Punchbowl News, a DC news outlet started by former Politico journalists, has allegedly allowed corporate sponsors to buy editorial features for hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to screenshots obtained by Breaking Points.
The outlet has offered corporate sponsors “[e]ditorial features exploring different areas of a mutually agreed upon topic” and podcasts, according to a screenshot posted by Breaking Points anchor Emily Jashinsky.
It also charges up to $210,000 per week for companies to sponsor their primary newsletter, according to an alleged marketing deck.
The deck shared a Venn diagram of what advertisers would get for their dollar, according to a screenshot in a Breaking Points video report. One one side of the screenshot reads “Punchbowl News” and “Editorial Expertise, Audience Trust and Community” while the other side features “Your Brand” and “Thought Leader, Genuine, Messaging and True Partner.” In the middle of the diagram from the alleged deck is an arrow with the phrase “Custom Product.”
Punchbowl claimed the chart was not recent, telling Breaking Points it was “an outdated price sheet that no longer reflects accurate data about Punchbowl News.” (RELATED: Legacy Media’s Most Influential Newsletters Are Funded By Some Of America’s Biggest Corporations)
However, the chart features a March 11 quote from House Speaker Mike Johnson, according to Jashinsky. The anchor claimed Breaking Points verified the chart was being shared within the past week.
“While the company may believe its coverage is free from partisan bias, it can’t seriously claim to be free from ideological biases given that its corporate benefactors are deeply ideological entities buying influence to advance those causes,” Jashinksy said.
Past sponsors for Punchbowl include Goldman Sachs, Google, Meta, IBM, Amazon, Comcast, Wells Fargo, the American Beverage Association, Astra Zeneca, British Petroleum (BP), Moderna, Bayer and more, according to a screenshot in the video report.
