The Outline is a New York based digital media company focused on power (as it relates to politics and business), culture and the future. It was founded by Joshua Topolsky in 2016, a celebrity media personality who previously co-founder of Vox Media (The Verge) and Engadget.

The Outline is the first media publication launched by Independent Media, which was founded in response to the many problems plaguing the incumbent media industry: (1) lack of transparency and trust, (2) failure to effectively integrate and leverage technology (3) business models that emphasize quantity over quality, and (4) distribution that relies on social and other third-party aggregators over direct distribution.