Uygur raised just under $1 million from angel investors to start TYT, which relies on subscriptions and ad revenue for income. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia before creating “The Young Turks,” a politics talk show that was a web pioneer. The 47-year-old was born in Istanbul and moved to America as a child. To Uygur’s credit, he’s never been afraid of hearing from the other side: a YouTube video of him debating alt-right commentator Dinesh D’Souza has over 300,000 views. Since Trump’s election- which almost all mainstream news networks missed- media circles have been abuzz with worries that audiences are segregating into echo chambers that reinforce existing opinions. “Millennials want news outlets to make a difference. That’s not entirely surprising: since the election of President Donald Trump last year, organizations such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have seen subscriptions increase dramatically. But Uygur thinks he has more going than a so-called “Trump bump.” “Our effort is not just to cover the story, but to effect change,” he says. “Our interests are aligned with our audience.” TYT turned to viewers because it felt they wanted to get involved (though some on the left don’t think it’s appropriate for a for-profit company to do so.) “It’s not just against the corruption of the Trump administration, which we had a sense was coming, but for us to be watchers on the wall against the establishment,” he says. (A previous fundraising effort for a new studio brought in $425,000, more than the targeted $250,000.) TYT recently concluded a successful bid to crowdfund $2 million for investigative reporting teams, and over 57,000 people chipped in with an average donation of $32.90. At TYT, an online politics channel, about 30,000 subscribers pay $10 a month for unabashedly left-wing news and commentary. What Uygur has going for him is an audience willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Justice Is Coming by Cenk Uygur