The Intercept is a U.S. online nonprofit news organization founded in 2014 by First Look Media, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald. Its stated mission is to investigate powerful individuals and institutions, with a focus on national security, digital privacy, government secrets, civil liberties, the environment, international affairs, and politics. The outlet launched on February 10, 2014, publishing its first stories the same day, and restructured as a standalone independent nonprofit on January 9, 2023, after eight years under First Look Institute. Among its most consequential investigations, its 2015 “Drone Papers” series and its role in the 2017 Reality Winner case placed it at the center of major debates over press freedom and government secrecy.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- Founded: 2014
- Founder: First Look Media; Jeremy Scahill; Laura Poitras; Glenn Greenwald
- Type: magazine; news website; organization; 501(c)(3) organization
- Website: https://theintercept.com/
Origins and founding
The Intercept was created in 2014 by First Look Media alongside journalists Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras, and Glenn Greenwald. Its founding purpose was specific: to report on the Edward Snowden NSA disclosures. That narrow starting point quickly expanded into broader investigative coverage, but the Snowden documents remained central to its early identity. On its launch day, February 10, 2014, the publication ran stories containing NSA surveillance revelations drawn from those documents.
Pierre Omidyar, through First Look Media, provided the original financial backing. According to First Look Media’s tax return, the organization spent $10.5 million to operate The Intercept website in 2016 alone. Omidyar ceased financial support in 2022, after which First Look Media provided a $14 million grant to support The Intercept’s transition to independence.
Structure and leadership
On January 9, 2023, The Intercept announced it would restructure as a standalone independent nonprofit organization, formally separating from First Look Institute after eight years. As a 501(c)(3) organization, it relies on donations from readers and listeners, grants, major donor gifts, podcast sponsorship, and licensing fees.
Betsy Reed served as editor-in-chief from January 2015 until 2024. In January 2025, The Intercept appointed Ben Muessig to that role; Muessig had joined the organization in April 2024 as assistant managing editor after previously serving at the Los Angeles Times. In June 2025, Maia Hibbett was appointed managing editor, having previously been politics editor for Gothamist and WNYC.
Major investigations
On October 15, 2015, The Intercept published “The Drone Papers,” an eight-part investigation based on secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Two weeks after publication, the White House promised new transparency efforts around the U.S. drone program, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus called for an investigation based on the series.
In June 2017, The Intercept published a classified NSA report on Russian hacking of U.S. election infrastructure. The source, Reality Winner, was arrested on June 3, 2017, and received a 63-month sentence, which was at the time the longest ever handed down in federal court for the alleged crime of being a journalist’s source.
In 2019, The Intercept Brasil published the “Vaza Jato” investigation into Brazil’s Operation Car Wash scandal. That reporting led to criminal charges against co-founder Glenn Greenwald himself; Brazilian prosecutors charged him in January 2020 with crimes including criminal association and invasion of an electronic device.
On August 12, 2026, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against President Trump and his staff. The lawsuit challenged Trump Media’s plan to monetize early access to Truth Social posts for up to $100,000 per month as a violation of First and Fifth Amendment rights.
The Snowden archive
The Edward Snowden documents formed a core part of The Intercept’s work throughout its early years. In March 2019, the organization shut down its Snowden archive research team and closed external access to those documents, citing budget constraints. The final batch of Snowden documents was published on May 29, 2019.
Press freedom work and legal advocacy
The Intercept established the Press Freedom Defense Fund in 2014. The fund provides legal support for journalists and whistleblowers facing persecution. It was revitalized in 2025, and the organization describes it as a cornerstone initiative.
The organization’s reporting since 2014 has, by its own account, spurred exonerations, reformed laws, enacted new legislation, and exposed national security programs that it contends undermine civil liberties.
Did you know
- The Intercept’s initial founding mission was specifically to report on the Edward Snowden NSA disclosures. Its very first stories on launch day, February 10, 2014, contained revelations about NSA surveillance programs. (techcrunch.com)
- The Drone Papers investigation, published on October 15, 2015, revealed that during one five-month operation in northeastern Afghanistan, over 200 people were killed by drone strikes but only 35 were the intended targets, meaning around 80% of those killed were not the intended targets. (fortune.com)
- Government investigators identified Reality Winner as the source of the 2017 NSA leak to The Intercept in part because The Intercept showed government officials a copy of the document that contained microdots identifying the source printer. (npr.org)
- The Intercept Brasil’s 2019 “Vaza Jato” investigation into Brazil’s Operation Car Wash scandal led to criminal charges against co-founder Glenn Greenwald himself. Brazilian prosecutors charged him in January 2020 with crimes including criminal association and invasion of an electronic device. (cpj.org)
- On its launch day of February 10, 2014, The Intercept published classified NSA surveillance revelations drawn from the Edward Snowden documents, making it one of the few news outlets to publish classified government secrets from its very first hours of existence. (techcrunch.com)
Data sources
- Wikidata
- theintercept.com
- mediabiasfactcheck.com
- awards.journalists.org
- influencewatch.org
- electrospaces.net
- feeds.acast.com
Data updated: 2026-10-31