Upstart digital news outlet "The Messenger" shuts down less than a year after launch
Oliver Darcy, CNN | 1/31/2024, 4:15 p.m.
The Messenger, an upstart digital news outlet, shuts down less than a year after launch.
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"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.
Finkelstein, in a memo sent to staff Wednesday afternoon, said he had made the “painfully hard decision to shut down The Messenger, effective immediately.”
“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, according to a copy of the memo obtained by CNN. “Unfortunately, we have been unable to do so, which is why we haven’t shared the news with you until now.”
Finkelstein said he was “personally devastated” by the decision and apologized to staff for the site’s collapse.
“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.”
