Media mogul Jimmy Finkelstein’s centrist media outlet, The Messenger, stopped the presses Wednesday after just eight months, adding hundreds of names to the list of recent media casualties.
In a memo to employees Wednesday, the founder told workers he labored until the last minute to try and keep The Messenger running.
“Over the past few weeks, literally until earlier today, we exhausted every option available and have endeavored to raise sufficient capital to reach profitability,” he wrote.
Mr. Finklestien went on to blame the “economic headwinds” in the media sphere for the outlet’s closure, saying the company’s relative newness put it at a big disadvantage versus legacy outlets.
Reporters first heard of the closure from a New York Times report. A few hours later they heard from Mr. Finklestein that the site was no more. The outlet had around 300 employees.
The announcement of the outlet’s closure comes just eight months after its launch, when The Messenger promised to hire hundreds of journalists to build a middle-of-the-road publication for all readers.
Despite initial praise from readers and others in the industry, those writing for the outlet soon questioned the stability of The Messenger. Newsroom workers began pushing for unionization last fall after management repeatedly failed to answer questions about the company’s financial situation and the sudden disappearance of Editor-in-Chief Dan Wakeford.
Reporters also complained about the clickbait nature of the newsroom, claiming The Messenger prioritized quantity over quality. Since the announcement of the outlet’s closure, some have been more frank about conditions at the paper.
“The company worked its news and audience reporters to the bone over the last eight months. I wrote 630+ stories in that time; most were just copying and pasting work that other reporters put time and effort into,” former Messenger writer Eli Walsh wrote on X. “I don’t know what’s next right now, but I’ll tell you one thing: I have no usable clips in eight months’ time because of this editorial strategy. Zero. Not one.”
Bristling against claims of financial instability, The Messenger maintained late last year that it would remain online by cutting costs in 2024 and increasing revenue.
The platform’s closure is the latest media casualty of the last few months, which has proved bloody for the industry. Layoffs, closures and belt-tightening have spread throughout journalism, which is on the ropes against the internet.
The Los Angeles Times made drastic cuts to its newsroom staff in 2023, sparking outrage and walkouts from other news organizations. Smaller news organizations like Vice Media and Jezebelle experienced similar cuts last year, followed by Business Insider and Time magazine slashing their workforces in January.