Seattle’s dying left-wing media outlets can’t survive on their own anymore.
Now they want you to pay for their propaganda.
And this far-left socialist just handed conservatives one nasty surprise that will make taxpayers furious.
Wilson’s scheme forces taxpayers to subsidize failing left-wing outlets
Far-left socialist Katie Wilson has a brilliant solution to her favorite news outlets going broke – make taxpayers bail them out.
The Seattle mayoral frontrunner wants to create $100 vouchers that residents can use to "support local news outlets of their choice."
The catch?
Taxpayers would fund these vouchers through "a small property tax levy, a capital gains tax, or a digital ad tax."
In a recent interview on the Mostly Economics podcast, Wilson framed her proposal as tackling the "crisis in the journalism industry."
"We do not have a sustainable financial model for supporting local news outlets," Wilson complained.
Translation: left-wing propaganda outlets can’t convince people to voluntarily pay for their garbage, so this far-left socialist wants to force taxpayers to fund them instead.
On The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM, Wilson admitted her scheme isn’t "necessarily a fully developed plan" but would help "smaller media outlets, like websites, and possibly radio."
She’s basically throwing taxpayer money at any outlet with a laptop and an opinion.
Government-approved journalism becomes government-controlled journalism
Wilson claims her voucher system would preserve journalistic independence because "individual residents" get to choose which outlets receive their taxpayer-funded vouchers.
But there’s a massive problem with that logic.
Residents can only choose from a government-approved list of "eligible" outlets.
Who decides which outlets make the approved list?
The same politicians who benefit from friendly coverage.
By creating a government subsidy system for journalism, this socialist is introducing the exact opposite of independent reporting – she’s creating government control of the press.
The minute taxpayer dollars get tied to journalism, politicians and bureaucrats start meddling in who gets paid and who gets blacklisted.
Wilson even admits the biggest problem is determining what qualifies as legitimate journalism³.
She acknowledged the difficulty in creating fair standards for which outlets would be eligible for taxpayer funding⁴.
That’s political speak for "we’ll figure out how to exclude conservative outlets later."
Wilson reveals her true target with ‘advocacy journalism’ praise
Wilson gave away her real motivation during the podcast interview when she started gushing about "advocacy journalism" outlets.
She specifically praised The Urbanist, Publicola, and the South Seattle Emerald.
These aren’t news outlets – they’re activist propaganda sites pushing the same progressive policies that turned Seattle into a crime-ridden wasteland.
Under this socialist’s "News Notes" program, these left-wing activist websites would rake in taxpayer cash while conservative voices get either shut out completely or branded as "misinformation."
When Cascade PBS cut its newsroom, Wilson tweeted: "Seattle needs a thriving local news ecosystem. That’s why I’ve proposed ‘News Notes.’"
Would Wilson make the same supportive tweet about Seattle Red or any conservative outlet facing budget cuts?
Not a chance.
That tells you everything about what this socialist scheme really accomplishes – Wilson wants to use taxpayer dollars to fund left-wing propaganda outlets that advance her radical agenda.
The real solution stares Wilson in the face
Here’s what Wilson won’t admit: any Seattle resident can already choose to support independent media today.
When The Stranger faced financial problems after years of poor left-wing reporting, they sought donations and received support from readers who valued their content⁵.
Many local outlets survive the same way – by providing content people voluntarily choose to support.
Wilson dismissed alternatives like tax cuts that would give Seattle residents more spending money to support outlets they choose, or invest in local businesses that benefit the entire community⁶.
But tax cuts don’t give Wilson control over which outlets get funded and which ones don’t.
And that’s exactly the point.
Look what Seattle’s media crisis really reveals
Seattle’s journalism crisis isn’t about lack of funding – it’s about lack of credibility.
After years of pushing woke ideology instead of reporting facts, many Seattle outlets can’t convince readers to pay for their propaganda voluntarily.
Wilson’s approach shows how far-left politicians think about taxpayer money.
Here’s a radical idea: maybe Seattle residents aren’t supporting these outlets because they don’t want to pay for biased reporting and activist propaganda disguised as news.
Instead of improving their content to earn readers, Wilson wants government to step in and force taxpayers to subsidize failure.
The "News Notes" program essentially creates a welfare system for journalism where City Hall bureaucrats decide which outlets deserve public funding and which don’t.
Guess which outlets will make the approved list? The same progressive sites Wilson already praises publicly.
Conservative outlets and independent voices that challenge the Left’s narrative? They’ll either get excluded entirely or face such restrictive criteria they can’t qualify.
This isn’t about supporting quality journalism – it’s about using tax dollars to prop up the propaganda outlets that advance Wilson’s political agenda while choking off funding for voices that oppose her.
Seattle voters deserve better than a far-left socialist mayor who wants to raid their wallets to prop up the same biased outlets that helped destroy their city in the first place.
¹ Jason Rantz, "Seattle mayoral candidate wants you to bankroll biased news," Seattle Red, October 9, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Ibid.
