggregates news, podcasts, video, and other media from left-of-center to far-left outlets including In These Times, Sludge, and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). The organization was co-founded by Alex Kotch, an investigative reporter for CMD, and the Opt Out News App was developed by the left-of-center Progressive Coders Network. The group claims to aggregate content from media sources that are free from funding from businesses and supportive of the organization’s left-of-center agenda. ^{1 2}

Background

The Opt Out Media Foundation was founded in August 2020 as a nonprofit technology start up with the intention of developing a news aggregation. The group was co-founded by Alex Kotch, a researcher, writer, and activist from the left-wing Center for Media and Democracy, and Walker Bragman, a left-of-center writer and editorialist. Bragman and Kotch partnered with the Progressive Coders Network, an organization comprised of left-of-center activists who create open source technology tools to promote left-of-center policies and Democratic candidates, to develop the Opt Out News App. ³

The group launched the Opt Out News App in March 2022 and billed it as a “sophisticated” news app that would distribute content including articles, podcasts, and videos from a network of 120 media outlets. The group’s mission is to promote what it calls “financially independent” media outlets, meaning that outlets in the group’s network cannot be owned by a corporate entity or financial institution, specifically mentioning Comcast and Alden Global Capital as examples. The group also requires that outlets in its network not be primarily funded by corporations or corporate foundations, not be publicly traded, and not be funded by foundations or companies relevant to the outlet’s reporting. The group also states that all partner media outlets and their funders must be supportive of pro-labor union activities and labor organizing. ⁴

Funding

The Opt Out Media Foundation states that it has received donations including $10,000 from Jesse Crawford, $5,000 from co-founder Alex Kotch, and $5,000 from the Puffin Foundation as of March 2022. ⁵

People

The board of the Opt Out Media Foundation Includes co-founders Alex Kotch and Walker Bragman; Rabyaah Althaibani, the founder of Arab Women’s Voice; Maria Bustillos, the founder of Popula and Brick House; and digital strategist Mark Colangelo.  ⁶

The news curators for the Opt Out News App are Bragman and Kotch along with Jacqueline Keeler, an author and founder of Pollen Nation Magazine; Trevor Beaulieu, the host of Champagne Sharks podcast; immigration reporter Samira Sadeque; and labor reporter Michael Sainato. ⁷

Partnered Media Outlets

The media outlets promoted by the Opt Out Media foundation are all-left-of-center to far-left podcasts, blogs, and news sites. Many are connected to one another and share contributors and fiscal backing. Such outlets include Exposed by CMD, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD); the “David Feldman Show”; Brown Girl Green; In These Times; Jacobin; Jewish Currents; Katie Halper; Knock LA; New York Focus; Pod Damn America; the American Prospect, and the Antifada. ⁸

1. “Media Nonprofit Launches Innovative Independent News App for iOS.” Opt Out. March 14, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://originals.optout.news/media-nonprofit-launches-innovative-independent-news-app-for-ios/
2. “Home.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/
3. “Media Nonprofit Launches Innovative Independent News App for iOS.” Opt Out. March 14, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://originals.optout.news/media-nonprofit-launches-innovative-independent-news-app-for-ios/
4. “Standards.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/standards/
5. “About.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/about/
6. “About.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/about/
7. “About.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/about/
8. “Home.” Opt Out News. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.optout.news/