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Obviously, I’m sympathetic to the writer and I am aware of the plight of the modern newsroom. What’s surprising here is that this all sounds like something I —

Obviously, I’m sympathetic to the writer and I am aware of the plight of the modern newsroom. What’s surprising here is that this all sounds like something I — as a software developer — have been through with like 70% of the places I’ve ever done contract work at. The stress of external VC cash, the loose interconnectedness of employees, and the vague indifference towards pulling the plug. These are, to me, cultural artifacts specific to software startups. Why does a media company need to run this way? Software is eating the world, but maybe not in ways that are immediately apparent.

deleted 3y ago
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anonylizard 3y ago
Because no one other than tech VCs will touch media with a 10 foot pole. And tech VCs aren't going to change their entire investing mindset/philosophy for a deeply unprofitable niche with no chance to hit it big. There's been multiple waves of VCs to invest in traditional media. Out of both economic opportunism, as well as a desire to at least save a bit of the industry that died because of digital advertising. Every single one failed, not one large success. Hiring rooms of journalists to publish articles is very high cost and risk without any economies of scale that software people have.
nradov 3y ago
I'm surprised that any VC firms were even willing to invest in a fairly generic mass-media startup at all. Going forward such organizations will probably have to bootstrap, or operate as non-profits with donations to support public interest reporting, or find a wealthy patron who wants to own a media company as a vanity project. There's just no way that media companies like The Messenger can scale up to generate the type of outsize returns that VC firms have to target.
- immibis 3y ago
  There's apparently profit to be made in selling propaganda. One YouTube outlet turned down $50 million because he felt it was too low.
  - lostlogin 3y ago
    This is crazy - what/who was it? I have tried searching but can’t find anything approaching that figure.
    - sakarisson 3y ago
      Steven Crowder - the guy from the "change my mind" meme.
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Another one - apparently Linus Tech Tips turned down $100m. YouTube channels are big money for the right company.
  - throwaway290 3y ago
    According to him, I suppose? Good PR
- Propelloni 3y ago
  There is this idea that there is money to be made in publishing, but the old models are failing. Find the right model (ie. market fit) and you could reap respectable profits, e.g. The Economist Group. This sounds a lot like VC territory, but like anything worth doing it is going to be hard.
  - cyanydeez 3y ago
    I think thats a gizzard conspiracy theory-capitalism

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

anonylizard 3y ago

Because no one other than tech VCs will touch media with a 10 foot pole. And tech VCs aren't going to change their entire investing mindset/philosophy for a deeply unprofitable niche with no chance to hit it big. There's been multiple waves of VCs to invest in traditional media. Out of both economic opportunism, as well as a desire to at least save a bit of the industry that died because of digital advertising. Every single one failed, not one large success. Hiring rooms of journalists to publish articles is very high cost and risk without any economies of scale that software people have.

nradov 3y ago

I'm surprised that any VC firms were even willing to invest in a fairly generic mass-media startup at all. Going forward such organizations will probably have to bootstrap, or operate as non-profits with donations to support public interest reporting, or find a wealthy patron who wants to own a media company as a vanity project. There's just no way that media companies like The Messenger can scale up to generate the type of outsize returns that VC firms have to target.

immibis 3y ago
There's apparently profit to be made in selling propaganda. One YouTube outlet turned down $50 million because he felt it was too low.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  This is crazy - what/who was it? I have tried searching but can’t find anything approaching that figure.
  - sakarisson 3y ago
    Steven Crowder - the guy from the "change my mind" meme.
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Another one - apparently Linus Tech Tips turned down $100m. YouTube channels are big money for the right company.
- throwaway290 3y ago
  According to him, I suppose? Good PR
Propelloni 3y ago
There is this idea that there is money to be made in publishing, but the old models are failing. Find the right model (ie. market fit) and you could reap respectable profits, e.g. The Economist Group. This sounds a lot like VC territory, but like anything worth doing it is going to be hard.
- cyanydeez 3y ago
  I think thats a gizzard conspiracy theory-capitalism