Verbatim Media is a full-service media management and strategy firm for emerging outlets, digital channels, creators, and public figures who are serious about growing an audience and bringing a fresh perspective to today’s news, politics, and opinion landscape. We provide liberal and left-leaning creators with the backend needed to thrive in today’s evolving digital media environment.

We operate as an embedded partner—functioning as an executive producer, talent booker, business team, and strategic advisor all in one. For top-tier clients, that includes daily editorial involvement, dedicated production and editing support, and on-demand access to a rolodex spanning new media’s most influential players and legacy outlets alike. Whether the need is a high-profile guest booked on short notice, a narrative crisis contained, or a ghostwritten book, Verbatim delivers with discretion and speed.

We bring platform-specific monetization expertise across YouTube, Substack, X, Twitch, and beyond. Every platform has its own audience dynamics, revenue mechanics, and growth levers—and most talent leaves real money on the table by treating them the same. Verbatim handles the strategy, the business development, and the production infrastructure, so clients can focus entirely on what they do best: making resonant content.

Press for Verbatim Media:

“A group of young digital media personalities is launching Verbatim Media, a full-service media management and strategy firm for digital content creators that hopes to be the Red Seat Ventures of the left.” —Max Tani, Semafor

“For years, the left has tried, and mostly failed, to find some kind of answer to Joe Rogan. But if ever there was a time for a project like Rothpletz’s to break through, it’s now.” —Julia Alexander, Puck

Peter Rothpletz is the founder and CEO of Verbatim Media. A media jack of all trades, his political commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Guardian, MSNOW, The Hill, and The Bulwark. He helmed the launch of the “First Draft” morning newsletter for Mehdi Hasan’s ascendant new media company, Zeteo, and served as the Senior Writer and producer for the Don Lemon Show. There, he helped the veteran news anchor amass some 1.3 million YouTube subscribers in just over 2 years.

Previously, Rothpletz was a producer and monologue writer for Hasan at MSNOW, and producer at CBS News. A graduate of Yale College, he was the Yale Daily News’s first presidential campaign reporter during the summer of 2016.

A prolific presence on X, his handle @petertwinklage draws regular citation in Mediaite, BuzzFeed, The Wrap, Raw Story, and other media-focused outlets. There, he maintains over 33,000 followers. He lives in New York, NY.

Bennett Khurana Byerley oversees business operations and finance at Verbatim Media. He serves as the COO at the US Green Bank 50 and Director of Finance at S2 Strategies, working on state-level clean energy policy.

Previously, Bennett co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer at Verb Energy, Inc., a food and beverage brand making caffeinated protein and energy bars with healthy, clean ingredients. Founded during his undergraduate years, the company, acquired in 2025, grew to be a leading food & beverage startup with a nationwide presence.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale College and a masters in Sustainability Management from Columbia University, where he volunteered with the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Model Law Project to streamline state climate legislation. Originally from North Carolina, he lives in New York, NY.

Alex Bronzini-Vender is a creative fellow at Verbatim Media. A junior at Harvard College, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, New York, POLITICO Magazine, The Baffler, and elsewhere.

He posts from @alexbronzini on X, where he maintains over 9,000 followers. He lives in New York, NY.

More personnel to come soon.

Jessica Burbank is a journalist, commentator, and host of The Jessica Burbank Show on YouTube. She has appeared on The Hill’s Rising and co-hosted the Funny Money podcast. A prolific TikTok content creator known for her account @kaburbank, she shares commentary on politics, culture, and current events to more than 550,000 followers. Additionally, she publishes The Counterprogramming Club on Substack.

Drop Site News is a nonprofit investigative news organization founded in 2024 by veteran journalists Ryan Grim, Jeremy Scahill, and Nausicaa Renner. Based in Washington, D.C., the independent outlet delivers adversarial reporting on U.S. politics, foreign policy, and armed conflicts. Drop Site is non-aligned and is funded by its readers rather than corporate or partisan backers.

Michael Fanone is a former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer, author, and nationally recognized advocate for democracy and law enforcement accountability. On January 6, 2021, while off duty, he responded to the U.S. Capitol attack, where he was beaten, tased, and nearly killed defending democracy. His memoir, Hold the Line, became a New York Times bestseller, and in 2023, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joseph R. Biden. His YouTube channel, “The Michael Fanone Show,” has amassed more than 570,000 subscribers.

Akilah Hughes is a writer, comedian, and YouTuber residing in Brooklyn, NY. She’s been a digital correspondent for MTV, Fusion, Comedy Central, Crooked Media, and more. A Sundance Labs Fellow, Akilah most recently appeared on the HBO series special Pod Save America. Her YouTube channel, “It’s Akilah, Obviously!” has amassed more than 150,000 subscribers.

Katie Phang is an American attorney, legal commentator, and television host. A trial attorney whose practice spanned commercial litigation, family law, real estate, hospitality litigation, and criminal defense, she has been recognized as a Super Lawyer with an AV-Preeminent rating. Phang provided legal analysis on-air beginning in 2005 and joined NBCUniversal News Group as a legal analyst in 2017. From 2022 to 2025, she hosted The Katie Phang Show on MSNBC and Peacock, covering the intersection of law, politics, and culture. In 2025, she launched an independent YouTube channel in partnership with the MeidasTouch Network, surpassing 100,000 subscribers within 24 hours of its debut.