# The Grayzone The Grayzone is an American news and opinion website founded by [[Max Blumenthal]] in December 2015. It presents itself as independent investigative journalism about U.S. empire. Its critics, who span the political spectrum, describe it as an outlet that reliably defends the governments of [[Russia]], [[China]], [[Syria]], [[Iran]], [[Venezuela]] and Nicaragua, and that casts doubt on evidence of their abuses. ## History and staff The site began as The Grayzone Project, a blog hosted by the progressive outlet AlterNet, and became independent in early 2018. Blumenthal is editor-in-chief. Other regular names include Aaron Maté, Anya Parampil, Kit Klarenberg and managing editor Wyatt Reed. Several staff members previously worked for the Russian state outlets [[RT]] or Sputnik. [[Ben Norton]], long the site's second voice, left in January 2022 and later accused Blumenthal of taking it toward the Trump right. The Grayzone says it is funded by readers and private donors and takes no money from any government. ## What it publishes The pattern critics point to is consistent across countries: - **Syria.** The site disputed that [[Bashar al-Assad]]'s government used chemical weapons and promoted claims that the international chemical-weapons watchdog had doctored its findings on the 2018 Douma attack. - **China.** It challenged reporting on the mass internment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and Chinese state media cited it heavily. - **Ukraine.** After Russia's 2022 invasion it published claims that were later debunked, including that the bombing of the Mariupol theatre had been staged. - **Latin America.** It has backed [[Nicolás Maduro]]'s government in Venezuela and [[Daniel Ortega]]'s in Nicaragua against accounts of repression. Editors of English [[Wikipedia]] barred the site as a source for factual claims in March 2020. Supporters answer that the mainstream press treats official U.S. claims with far less suspicion than it treats The Grayzone's. ## Money and state media In June 2024 the [[Washington Post]] reported, from hacked records of the Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, that Reed had been paid several thousand dollars for contributions in 2020 and 2021. The Post corrected an early version that said the site's leaders had taken the money; the payments were to Reed alone. The Grayzone replied that the work was public, small, and predated his joining the staff in 2023. Payment platforms have cut the site off more than once. GoFundMe froze more than $90,000 in donations in August 2023 without a detailed explanation. [[PayPal]] suspended the site's account in October 2025; in February 2026 Blumenthal said the company had flagged two small donations from an Iranian-born supporter in Australia. The Freedom of the Press Foundation criticized the lack of transparency in such freezes while making clear it was not vouching for the site's journalism. See [[Debanking]] for the wider practice. ## In 2026 The [[Iran War 2026]] has been the site's dominant subject. Blumenthal reported from Tehran in July and was stopped by [[CBP]] on his return, when agents seized his phones; the resulting lawsuit is described on his page. The site has also interviewed officials of [[Hezbollah]] and the [[Houthis]], and has covered pro-Israel spending against Rep. [[Thomas Massie]]. ## Why it's on the map The Grayzone anchors the anti-imperialist wing of [[Heterodox Media]]. It is not a right-wing outlet, but its staff appear with [[Tucker Carlson]] and [[Jimmy Dore]], its stories circulate among [[America First]] opponents of foreign wars, and its line on Russia and Ukraine matches themes tracked under [[Kremlin Disinformation]]. It is the clearest example on this wiki of how opposition to U.S. foreign policy can become alignment with other states' messaging, and of the argument over whether that is a fair description at all. ## Connections - [[Heterodox Media]] · [[Max Blumenthal]] · [[Ben Norton]] · [[Jimmy Dore]] - [[RT]] · [[Kremlin Disinformation]] · [[Whataboutism]] · [[Useful Idiot]] - [[Syrian Civil War]] · [[Russo-Ukrainian War]] · [[Iran War 2026]] · [[Venezuela]] - [[PayPal]] · [[Debanking]] · [[Deplatforming]] · [[Wikipedia]]