Disruptive, New Media in the Age of Misinformation

Power over truth and narrative has dispersed across new platforms—driven by social media, algorithms, AI, and a rapidly shifting information economy. At a moment when the world urgently needs rigorous, independent journalism, many establishment and corporate media outlets are failing to meet the public interest. That’s why Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim, and Nausicaa Renner founded Drop Site News: a reader-funded investigative newsroom dedicated to exposing the crimes of the powerful, particularly in overt and covert conflicts where the U.S. government plays a central role. In less than two years, Drop Site has grown to more than 700,000+ subscribers, building a fiercely loyal community of readers who don’t just consume journalism—they fund it directly. This panel examines how Drop Site is challenging the broken economics of legacy media, why audiences are increasingly abandoning traditional outlets, and what the rise of reader-funded investigative journalism means for the future of journalism in the pursuit of truth.