Article

2024-02-02 -Great Cultural Revolution

The Messenger shuts down less than a year after launching news site: ‘Titanic of publishing disasters'

[NY Post] Too bad, they didn't seem like normal MSM biased dreck
Money-bleeding start-up The Messenger

...meant to be a center-right offering in a mainly far-left news landscape...

— the news site that launched to great fanfare last May — shut down after less than a year in "the Titanic of publishing disasters."

The startup was scrubbed of all articles Wednesday evening, hours after an insider at the publication told The Post "The site will go dark."

None of the roughly 300 staffers will get severance, the source added.

The site’s homepage was blank aside from the message info@themessenger.com

A rep for The Messenger did not comment.

Co-founder and CEO Jimmy Finkelstein, who raised $50 million to launch the site, paid top dollar to lure away talent from major publications — including The Post, Politico and NBC News — and paid the site’s editor Dan Wakeford around $900,000, sources said.

"What ultimately killed The Messenger was lack of message — and arrogance," the industry source said. "Hundreds of people left great jobs with the promise of creating something better — which turned out to be a big lie."

Another insider merely added: "It’s shocking how bad Jimmy handled this."

In the last few days, Finkelstein had been trying to lock down a funding deal, telling The Post on Tuesday that staff would learn of their fate in the next 48 hours.

Earlier this month, a group of conservative media and business executives led by Omeed Malik, a financier who backed Tucker Carlson’s new media venture, had reportedly proposed $30 million for a 51% stake in the news site, putting its valuation at $60 million.

Posted by Frank G 2024-02-02 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11144 views ] Top

#1 paid the site’s editor Dan Wakeford around $900,000, sources said.

There's your problem.

Posted by badanov 2024-02-02 00:11|| 2024-02-02 00:11|| Front Page Top

#2 There's still a stupid amount of money sloshing around in support of garbage "news outlets" on the internet.

Posted by M. Murcek 2024-02-02 07:30|| 2024-02-02 07:30|| Front Page Top

#3 The main problem with the business of news is that the employees all seem to feel that they deserve 6 figures.

Posted by ed in texas 2024-02-02 08:52|| 2024-02-02 08:52|| Front Page Top

#4 Given that it was to be a telecommunications and not print operation, why in the hell did they set up in any major city when anyplace with communications broadband would suffice. Just another grift by 'in players'.

Posted by Procopius2k 2024-02-02 15:06|| 2024-02-02 15:06|| Front Page Top

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