Media Company 'The Messenger' Bites the Dust Less Than a Year In, As News Bloodbath Continues

The Messenger, a digital media start-up that only launched in 2023, is shutting down.

Axios first reported the news on Wednesday evening, describing it as one of the "biggest media failures of the internet era."

In a memo sent to employees, founder and CEO Jimmy Finkelstein confirmed that he had failed to secure the required funding to save the company from bankruptcy.

He wrote:

I am personally devastated to share that we have 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. Unfortunately, we have been unable to do so, which is why we haven't shared the news with you until now. This is truly the last thing I wanted, and I am deeply sorry.

The Messenger started with an incredibly important mission - to deliver balanced and accurate journalism at a time when Americans' trust in media is at a record low - and I am proud of what we achieved.

Finklestein blamed its failure on the broader challenges faced by the digital and legacy media industries, both of which are experiencing widespread layoffs as a result of falling advertising revenues and declining newspaper circulation.

The CEO continued:

The industry has faced extraordinary challenges this past year. The economic headwinds have left many media companies fighting for survival. Unfortunately, as a new company, we encountered even more significant challenges than others and could not survive those headwinds. I am grateful to you and the partners who believed in our mission and came on board over the past seven months, but the reality is that we needed more capital to move forward successfully.

According to Axios, the company raised $50 million when it launched last May and had projected $100 million in revenue in 2024. It hired a raft of experienced journalists from Politico, Reuters, NBC News, and The Associated Press, all of whom were reportedly paid an above-market wage.

However, those projections turned out to be mere pipe dreams after they brought in just $3 million in 2023 while burning through millions of dollars every month.

The site did succeed in building an audience, generating around 10 million unique monthly visitors, although that figure was still well below what was needed to make the operation even close to profitable.

Finkelstein's failure is all the more disappointing given his success with The Hill, a political news outlet that he sold to the Texas-based Nexstar Media Group for $130 million back in 2021.

The company's failure compounds what has already been a devastating few months for the media industry, which some analysts have described as being on the brink of widespread collapse.

Just last week, the Los Angeles Times announced that it was laying off 115 people in its newsroom amid reports that it was losing around $30 million a year.

Last October, it was similarly reported that despite having a billionaire owner in Jeff Bezos, The Washington Post would eliminate 240 jobs and was on track to lose over $100 million in 2023.

This is a developing story. RedState will provide updates as they become available.