BreakThrough News
BreakThrough News@btnewsroom
AbbreviationBT News or BTN
Location
WebsiteOfficial website

BreakThrough News (BT News or BTN) is an alternative[1]: 58 online media and news outlet based in New York City.[2][3][4][5][1]

History

In early 2020, BTN began posting to Instagram and YouTube.[6] In June 2020, BTN's founders registered BreakThrough Media (BT Media) as a non-profit organization.[7]

In 2025, BTN and Watermelon Pictures together produced the documentary film The Encampments about the 2024 Palestine solidarity encampments at Columbia University and other pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.[8][9]

Staff and contributors

BTN's leadership are almost all leaders in the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).[10] In 2023, BTN's anchors were PSL co-founders Brian Becker[6] and Eugene Puryear,[6][11] and Rania Khalek;[6][11] its editor-in-chief was PSL central committee member Ben Becker;[10][11] and its secretary was Claudia De la Cruz.[6] BTN works closely with Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and has often hosted Tricontinental founder Vijay Prashad.[6] Other frequent contributors include Abby Martin, Kei Pritsker,[6] and Katie Halper.[12]

Criticism

In 2022, the American think tank Newlines Institute described BreakThrough News as denying the persecution of Uyghurs in China during the counter-terrorism campaign, which the UN human rights chief Machelet could not attest in her China-requested investigation [13] despite her confirmation of human rights violations, and described BTN contributor Rania Khalek as an "apologist" for former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad with links to Russian State-funded media.[14]

In 2023, The Daily Beast contributor William Bredderman argued that BreakThrough News is part of a "pro-Russia, pro-China news network" funded by the American businessman Neville Roy Singham.

The NCRI published a report May 2024 citing Bredderman entitled "Contagious Disruption: How CCP Influence and Radical Ideologies Threaten Critical Infrastructure and Campuses Across the United States," stating that BreakThrough News is part of what it calls the 'Singham network,' which it describes as "a wide range of nonprofits, alternative media outlets, and donor organizations that have been funneling undisclosed funds and disseminating CCP-supported agendas and narratives into the United States since at least 2017."[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ abBergman, Tabe; Hearns-Branaman, Jesse Owen, eds. (2024). Media, dissidence and the War in Ukraine. Routledge studies in media, communication and politics. London New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-55705-2.
  2. ^"Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested as Columbia clears encampment". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  3. ^"Thousands take to streets to protest Netanyahu and Gaza conflict". The Independent. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  4. ^Fulton, Adam; Chao-Fong, Léonie; Luscombe, Richard; Mackay, Hamish; Ambrose, Tom; Banfield-Nwachi, Mabel; Sullivan, Helen; Chao-Fong, Adam Fulton (now); Léonie; Sullivan (earlier), Helen (2023-11-18). "Israeli forces 'determined to advance', says military – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-11-07.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^Berger, Chloe. "The university protests against Israel's action in Gaza are a defining moment for Gen Z". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  6. ^ abcdefgBredderman, William (May 29, 2023). "U.S Tech Mogul Bankrolls Pro-Russia, Pro-China News Network". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 10, 2024. Sitting on the People's Forum's board is Claudia De La Cruz, who pulls triple duty as BreakThrough's secretary and as a "co-coordinator/educator" for the Justice and Education Fund. An auditor's report filed in New York shows that more of Singham's money trickled down to BreakThrough from the Forum in the form of $80,575 in donated rent in 2021, the most recent year for which filings are available. But when The Daily Beast visited the People's Forum address, it found a bookstore hawking tomes by Prashad and titles from his Leftword imprint, as well as a coffee shop and an event space—but no evidence of a studio. What's more, none of BreakThrough's hosts appear among the staff listed in the outlet's filings. Rather, the underlying nonprofit's leadership consists of figures like De La Cruz who donate an hour a week to the organization, and who like De La Cruz are affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a small far-left sect that does not appear to receive substantial donations from Singham or from anybody else. The PSL does, however, appear as an allied group to the International People's Media Network on its webpage. Puryear and Becker, two of the BreakThrough anchors, are co-founders of the party.
  7. ^Suozzo, Andrea; Glassford, Alec; Ngu, Ash; Roberts, Brandon (2013-05-09). "Breakthrough Bt Media Inc - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  8. ^Elfadl, Murtada (2025-03-26). "'The Encampments' Review: Timely Doc Covers 2024 U.S. Campus Protests Through the Eyes of the Students". Variety. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  9. ^Adlakha, Siddhant (2025-03-25). "'The Encampments' Review: A Rousing Documentary Goes Inside Columbia Pro-Palestine Protests". IndieWire. Retrieved 2025-03-31.
  10. ^ abStarr, Michael (May 15, 2024). "China-linked network funding key anti-Israel protest groups in US". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on May 15, 2024. The Singham network amplified anti-Israel activism not just through the NGOs' social media accounts, but through pro-CCP media outlets like BreakThrough News. [....] The Answer Coalition and PUF site often serves as a venue for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) which has also been a notable actor in the anti-Israel protests. Becker is also a leader in PSL, as is Answer co-founder Claudia De la Cruz, who is the PSL's 2024 presidential candidate. [....] BT News editor-in-chief Ben Becker was previously an ANSWER organizer, and host and producer Eugene Puryear is alleged by the Daily Beast to be a PSL founder. ANSWER director Brian Becker is a contributor to the outlet. BT News operated out of the same address as the People's Forum, which provided grants to the outlet in 2021 and 2022 according to NCRI.
  11. ^ abc"Meet the Team". BreakThrough News. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. EUGENE PURYEAR Host & Producer [....] RANIA KHALEK Host & Producer [....] BEN BECKER Editor-in-Chief
  12. ^Halper, Katie (2022-10-04). "I Was Canceled for Criticizing Israel". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  13. ^"China responsible for 'serious human rights violations' in Xinjiang province: UN human rights report". United Nations News. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  14. ^Ross, Alexander Reid; Dobson, Courtney (2022-01-18). "The Big Business of Uyghur Genocide Denial". New Lines Magazine. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  15. ^"Contagious Disruption: How CCP Influence and Radical Ideologies Threaten Critical Infrastructure and Campuses Across the United States". Network Contagion Research Institute. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
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