The Real News Network is a media outlet that primarily publishes left-of-center opinion articles critiquing trending topics. ¹ It is based in Baltimore, Maryland, and registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as “Independent World Television,” a tax-exempt charitable organization. ^{2 3}

Background

The Real News Network grounds its reporting in radical-left ideology, arguing that statements such as “the failure of capitalism to deliver on either shared prosperity or ecological sustainability,” that “you cannot provide rigorous journalism in a North American context without acknowledging and challenging the historical legacy and continuing existence of racialized violence and dispossession,” and that international news “must be grounded in a recognition of the disastrous consequences of US efforts to achieve and maintain its global hegemonic status” are “basic facts about the world.”  ¹

Activities

The Real News Network identifies its reporting as ways to connect readers to “the cause of a more just, equal, and liable planet,” and aims to disrupt news narratives to push its political perspective. It characterizes itself as “unafraid to engage alongside movement for change” and argues that journalism “has a role to play” in “illuminating pathways for collective action.” ¹

Financials

According to the Real News Network’s tax returns, in 2024, it had an income of $3,129,098, expenses of $2,638,311, and net assets of $7,627,158. ⁴ The organization provides supporters an in-depth guide on how to donate using a donor-advised fund (DAF) to ensure anonymity, as well as guides on how to donate stock, securities, and cryptocurrency, and how to create estate plans. ²

Funding

The Real News Network recognizes the following organizations for contributing $1,000 or more annually: the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Baltimore Civic Fund, the Baltimore Community Foundation, the Bertha Foundation, the Chrysalis Fund at ImpactAssets, Digital Lift, the Fund for Change, Integrity Media NFP, the Quitiplas Foundation, the Scripps Howard Fund, the Solutions Journalism Network, the Tarbell Family Foundation, and the Zaitlin-Nienberg Family Fund. ¹

Leadership

As of 2024, Maximillian Alvarez was Real News Network’s editor-in-chief. He created the podcast Working People and previously worked as the associate editor of the Chronicle Review. ⁵

1. “About.” The Real News Network. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://therealnews.com/about.
2. “More Ways to Give.” The Real News Network. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://therealnews.com/more-ways-to-give.
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). “Independent World Television” dba “The Real News Network.” 2021. Box C.
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). “Independent World Television” dba “The Real News Network.” 2021. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
5. “Maximillian Alvarez.” The Real News Network. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://therealnews.com/author/maximillian-alvarez.