Talking Points Memo (TPM)

Background

Talking Points Memo, also known as TPM, is a left-leaning political news and commentary website that covers politics, policy, and national news in Washington D.C. and beyond. ¹

TPM was founded in 2000 by journalist Josh Marshall as a blog. Talking Points Memo is published by TPM Media LLC, which is based in New York City. TPM has a bureau in Washington, D.C. that it opened in 2009. ^{1 2}

The site has had several offshoots such as TPMCafé, TPMMuckraker, TPMElection Central, TPMtv, and TPMDC. ³

Leadership

Josh Marshall, a career left-of-center journalist, is the founder and as of 2026 continued to work as the editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo. ⁴ Marshall was working for American Prospect at age 30 when he founded Talking Points Memo in the midst of the recount battle between presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore.  ⁵

As of 2026, John Light was the executive editor of Talking Points Memo. Light previously worked as a producer for Bill Moyers and WNYC. Light has written for The Atlantic, Slate, Reuters, and Grist.  ⁴

As of 2026, Joe Ragazzo was the publisher of Talking Points Memo.  ⁴ A former journalist, Ragazzo came on board as publisher in 2013.  ⁶

As of 2026, David Kurtz was the editor-at-large of Talking Points Memo.  ⁴ Before Marshall hired him as managing editor, Kurtz was a Missouri lawyer who was a regular TPM reader. He eventually established a regular email correspondence with Marshall. Marshall first started posting the Kurtz emails on the site anonymously or under “DK.” Kurtz had some journalism experience at an alternative weekly in New Orleans.  ³

As of 2026, Nicole LaFond was the deputy editor of news at Talking Points Memo. LaFond was previously the special projects editor and a senior newswriter for TPM.  ⁴

As of 2026, Allegra Kirkland was the deputy editor for audience and strategy at Talking Points Memo. She previously was the politics director at Teen Vogue.  ⁴

News Coverage

Talking Points Memo won several journalism awards for its coverage in opposition of the George W. Bush administration’s proposal to reform Social Security.  ⁷ In 2008, Talking Points Memo was the first online-based media outlet to win a George Polk Award in the legal reporting category for the 2007 coverage of the George W. Bush administration’s U.S. attorney firings.  ²

At the time, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez dismissed seven U.S. attorneys for what appeared to be political reasons. TPM enlisted the help of the website’s readers by posting legal documents from the Justice Department and asking readers to flag items of interest. ²

Talking Points Memo touted that it was among the early media outlets to take Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential candidacy seriously, looking back to 2015, while it say most mainstream media outlets were laughing off the real-estate businessman and reality-television host’s bid for president. ⁸

Talking Points Memo touts that it was among the early media outlets to allege that Donald Trump was tied to Russia.  ⁷

Then-Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren and her law students began writing posts for TPM Bankruptcy Bill Blog in March 2005 to oppose a bankruptcy bill moving through Congress. The blog was later renamed “Warren Reports” before Warren’s election to the U.S. Senate. ⁹

In 2012, TPM was the first to report that then-Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), then a Senate candidate, said rape would not likely cause a pregnancy.  ⁷

Talking Points Memo also reported on alleged credit card fraud by former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) after he was elected in 2022. ⁵

Business Model

Talking Points Memo first began to accept advertising revenue in 2003, three years after its founding when Josh Marshall was the sole employee. By 2008, the outlet had 12 employees. ¹⁰

From 2009 to 2012, Talking Points Memo expanded but ultimately spent more money than it was making, which forced it to cut staff and other expenses, retreating from prior plans to double in size. TPM’s future was in jeopardy, and it hired Joe Raggazzo in January 2013 as publisher to make the company financially sustainable. During the troubled time, its first focus was on increasing ad revenue through direct sales of ad space and programmatic ads. But in 2015, the website pivoted to expanding its subscriber base TPM Prime, and doubled the membership that year. In the following years, the business was moved away from selling ads to expanding the subscriber base. ⁶

In December 2008, TPM forged plans to sell more ad space to lobbyists and other influence-seekers that wanted to reach the site’s large audience among Democratic staffers in the incoming Obama administration and in the offices of the Democratic majority in Congress at the time. ¹⁰

Talking Points Memo claims to be a “member-funded publication,” meaning it is based largely on subscriptions. The outlet says it frequently engages with readers. The organization says it believes journalism should be accessible, and offers membership options to readers who cannot afford to pay.  ⁷

As of 2026, the outlet stated that about 91 percent of revenue came from membership and reader contributions. The remaining 9 percent derived from advertising.  ⁷

Of the outlet’s expenses as of 2026, 74 percent went to payroll and benefits; 11 percent went to office rent; 10 percent went to legal and miscellaneous expenses; and 5 percent went to web hosting.  ⁷

Staff Union

The TPM editorial staff are represented by the Writers Guild of America, East.  ⁷

Summer Concepcion, who was hired in June 2017, led an effort with colleagues to start a union. The employees made the proposal to Josh Marshall in May 2018, and informed him they were communicating with the WGA. Marshall responded that he would voluntarily recognize the union. ¹¹