Digital media's pivot to nothingness

Image generated with the AI art tool Midjourney, using the prompt “A bunch of millennials crowding around a computer in a newsroom, seen from behind.”

Hey pals. Did you know that The Culture Journalist released its first subscriber-only episode last week? It’s a chat with Billboard Dance director Katie Bain and boyfriend—of-the-pod Drew Millard about Philadelphia Eagles culture, Yellowstone, and what monoculture means in 2023. To celebrate, we’re making annual subscriptions 50% off until Thursday, February 23. That means that you pay $25 for the year instead of the usual $50. Think of it as a “Recession Special” ;).

This week’s episode goes out to the journalists in your life. (Or you, if you happen to be a journalist). According to one estimate, nearly 130,000 workers in tech and media have lost their job over the 12 months — and while we’ve talked about the annual ritual of media layoffs before, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that we’re finally reaching the end of the era of digital media as we know it. (RIP Bustle Digital Group’s Gawker, itself a reboot of the ‘10s-defining gossip blog by the same name. RIP VICE’s original U.S. editorial arm, which is where Andrea and Emilie first met. RIP The Washington Post still being a home for Pulitzer-Prize winning dance criticism). 

Is the current wave of layoffs and closures just more of the same, or a sign that writers and editors need to completely rethink what a career in media even looks like? How do digital publications actually make money — and what lessons can we learn, if any, from these suspiciously concurrent cuts in both tech and media? 

Ben Dietz. Photo courtesy of Ben Dietz.

Lucky for you, we happen to have an old colleague in our Rolodex with an intimate understanding of the economics of the business (and how they got so broken). His name is Ben Dietz, and he’s the creator of an excellent culture and technology newsletter called [SIC] Weekly. Prior to his current gig as chief strategy officer at NTWRK, he spent 16 years working upstairs from us at VICE — leading sales and business development, founding an in-house agency called VIRTUE, and just generally being the kind of ad guy who seemed to genuinely care about the work we did as journalists. Drew joins to help ask questions… and then ask Ben for money.

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Real millennials crowding around a computer in a newsroom in the 2010s. Photo courtesy of Leslie Horn.