{
  "_note": "LSI beat registry v1 (2026-07-22). Specialist outlets used for desk-level depth and tips — deliberately EXCLUDED from the 33-outlet spectrum registry and all bias-bucket arithmetic, because most have no meaningful left-right rating. Ownership hand-coded from public records; government funding stated plainly wherever it exists. Feeds verified live from our infrastructure on 2026-07-22.",
  "outlets": [
    {"name": "Defense News", "feed": "https://www.defensenews.com/arc/outboundfeeds/rss/?outputType=xml", "ownership": "Sightline Media Group (private equity: Regent LP)", "beats": ["defense", "natsec"], "caveat": "Trade press — heavy on defense industry and procurement."},
    {"name": "Defense One", "feed": "https://www.defenseone.com/rss/all/", "ownership": "GovExec Media Group (private-equity backed)", "beats": ["defense", "natsec"], "caveat": "Mixes reporting with commentary; written for government insiders."},
    {"name": "USNI News", "feed": "https://news.usni.org/feed", "ownership": "U.S. Naval Institute — independent nonprofit membership association, not a government body", "beats": ["defense", "natsec"], "caveat": "Navy/maritime-centric; institutionally close to the naval community."},
    {"name": "Military Times", "feed": "https://www.militarytimes.com/arc/outboundfeeds/rss/?outputType=xml", "ownership": "Sightline Media Group (private equity: Regent LP)", "beats": ["defense"], "caveat": "Service-member/veteran focus — pay, benefits, personnel more than strategy."},
    {"name": "RFE/RL", "feed": "https://www.rferl.org/api/", "ownership": "U.S. government-funded via USAGM (congressional appropriation); nonprofit grantee", "beats": ["russia_ukraine", "foreign"], "caveat": "U.S. state-funded broadcaster — editorially independent by charter, but funded to serve U.S. public-diplomacy goals. We say this plainly because we'd say it about anyone."},
    {"name": "The Moscow Times", "feed": "https://www.themoscowtimes.com/rss/news", "ownership": "Independent nonprofit, Amsterdam-based since 2022, foundation/donor-funded", "beats": ["russia_ukraine"], "caveat": "Operates in exile; designated 'undesirable' by Russia, which shapes its sourcing."},
    {"name": "Meduza (English)", "feed": "https://meduza.io/rss/en/all", "ownership": "Exiled independent Russian outlet, Latvia-based, reader/donor-funded", "beats": ["russia_ukraine"], "caveat": "Banned as 'undesirable' in Russia; relies on anonymous in-country sourcing."},
    {"name": "The Kyiv Independent", "feed": "https://kyivindependent.com/news-archive/rss/", "ownership": "Journalist-owned, reader-supported, founded 2021 by ex-Kyiv Post staff", "beats": ["russia_ukraine"], "caveat": "A Ukrainian outlet covering its own country's war — not neutral between belligerents, and doesn't claim to be."},
    {"name": "Jamestown Foundation", "feed": "https://jamestown.org/feed/", "ownership": "Washington, D.C. think tank — donor-funded 501(c)(3)", "beats": ["russia_ukraine", "natsec", "foreign"], "caveat": "Think tank analysis, not news reporting; hawkish on Russia and China."},
    {"name": "War on the Rocks", "feed": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/warontherocks", "ownership": "Independent commercial platform (Metamorphic Media), membership-funded", "beats": ["natsec", "defense", "foreign"], "caveat": "Analysis and commentary by practitioners — not original reporting."},
    {"name": "Bellingcat", "feed": "https://www.bellingcat.com/feed/", "ownership": "Netherlands-based nonprofit (Stichting Bellingcat), foundation grants and donations", "beats": ["osint", "russia_ukraine"], "caveat": "OSINT investigations, low publication frequency; a frequent target of Russian state disinformation."},
    {"name": "Breaking Defense", "feed": "https://breakingdefense.com/feed/", "ownership": "Breaking Media Inc., private U.S. digital media company", "beats": ["defense"], "caveat": "Trade press on Pentagon acquisition; sponsor-supported."},
    {"name": "Middle East Eye", "feed": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/rss", "ownership": "Privately held (M.E.E. Ltd, London); ownership opaque, widely reported links to Qatar-aligned interests", "beats": ["foreign"], "caveat": "Opaque funding with repeated allegations of Qatari alignment; editorially critical of the Saudi/UAE/Egypt axis."},
    {"name": "Al-Monitor", "feed": "https://www.al-monitor.com/rss.xml", "ownership": "Privately owned by Jamal Daniel (Washington, D.C.)", "beats": ["foreign"], "caveat": "Hard paywall on much content; single-owner funding model."},
    {"name": "Lawfare", "feed": "https://www.lawfaremedia.org/", "ownership": "Lawfare Institute (nonprofit), in cooperation with the Brookings Institution", "beats": ["law", "natsec"], "caveat": "Expert legal analysis, not news reporting. Its RSS feed blocks our infrastructure, so the engine reads its index page instead — listed anyway because the analysis is worth it."}
  ]
}