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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Messenger, an ambitious online news site that billed itself as a nonpartisan digital outlet and spent some $50 million ratcheting up its business effort, abruptly shut down Wednesday after only eight months in operation. In his email, Finkelstein said he hadn't shared the news with employees earlier because he had been trying desperately to raise enough funds to become profitable “literally until earlier today." “We exhausted every option available,” Finkelstein wrote, saying he was “personally devastated.”The Messenger website carried only its name and an email address Wednesday night. Planned cuts also have sparked walkouts by employees at other venues, including the New York Daily News and Forbes magazine. The Messenger was launched last May and spent heavily — some would say excessively, given the current media climate — in hopes of becoming a media heavyweight.

Persons: Jimmy Finkelstein, Finkelstein, hadn't, ” Finkelstein, “, ambitiously, Critics, Jonah Peretti, he'd, ” Organizations: The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, Business, New York Daily News, Forbes, Associated Press, Washington D.C Locations: BEACH, Fla, New York, Washington, Florida

☆ Upstart digital news outlet The Messenger shuts down less than a year after launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —The Messenger, the upstart digital publication that hired hundreds of journalists and vowed to upend the news industry as a centrist outlet, will shut down less than a year after its high-profile launch, a person familiar with the matter said. The collapse of the outlet, founded by media entrepreneur Jimmy Finkelstein, came as it tried to survive severe financial woes and broader industry headwinds. Staffers at the outlet learned of its shuttering from The New York Times, which broke the news on its demise Wednesday afternoon, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. “The economic headwinds have left many media companies fighting for survival,” he said. “Unfortunately, as a new company, we encountered even more significant challenges than others and could not survive those headwinds.”

Persons: Jimmy Finkelstein, Finkelstein, ”, ” Finkelstein, “ Organizations: CNN, The New York Times Locations: ”

☆ The Messenger to Close After Less Than a Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Messenger, a news website that pledged to shake up the media industry with a playbook borrowed from the doomed publishing start-ups of yesteryear, will be closing down. In an email to staff, the site’s founder, Jimmy Finkelstein, said that The Messenger’s shutdown was “effective immediately.”“This is truly the last thing I wanted, and I am deeply sorry,” Mr. Finkelstein wrote. By closing less than a year after it launched, The Messenger will now be one of the biggest busts in the annals of online news. And its collapse is the most substantial blow in recent months to the news industry, which is reeling from an unrelenting series of cutbacks. The organization hired about 300 people, including journalists with experience at such publications as Politico, Reuters, NBC News and The Associated Press, who joined the company in the hopes that it would deliver on its promise to introduce an important new nonpartisan voice to the American news landscape.

Persons: Jimmy Finkelstein, Mr, Finkelstein Organizations: Politico, Reuters, NBC News, Associated Press

☆ Startup news site The Messenger shutters less than a year after its launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Chloe Melas | Doha Madani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Messenger, a startup digital news website that launched in May, is shutting down after reports that it was running out of money, an executive at the outlet who has been briefed on the matter told NBC News on Wednesday. The Messenger launched in May with Jimmy Finkelstein, who previously owned The Hollywood Reporter and The Hill, at the helm. It promised to provide "thorough, objective, non-partisan, and timely news coverage" in a time of bias and misinformation. Earlier this month, Semafor reported that The Messenger's board was considering shutting down the website as the outlet was set to run out of funds by the end of January. A day before staff were informed they were now without jobs, The New York Post reported that Finklestein was working to secure deals to inject new revenue into The Messenger to keep the site going.

Persons: Jimmy Finkelstein, Semafor, Finklestein, Conde Nast Organizations: NBC News, Hollywood, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, Time, Sports Illustrated, Tech Crunch, Business

The Messenger, the struggling news media startup co-founded by publishing veteran Jimmy Finkelstein, is urging potential investors to make a long-shot bet on a dramatic rebound in advertising this year. CNBC has obtained an investor deck The Messenger was using as recently as late December to entice potential individuals or companies to infuse it with $20 million. The Messenger ended 2023 with a net loss of $43 million, according to the documents. Comscore latest numbers show that we generated 88 million page views in November, and Google Analytics shows that we generated 100 million page views in December. Our traffic is growing at 30% a month, already putting us ahead of many major news publications," the company spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.

Persons: Jimmy Finkelstein Organizations: CNBC, The New York Times, Google Analytics

☆ Media and entertainment companies are finding more investment from the Middle East, but it can come with controversy. Here are 11 of the most notable deals.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider broke down 11 top media companies with Middle Eastern backing or partnerships. Middle Eastern investment has poured into US media and entertainment, and US media companies have been eager recipients. Here's a rundown of 11 key Western media and entertainment companies, listed alphabetically, that have licensing and investment partnerships with Middle Eastern entities. Jimmy Finkelstein's news startup The Messenger has Middle Eastern funding via its acquisition of IMI-backed startup Grid, which is now shuttered. The North Road, Peter Chernin and Providence Equity's production roll-up, took a $150 million investment in January from the Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar's main investment vehicle, to support its expansion.

Persons: Peter Chernin, Jeff Zucker, Uber, Jamal Khashoggi's, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, —, hasn't, Mohammed bin Salman, SRMG, Abu, Abu Dhabi's, Jimmy Finkelstein's, BeIn, Stone, Ian Orefice, WBD Organizations: Providence, North, IMI, ex, CNN, Public Investment Fund, Blackstone, Washington Post, Saudi Crown, Saudi, Guardian, Media, Bloomberg Media, Saudi Research, Media Group, Media Investments, CNN Business, Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, Sky News Arabia, Business, Independent, SRMG, Miramax, BeIn, Paramount, Qatar Investment Authority, Penske Media Corporation, Billboard, Variety, Penske, Vox Media, New York, Billboard Arabia, RedBird Capital, Mideast, MBC Group, MBC, Fortress Investment Group, Investment, Warner Bros Locations: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, West, Saudi, Abu Dhabi, ViacomCBS, SRMG

☆ Middle Eastern investors are pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment — here are the 9 most active players and their key leaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Investors in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

Persons: Jamal Khashoggi's, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, —, WME, Jimmy Finkelstein's, Abu Dhabi's, It's, Yasir Al, Rumayyan, Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Sam Barnett, Peter Smith —, Christina Wayne, SRMG, Mohammed bin Salman, Alrashid, Johnny Depp, Jeanne du Barry, Sharon Stone, Bruno Mars, Luca Guadanigno, Vince McMahon's, Turki Al, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Dayel, Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al, Mahmoud, Peter Chernin, Nasser Al, Germain, BeIN, Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad, Khalifa Al, Vincent, Asghar Farhadi's Oscar, Nart Bouran, JAF, Jeff Zucker, Graydon Carter's, it's, Semafor, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mansour, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber Organizations: United, Sovereign, Saudi, Washington Post, Saudi Crown, Endeavor, UFC, IMI, Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, Public Investment Fund, Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United, English football, PGA, MBC, Shahid, Netflix, Vice Media, Variety, MBC Group's, Antenna Group, Cineflex Studios, NBCUniversal International, Amazon, AMC, Saudi Research, Media, Publicly, Red Sea, Cannes, Penske Media Corporation, Bloomberg Media, Vince McMahon's WWE, country's General Entertainment Authority, Development, Cultural Development Fund, George Washington University, American University . Qatar Qatar Investment, Qatar Investment Authority, Providence, BeIN Media, Paris Saint, Miramax, Paramount, Doha Film, Doha Film Institute, H.E, Hollywood Reporter, United Arab Emirates Abu, Investment Authority, UAE, Abu, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Hollywood, Dubai Studio, Dubai Media City, National Geographic, BBC News, International Media Investments International Media Investments, National, CNN, Sky News Arabia, Reuters, JAF Communications, Grid, RedBird Capital Partners, Punchbowl News, New York Times, Manchester City, The, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Saudi, East, North Africa, Al Arabiya, Netherlands, Greece, Dubai, Jeddah, SRMG, Riyadh, Doha, Europe, Americas, ViacomCBS, Qatari, Thani, Abu Dhabi

☆ Tensions Flare Inside The Messenger, a Fledgling News Site
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In a statement, The Messenger said that the site is still in an early testing phase. “We have delivered hundreds of pieces of great journalism and have exceeded our traffic goals,” the statement said. On some occasions over the last week, The Messenger published two versions of the same story, with editors unaware of what their co-workers were working on. Those tensions reached a boiling point earlier in the week after one of The Messenger’s news teams assigned a story that had already been assigned by an editor on another team. Mr. Zimmerman admonished editors in a group chat on the messaging platform Slack that they needed to use an online form to coordinate their story assignments.

☆ News startup Messenger launches with Trump 'exclusive' while advertisers expressed skepticism ahead of debut: 'We can't have another Quibi'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Jimmy Finkelstein's startup The Messenger launched today with a Trump interview leading the site. Advertisers said it'll be tough to sell ads on a site without an established audience. The site led with an interview with former President Donald Trump and ads from the American Petroleum Institute. The Messenger said it'll roll out seven other verticals including business, entertainment, and sports later in the year. Image from The Messenger's launch ad campaign.

☆ The Messenger, Jimmy Finkelstein's digital news startup, meets advertiser skepticism ahead of May 15 launch: 'We can't have another Quibi'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Jimmy Finkelstein's startup The Messenger will roll out an ad campaign touting its mission to provide unbiased news. An ad campaign by Publicis unit Le Truc will kick off May 22 and is designed to provoke, with copy like "Agendas are for meetings. Image from The Messenger's launch ad campaign. The Messenger said it'll have three to four big advertisers at launch as well as a significant amount of programmatic advertising. The Messenger's ad campaign promotes its ambitions to provide unbiased news.

☆ The New York Sun hires former News Corp. exec and MailOnline boss Noah Kotch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The New York Sun has hired online and television news veteran Noah Kotch as managing editor. Kotch will work with editor Seth Lipsky to grow the newsroom and find new audiences. The New York Sun, a conservative-leaning online newspaper, has hired former top News Corp. executive Noah Kotch as managing editor, the company confirmed. Kotch was most recently general manager at News Corp., where he worked on projects such as AI-powered news aggregator Knewz. In a brief phone interview Efune said The New York Sun is about "principle over politics and people over party."

☆ 9 Middle Eastern funds and investors pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Governments and investors in the Middle East are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

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