Draft:Zeteo: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

 

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=== Company ===

=== Company ===

In April 2024, ”Zeteo” announced the start of its operations. The company said it hired various contributors, like activist [[Greta Thunberg]], comedian [[W. Kamau Bell]], writer [[Naomi Klein]], journalist [[Spencer Ackerman]] and former [[CNN International|CNN]] correspondent [[John Harwood (journalist)|John Harwood]].<ref name=”:3″ /> Substack officials held an event at [[International Spy Museum]] for Mehdi Hasan shortly after ”Zeteo’s” founding that was attended by hundreds of people, including journalist [[Kara Swisher]] and politician [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]], with whom Hasan talked about [[Palestine]] and ”Zeteo”. The day before the event, ”Zeteo” surpassed 150,000 subscribers, 20,000 of whom were paid, and became one of the top five biggest political newsletters on Substack by revenue. ”Zeteo’s” subscribers were reported to b from various parts of the world, 50% of them were from the US, 16% were from the UK and the rest were from 195 countries.<ref name=”:8″>{{Cite web |last=Jung |first=Alex |date=April 23, 2024 |title=Mehdi Hasan Wants to Debate You |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mehdi-hasan-zeteo-msnbc-palestine.html |access-date= |website=[[New York Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Graber-Libberman |first=Nathan |last2=Doyle |first2=Hannah |date=April 19, 2024 |title=Broadcast Journalism, Now Streaming on X: Journalist Mehdi Hasan Starts News Company |url=https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/broadcast-journalism-now-streaming-x |access-date= |website=The Publish Press |language=en}}</ref>

In April 2024, ”Zeteo” announced the start of its operations. The company said it hired various contributors, like activist [[Greta Thunberg]], comedian [[W. Kamau Bell]], writer [[Naomi Klein]], journalist [[Spencer Ackerman]] and former [[CNN International|CNN]] correspondent [[John Harwood (journalist)|John Harwood]].<ref name=”:3″ /> Substack officials held an event at [[International Spy Museum]] for Mehdi Hasan shortly after ”Zeteo’s” founding that was attended by hundreds of people, including journalist [[Kara Swisher]] and politician [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]], with whom Hasan talked about [[Palestine]] and ”Zeteo”. The day before the event, ”Zeteo” surpassed 150,000 subscribers, 20,000 of whom were paid, and became one of the top five biggest political newsletters on Substack by revenue. ”Zeteo’s” subscribers were reported to from various parts of the world, 50% of them were from the US, 16% were from the UK and the rest were from 195 countries.<ref name=”:8″>{{Cite web |last=Jung |first=Alex |date=April 23, 2024 |title=Mehdi Hasan Wants to Debate You |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/mehdi-hasan-zeteo-msnbc-palestine.html |access-date= |website=[[New York Magazine]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Graber-Libberman |first=Nathan |last2=Doyle |first2=Hannah |date=April 19, 2024 |title=Broadcast Journalism, Now Streaming on X: Journalist Mehdi Hasan Starts News Company |url=https://news.thepublishpress.com/p/broadcast-journalism-now-streaming-x |access-date= |website=The Publish Press |language=en}}</ref>

In September 2024, ”Zeteo” received 206,000 subscribers and 31,000 paid subscribers, 1,000 of whom pay $500 per year. Its annual revenue was reported to be at $3 million. It was considered to be one of the most popular outlets hosted on Substack, it employeed nine editors and 14 contributors. Audience of ”Zeteo” was described by Hasan as a mix of [[Progressivism|progressives]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] who previously watched his show.<ref name=”:4″ /> In November 2024, Hasan gave an interview to [[Sreenivasan Jain]], with whom he discussed why he founded the company. He said the reason why ”Zeteo” rose in popularity is because peole were “fed up” with “[[corporate media]]” and wanted [[Independent journalist|independent journalism]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=November 4, 2025 |title=Journalist Mehdi Hasan on Trump’s threats to the press, why he founded Zeteo, reporting on Hamas, & more |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/videos/exclusive-journalist-mehdi-hasan-on-trumps-threats-to-the-press-why-he-founded-zeteo-reporting-on-hamas-more |access-date= |website=[[The News Minute]] |language=en}}</ref>

In September 2024, ”Zeteo” received 206,000 subscribers and 31,000 paid subscribers, 1,000 of whom pay $500 per year. Its annual revenue was reported to be at $3 million. It was considered to be one of the most popular outlets hosted on Substack, it employeed nine editors and 14 contributors. Audience of ”Zeteo” was described by Hasan as a mix of [[Progressivism|progressives]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] who previously watched his show.<ref name=”:4″ /> In November 2024, Hasan gave an interview to [[Sreenivasan Jain]], with whom he discussed why he founded the company. He said the reason why ”Zeteo” rose in popularity is because peole were “fed up” with “[[corporate media]]” and wanted [[Independent journalist|independent journalism]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=November 4, 2025 |title=Journalist Mehdi Hasan on Trump’s threats to the press, why he founded Zeteo, reporting on Hamas, & more |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/videos/exclusive-journalist-mehdi-hasan-on-trumps-threats-to-the-press-why-he-founded-zeteo-reporting-on-hamas-more |access-date= |website=[[The News Minute]] |language=en}}</ref>

This is a draft article. It is a work in progress open to editing by anyone. Please ensure core content policies are met before publishing it as a live Wikipedia article.

Zeteo is a media company and Substack newsletter founded by American commentator Mehdi Hasan on April 15, 2024^[2][1] after he quit MSNBC due to his talk show being cancelled. Hasan said it costed 4$ million dollars to launch the outlet and that it reports from a left-wing perpective,^[3] covering news not reported by mainstream media outlets.^[4] Zeteo was described by sources as progressive^[5][6] and alternative media outlet.^[7] Various personalities write for the company, like Greta Thunberg and Naomi Klein.^[8]

Zeteo publishes daily news and helds weekly talk show named Mehdi Unfiltered hosted by Mehdi Hasan along with a weekly podcast.^[4] The outlet has a YouTube channel where it has 1.2 million subscribers and uploads four to five videos per week.^[5] Oliver Darcy said in August 2025 that Zeteo’s newsletter has 450,000+ subscribers and 50,000+ paid subscribers, who pay $12 per month.^[9] Zeteo has an estimated annual revenue of $3.9 million.^[10]

MSNBC talk show named The Mehdi Hasan Show,^[11] hosted by liberal commentator Mehdi Hasan was cancelled by the network for unclear reasons in 2023. The incident caused him to leave the network, and as a result, many people began to express increased support for him.^[4] People who identified as progressive were upset by the shows’s end, reportedly, because they thought that Hasan’s style in the show was “unique” compared to other figures in the media. Later, on February 28, 2024, Hasan announced the upcoming creation of a new media company named “Zeteo”.^[3] The company’s name came from a Greek word that translated as “to seek”, full launch of the company was scheduled by him in April 2024 on Substack. Hasan said that the outlet would feature daily news stories authored by various well-known individuals, as well as a weekly talk show named Mehdi Unfiltered, hosted by him, and a weekly podcast. He said that to read the site’s full content, users would need to subscribe for $6 per month.^[4]

Mehdi Hasan said he raised $4 million to fund the creation of the company, the money reportedly came from his friends, family members and fans who were disillusioned with the end of his talk show. Hasan said the company would cover news ignored by the mainstream media and that, unlike the Tucker Carlson Network, it would not be centered around him; instead, he said, it would exist “with multiple voices”.^[4] In March 2025, Press Gazette said Zeteo newsletter will produce interviews, news and op-eds from left-leaning perspective. It said Zeteo’s Substack already had 94,000 subscribers in April and four editors (excluding Hasan), the publication was said to hire both US-based and international writers. The weekly show of will be filmed in Zeteo’s headquarters in Washington D.C., Hasan said the podcast of Zeteo will feature figures from Hollywood, Los Angeles who the audience will find “surprising”. He added that Zeteo will cover not only news, but also culture and entertainment.^[12]

In April 2024, Zeteo announced the start of its operations. The company said it hired various contributors, like activist Greta Thunberg, comedian W. Kamau Bell, writer Naomi Klein, journalist Spencer Ackerman and former CNN correspondent John Harwood.^[8] Substack officials held an event at International Spy Museum for Mehdi Hasan shortly after Zeteo’s founding that was attended by hundreds of people, including journalist Kara Swisher and politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with whom Hasan talked about Palestine and Zeteo. The day before the event, Zeteo surpassed 150,000 subscribers, 20,000 of whom were paid, and became one of the top five biggest political newsletters on Substack by revenue. Zeteo’s subscribers were reported to be from various parts of the world, 50% of them were from the US, 16% were from the UK and the rest were from 195 countries.^[13][14]

In September 2024, Zeteo received 206,000 subscribers and 31,000 paid subscribers, 1,000 of whom pay $500 per year. Its annual revenue was reported to be at $3 million. It was considered to be one of the most popular outlets hosted on Substack, it employeed nine editors and 14 contributors. Audience of Zeteo was described by Hasan as a mix of progressives and Democrats who previously watched his show.^[2] In November 2024, Hasan gave an interview to Sreenivasan Jain, with whom he discussed why he founded the company. He said the reason why Zeteo rose in popularity is because peole were “fed up” with “corporate media” and wanted independent journalism.^[15]

On April 15, 2025, Zeteo’s anniversary day, Hasan gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times about the state of the company. He said Zeteo was created during Ramadan with the help of four people. He said the popularity of Zeteo surpassed his team’s expectations and described it as “in a very good place”.^[16] In September 2025, Zeteo launched a new progressive morning newsletter written by Peter Rothpletz and Mehdi Hasan. Additionally, it hired a number of Rolling Stone editors, including Asawin Suebsaeng, who said to Semafor he was “glad” to be employed by the organization. Hasan said Zeteo reached almost 500,000 non-paying subscribers and 50,000 paid subscribers on Substack, it also reportedly reached 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, where it uploads approximately four to five videos per day.^[5] In November 2025, it was reported that Zeteo an estimated annual revenue of $3.9 million.^[10] In the previous month, TheWrap estimated that Zeteo’s paid subscribers generate over $500,000 to the company annually, it said the company’s early revenue is $4.7 million.^[17]

After Zeteo’s launch in April 2024, the first episode of Mehdi Unfiltered show was said to interview former PM of Israel Ehud Olmert aswell as discuss presidency of Donald Trump.^[8] In May 2024, Twitter comment of Pakistani politician Hina Butt accused Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan of paying Zeteo money for an exclusive interview with him that month. She was immediately community noted by users, who said she had misunderstood the context of the word “paid” in Zeteo’s article about the interview. The word “paid” actually means that the article is available to paid subscribers.^[18] In June 2024, Zeteo interviewed three former employees of DoD about the Gaza war. It was noted by Haaretz in that month that many interviews of Zeteo went viral on the internet and that Hasan is known to “rigorously” fact-check participants of Mehdi Unfiltered.^[19]

On September 28, 2025, Zeteo interviewed Pakistani Defence minister Khawaja Asif about the country’s defense pact with Saudi Arabia.^[20] On September 30, Zeteo interviewed Chief Adviser of Pakistan Muhammad Yunus about the accusations of his government’s persecution of Hindus.^[21] Zeteo had also interviewed American politician Zohran Mamdani. One interview occured in September 2025, where Mamdani criticized Anti-Defamation League.^[22] Another interview was made in December 2025, where Mamdani said he would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he becomes a mayor of New York City.^[23]

In July 2024, Zeteo published its first documentary film named Israel’s Reel Extremism. The documentary showed various posts made by Israel Defense Forces soldiers on social media, as well as interviews with the soldiers responsible for posting them. The film was produced by Basement Films, its premiere was co-hosted by Jewish Currents.^[24][25]

In May 2025, Zeteo released another documentary film, it analyzed the death of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in West Bank.^[26] The documentary was named Who Killed Shireen?, it concluded that she was killed by Duvdevan Unit soldier of IDF.^[27] The fim was 40 minutes long and was also co-premiered by Jewish Currents.^[28]

On July 3, 2025, Zeteo published a hour-long documentary film named Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, it was initially commissioned by BBC News but was cancelled for unknown reasons. The documentary was produced by Basement Films and directed by three pepole, including one former employee of Channel 4 News. The film showed difficulties endured by Palestinian medical personnel in Gaza Strip, like IDF’s attacks on ambulances and bombing campaigns.^[29] The film featured interviews with health workers filmed in Gaza and was only released because it was acquired by Zeteo.^[30]

Zeteo was described by sources as progressive^[5][6], alternative media^[7] and left-leaning outlet.^[26] Mehdi Hasan described Zeteo as a “movement for media accountability”,^[17] he said its content comes from a left wing perpective.^[3] TheWrap noted that majority of Zeteo’s content focuses on discussing Gaza war and Second Trump administration.^[17] Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack, described the launch of Zeteo as a success. He said it was done “freakishly well”, he added: “The success it’s had so far is unlike anything we’ve seen to date”.^[13] In April 2024, writer Ashley Rindsberg said Zeteo will face many challenges in the future, such as low demand for its political news due to social media existing and low viewership for its show due to its over-focus on Israeli-Palestinian conflict.^[31]

In May 2024, a CNN reporter read an excerpt of a Zeteo article written by a pro-Palestinian Columbia University student to speaker Mike Johnson. Mehdi Hasan told Rolling Stone that this was a sign of Zeteo’s increasing presence.^[1] Also in May, the New Statesman described Zeteo as “one of the most successful new media companies in the US”, it said the creation of the company was inspired by The Free Press.^[32] In September 2024, four months after the creation of Zeteo, The Washington Post described the company’s launch as “so far, so good”.^[2]