Study Hall Digest 7/1/2019

By Study Hall staff writer Allegra Hobbs (@allegraehobbs)

ICYMI, we reported on Friday that First Look Media is shuttering both Topic Magazine in a literal pivot to video and political cartoon site The Nib.

FLM CEO Michael Bloom explained in an email late on Friday (after our dispatch went out) that shutting down the magazine the day after its two-year anniversary is part of the company’s quest to “put a greater focus on a more video-centric offering.” Seemingly in preparation for this pivot – which sources say was totally unexpected — the company had just days before hired Gena Konstantinakos from Viceland to oversee video programming.

Pivoting to video? In 2019? Have we learned nothing????

As for The Nib, Bloom’s email makes the shuttering sound like a nice mutual parting of ways, but a source within FLM tells us the reality is…not so nice. FLM is booting the site, unexpectedly cutting it off from funding and firing the entire staff. Editor in Chief Matt Bors sent out a dispatch to subscribers on Friday calling the news a “major setback” but reassuring readers that the magazine is being handed over to him and that he plans to keep it going (he also indicated he will have more to say today).

This is not the first time The Nib has had the rug pulled out from under it — the site was previously hosted by Medium, which pulled funding in 2015 despite it being one of Medium’s most highly-trafficked sites. But at FLM, The Nib had developed a quarterly magazine and amassed thousands of subscribers, which I imagine makes this setback even more surprising. The last issue of The Nib, and the last issue of Topic, will come out in July, then the only funding keeping The Nib afloat will be from members. You can become a member here.

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Hmm Daily, a blog that has garnered a reputation for biting political and social commentary during its relatively short lifespan, is coming to an end. On Tuesday, the site put up “The Worst Blog Post We Didn’t Want to End Up Writing,” explaining that it had been launched with grant money from Civil and that money had run out — and in the meantime, new revenue streams had failed to manifest.

Hmm Daily is one of several small sites that launched as part of the Civil Network as part of Civil’s experiment to create a new funding model for journalism using blockchain technology. The idea was to draw money from subscriptions and tipping. A great idea in theory, but the reality turned out to be more complicated. “The Hmm Daily business model ended up consisting of spending a time-limited cash grant while asking readers to send us regular old fiat-currency United States dollars if they enjoyed the content, and offering a subscription to a weekly email newsletter, Hmm Weekly, to those who were willing to pay,” reads the farewell blog post.

Hmm Daily will stop publishing in a little less than a month, though its newsletter will persist, presumably funded by subscribers.

Meanwhile, another Civil site, Popula, has had to make significant cuts due to financial strain. Editor Maria Bustillos on May 17 sent a dispatch to subscribers noting that their initial Civil grant had run out and the site was low on cash. They have enough revenue to keep the site up indefinitely, but it will be publishing less frequently. A few editors have quietly departed.

“Eventually, we believe — and soon — Popula will become self-sustaining through subscriptions, donations, partnerships, through our cryptoeconomic innovations, and through the irresistible dynamism of our commentariat,” she wrote (and later repeated this optimism on Twitter while swatting down rumors of a closure). I’ve loved Popula’s content and am rooting for its success, but a problem with Civil’s experimental, quixotic model is that people seem to have a hard time understanding the “cryptoeconomic innovations” on which it is based (its initial attempt at a token launch failed).

What’s the point of bells and whistles if what’s funding these sites is basically membership money? Should we all just embrace that instead?

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Condé Nast’s long-expected sale of W Magazine finally went through. The high-fashion title was sold to Future Media Group for $10 million, and Sara Moonves (daughter of Les Moonves) will take on the role of editor in chief. That means the ousting of longtime editor Stefano Tonchi, who is not going quietly. Tonchi is suing his former employer, claiming Condé fired him “for cause” but did not give a reason. And this is where I’m pretty sure I blacked out from rage: Tonchi was making upwards of $800,000 a year.

He is now demanding $1 million from the company, and claims Condé had previously agreed to pay him $950,000 in severance and a $130,000 “closing bonus” (his original contract, he says, guaranteed him a year’s salary in severance plus another if he was still unemployed after a year). I’m sorry but $800,000?!?!? Just think of how many writers you could hire! How many freelancers you could pay $4 a word!

It’s interesting that Tonchi seems to be worth 1/10th the price of the entire magazine. Was it just a personality cult, are individual tastemakers more valuable than publications? Also, the new buyer of W also owns Surface Magazine, known for treating freelancers badly.

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Longread of the Week: Soraya Roberts, the first (but not the last) writer to express shock on Twitter at the news Taffy Brodesser-Akner was getting paid $4 a word, went long on the whole ensuing drama on Longreads and how the conversation about pay disparity had been hijacked and reframed as either personal attacks or sour grapes. (She also notes Akner went on BuzzFeed’s morning show and implied she got paid so highly because she was working hard while everyone else was griping on Twitter.) “There are journalists actually putting their lives on the line for a shot at $1 a word, maybe, if they’re lucky,” write Roberts. “Christ. I mean, you could say I’ve got sour grapes or envy or jealousy or, I don’t know, a hysterical obsession … with … what? Basic human decency?”

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ANOTHER ICYMI — IP SALES: (it’s been a long week): I reported on the changing ecosystem of retaining and selling IP as journalists have caught on to the value of their ideas and the demand for content from Hollywood and streaming studios. You can also read my initial story on how writers often get the short end of the stick in these deals, and stay tuned for another installment!

Have thoughts or questions on journalism -> IP? Email [email protected].

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EVERYTHING ELSE

— In line with the growing trend of publications collaborating with readers, The City — the relatively new non-profit local NYC news outlet hosted by New York Magazine — is partnering with the Brooklyn Public Library to launch a series of town halls with readers. The series, called The Open Newsroom, will consist of 24 neighborhood meetings across library branches over the course of a year, and will invite community members to share how they get and consume news. So like a live comments section?

— More on collaborating with readers: The New York Times has introduced a new featureon its iPhone app called “For You” which is pretty much what it sounds like. The app takes note of what sorts of content you read and personalizes recommended content accordingly. Could a personal spin on news consumption could make reading the news less overwhelming? Nieman Lab’s Ken Doctor thinks so: “For You is an attempted antidote for overload, one way to break through the noise of any app or a reader’s own busy days, to make it brain-dead simple to access a truly useful new tool.” Of course, customized feeds have been tried many times before.

— Here’s some great analysis from Business of a Fashion on the state of magazines in the wake of the W sale. Lauren Sherman notes that GQ has seen an increase in subscriptions as it has broken out of the men’s magazine mold and focused on starting conversations in style and fashion: “People are circulating these articles and images on the internet not because they are necessarily (that) controversial or rage-inducing or life-altering, but because they are trying to be more than good enough.”

— Priyanka Borpujari at CJR wrote a fascinating look at the demand for “fixers” in India. Fixers are essentially local reporters or assistants hired by national reporters to show them around and, well, do much of the work for them. Borpujari notes that the journalists hiring fixers are pretty much always American or European. “I often wonder: Would a journalist from Pakistan who is hired as a fixer by an American journalist be able to travel as easily to report in the US?” Borpujari writes. “If he managed to secure a visa, could he afford to hire his American colleague as his fixer?”

— In a new low, Barstool Sports mocked a missing female college students for being active on “sugar daddy dating websites” — it then turned out she had been kidnapped and brutally murdered. Barstool tried to apologize in light of the update, as though their behavior would have been ok had the outcome been different! In conclusion, please do not read or follow Barstool Sports.