Independent Funding Audit
Fiscal Year 2025-26 · Published
✓ Zero Corporate Advertising
Honestly Biased accepts no corporate advertising, sponsored content, native advertising, or advertorials. No brand has ever influenced, reviewed, or approved our editorial output. Our "Express Bias" satire targets corporations precisely because we owe them nothing.
Revenue Breakdown (FY 2025-26)
| Source | Amount (₹) | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Reader Subscriptions (Monthly/Annual) | ₹ 1,84,72,000 | 72.4% |
| Reader Donations (One-time) | ₹ 42,18,000 | 16.5% |
| Collective Memberships (Founding) | ₹ 22,50,000 | 8.8% |
| Grants (Independent Journalism Funds*) | ₹ 5,80,000 | 2.3% |
| TOTAL | ₹ 2,55,20,000 | 100% |
* Grants from: Independent Journalism Fund (IJF), Digital News Innovation Fund (DNIF) — both no-strings-attached, editorial-freedom-guaranteed programs.
Expense Allocation
- Editorial Operations (55%): Salaries, freelance commissions, fact-checking, legal review
- Technology & Infrastructure (18%): Hosting, CDN, AI API costs, CMS, analytics
- Investigative Reporting Fund (12%): Travel, document acquisition, source protection, legal defense
- Reader Engagement & Growth (10%): Newsletter platform, community events, referral program
- Reserve & Contingency (5%): Legal reserve, emergency reporting fund
Governance Safeguards
- Editorial Firewall: Revenue team has zero input on story selection, framing, or publication timing.
- No Single Donor > 1%: No individual reader contributes more than 1% of annual revenue.
- Grant Conditions: All institutional grants include explicit editorial independence clauses.
- Annual Audit: Independent CA firm audits accounts; summary published here every July.
Our independence is not a claim — it's a structure. If you value it, join the Collective.