Online News Site "The Messenger" Shuts Down In Less Than a Year

"The Messenger," an ambitious online news site that billed itself as a nonpartisan digital outlet and spent approximately $50 million ramping up its business efforts, abruptly shut down after only eight months in operation, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).

The Messenger has been shut.

Founder Jimmy Finkelstein sent an email to stunned employees announcing the immediate shutdown, with around 300 journalists and other workers being let go, according to the New York Times, which first reported the news.

In his email, Finkelstein revealed that he hadn’t shared the news with employees earlier because he had been desperately trying to raise enough funds to become profitable “literally until earlier today.”

“We exhausted every available option,” Finkelstein wrote, expressing his personal devastation.

The Messenger website displayed only its name and an email address Wednesday night. Finkelstein noted in his email that “economic headwinds have left many media companies fighting for survival.”

Indeed, The Messenger’s collapse follows large-scale layoffs by once-powerful and influential outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, which reduced its newsroom staff by 20% last week, as well as Sports Illustrated and Business Insider.

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