Happy New Year From OptOut!

Well, it's that time of year again: The end.

We have to say, 2023 has been rough for the country and the world, generally. Between accelerating climate change, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and grisly news abroad in places like Gaza, we're ready to see what 2024 has to offer.

That said, it was still a big year for OptOut. Yes, we struggled with fundraising. No, we haven't topped corporate media. But we did some really important work.

We started our–or rather absorbed–own reporting outfit and broke some pretty important stories.

We exposed how the network of indicted Chinese billionaire and right-wing darling Guo Wengui used right-wing media and prominent conservatives to launder his image.

We were the first to show how far-right parents' rights groups Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education were largely backed by big right-wing money.

We exposed the hell out of the Brownstone Institute, a major COVID minformation hub/dark money outfit. We obtained internal emails showing how contributors to the group and its founder held pro-child labor positions.

We also pulled as much of its fundraising as we could identify, revealing how big donations make up almost all of Brownstone's budget.

Our reporting on Brownstone even appeared to cause...meaningful restructuring...at their organization with the departure of Dr. Paul Alexander, who had come on as a 2023 Brownstone fellow and made public calls for trials and executions of public health officials.

We also partnered with major outlets like The New Republic and Rolling Stone to break big stories about how charities are being used to fund hate and conspiracy theories.

More recently, we teamed up with Sludge on a piece about AIPAC funding and the Democrats who voted to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her comments about Israel/Palestine.

Another major development: OptOut's coding team redesigned the backend of our free news app, making it easier to update and deliver our various newsletters to you. We want to acknowledge and give publci credit to the people who made it all possible for us to keep you up-to-date on the most important stories of the day. To them, we say thank you!

We've got big plans for the new year. We're redesigning the app and we're aiming to expand Important Context to deliver even more original reporting–perhaps from more journalists!

Please consider helping us achieve that vision. Have a great new year!

The OptOut Media Foundation (EIN: 85-2348079) is a nonprofit charity with a mission to educate the public about current events and help sustain a diverse media ecosystem by promoting and assisting independent news outlets and, in doing so, advance democracy and social justice.

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