Jump to content

Vox Media

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from CAFE (media company))

Vox Media, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryMass media
PredecessorsSportsBlogs, Inc.
Group Nine Media
FoundedNovember 1, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-11-01)
Founders
Headquarters85 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
U.S.
Key people
Brands
OwnerPenske Media Corporation (20%)
Comcast
Former Group Nine investors, including Warner Bros. Discovery (25%)
Divisions
  • Epic
  • Vox Creative
  • Vox Media Studios
  • Vox Media Podcast Network
Websitevoxmedia.com

Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City.[5] The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass SB Nation (a sports blog network founded in 2003 by Tyler Bleszinski, Markos Moulitsas, and Jerome Armstrong) and The Verge (a technology news website launched alongside Vox Media). Bankoff had been the CEO for SB Nation since 2009.

Vox Media owns numerous editorial brands, most prominently New York, The Verge, Vox, SB Nation, Eater, and Polygon. New York further incorporates the websites Intelligencer, The Cut, Vulture, The Strategist, Curbed, and Grub Street. Recode was integrated into Vox, while Racked was shut down. Vox Media's brands are built on Concert, a marketplace for advertising, and Chorus, its proprietary content management system.[6] The company's lines of business include the publishing platform Chorus, Concert, Vox Creative, Vox Entertainment, Vox Media Studios, and the Vox Media Podcast Network. As of 2020, the company operated additional offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Austin, and London. In June 2010, the network featured over 300 sites with over 400 paid writers.[7] As of November 2023, Comscore ranks Vox Media 35th-most popular media company among users from the United States.[8]

History

[edit]

Background in sports media

[edit]

Tyler Bleszinski, a freelance writer, established Athletics Nation in 2003 as a sports blog that sought to cover the baseball team Oakland Athletics from a fan's perspective. The blog quickly became popular, becoming the second-most popular site on the Blogads network, after Daily Kos. Bleszinski, together with Daily Kos creator Markos Moulitsas and political strategist Jerome Armstrong, then established the sports blog network SB Nation around Athletics Nation in 2005. The popularity of the site led to other sports blogs being incorporated.[7][9] SB Nation hired former AOL executive Jim Bankoff as an advisor in 2008 to assist in its growth. He was promoted to chief executive officer (CEO) in January 2009.[9][10] He showed interest in SB Nation's goal of building a network of niche-oriented sports websites.[9][11] By February 2009, the SB Nation network contained 185 blogs, and in November 2010, Comscore estimated that the site had attracted 5.8 million unique visitors.[12] The 208% increase in unique visitors over November 2009 made SB Nation the fastest-growing sports website the company tracked at the time.[12]

Continued growth and expansion into other content areas

[edit]
Former logo, used until November 2019

In 2011, Bankoff hired a number of former writers from AOL's technology blog Engadget, including former editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky, to build a new technology-oriented website in the same network as SB Nation.[9] These writers had originally left AOL following a series of conflicts between Topolsky and Michael Arrington, the author of TechCrunch (which AOL had previously acquired), and the leak of an internal training document that outlined a content strategy for AOL's blogs that prioritized profitability.[13] Bankoff felt that a technology-oriented website would complement SB Nation due to their overlapping demographics.[11] The Verge was launched on November 1, 2011, with Topolsky as editor-in-chief.[11][13] Alongside this launch, Bankoff and Trei Brundrett created Vox Media as the parent company for both SB Nation and The Verge.[14] The previous parent shell to SB Nation, SportsBlogs, Inc., was converted into Vox Media, Inc. for this purpose.[15] Brundrett, who had been with SB Nation since 2006, became Vox Media's vice president of products and technology, and later chief product officer.[16]

In 2012, Vox Media launched a video gaming website, Polygon, led by former Joystiq editor Christopher Grant.[17] In November 2013, Vox Media acquired Curbed Network, which consisted of the real-estate blog network Curbed, the food blog Eater, and the fashion blog Racked.[18]

In April 2014, the company launched a news website, Vox.[19] Led by former Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein, Melissa Bell and Matthew Yglesias, Vox was positioned as a general interest news service with a focus on providing additional context to recurring subjects within its articles.[20]

In May 2015, Vox Media acquired Recode, a technology industry news website that was founded by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the former editors of The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital.[21] In February 2017, Vox Media promoted Brundrett as its chief operating officer.[22] In May 2017, Vox Media announced that it had entered into an agreement to provide technology and advertising sales for Bill Simmons' sports website The Ringer, as part of a revenue sharing agreement.[23]

In February 2018, it was reported that Vox Media would be laying off around 50 employees, particularly surrounding video production. CEO Jim Bankoff stated previously that the company planned to exit native video for Facebook due to "unreliable monetization and promotion". The memo announcing the layoffs argued that despite its success, native video "won't be viable audience or revenue growth drivers for us relative to other investments we are making", and that the company wanted to focus more on podcasting and Vox Entertainment.[24] The layoffs represented around 5% of Vox's workforce.[25]

In April 2019, Vox Media acquired Epic magazine, which would become part of a new division called Vox Media Studios, which had also absorbed Vox Entertainment and the Vox Media Podcast Network.[26] In September 2019, Vox Media agreed to acquire and merge with New York Media, the parent company of New York magazine.[27]

The California Assembly Bill 5 was passed in September 2019, and the bill aimed at improving the working conditions for contract workers. In response to this bill, Vox Media announced in December 2019 that it would terminate more than 200 contracts of California-based freelance writers for SB Nation, and replace these writers with 20 full-time staff writers.[28]

On April 17, 2020, Vox Media announced it would furlough 9% of its workforce from May 1 to July 31, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

In January 2021, Lindsay Peoples Wagner was hired to be the new editor-in-chief of The Cut.[30] At the same time, Vox Media also banned fossil fuel advertising to tackle climate change.[31] In February 2021, Swati Sharma—former managing editor of The Atlanticwas hired to be the new editor-in-chief of Vox.[32] Vox Media purchased Cafe Studios, the publisher of Preet Bharara's podcast Stay Tuned with Preet, in April 2021, making it part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.[33]

In August 2021, Vox Media announced its purchase of Punch, a mixology website established by Bertelsmann-owned Random House, to undisclosed terms. Punch is to assist the expansion of Vox Media's Eater website.[34]

On 13 December 2021, it was announced that Vox Media would acquire Group Nine Media.[35] The acquisition was completed on 22 February 2022.[36] Investors in Group Nine, including Warner Bros. Discovery, now own 25 percent of Vox.[37]

In February 2023, Penske Media Corporation became the largest shareholder in Vox Media, acquiring a 20% stake in the company, and Jay Penske joined Vox's board.[38]

Corporate affairs

[edit]

Funding

[edit]

In December 2014, Vox Media raised a US$46.5 million round led by the growth equity firm General Atlantic, estimating the media company's value at around $380 million.[39] Participants in Vox Media's previous rounds include Accel Partners, Comcast Ventures, and Khosla Ventures. Other funders are Allen & Company, Providence Equity Partners, and various angel investors, including Ted Leonsis, Dan Rosensweig, Jeff Weiner, and Brent Jones.[40] According to sources, the Series C in May 2012, valued Vox Media at $140 million.[41] A Series D valued the company north of $200 million, raising an additional $40 million.[42]

In August 2015, NBCUniversal made a $200 million investment in Vox Media, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. Comcast, which owns NBCU, additionally already owned 14% of Vox through other subsidiaries.[43]

Union

[edit]

In January 2018, Vox Media agreed to recognize a labor union, the Vox Media Union, which had been formed by its editorial staff with help from the Writers Guild of America, East.[44] On June 6, 2019, more than 300 employees under the Vox Media Union staged a walkout over failed labor agreements between the union and Vox Media, leading to most Vox Media websites temporarily ceasing operation.[45]

The Vox Media Union negotiated with management during the widespread furloughs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. The union "won a guarantee of no layoffs, no additional furloughs, and no additional pay cuts through July 31, along with enhanced severance for any layoffs that occur in August–December."[46]

Litigation

[edit]

In September 2017, Vox Media was sued by Cheryl Bradley, a former manager of the "Mile High Hockey" site for SB Nation, which covered the Colorado Avalanche team.[47] The suit alleged that Vox Media had only paid Bradley a $125 stipend per month, despite her being an employee of the company working 30–40 hours (and sometimes up to 50 hours) a week, and had therefore failed to reach obligatory wage and hour protections.[47] Fellow former site managers John Wakefield and Maija Varda were later added to the suit as plaintiffs, and Vox Media unsuccessfully tried to have the case dismissed.[48] The suit was granted class action status by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in March 2019.[48]

A second labor suit was filed as a class action lawsuit in California in September 2018, citing the Fair Labor Standards Act.[49] Because this lawsuit could have covered 258 plaintiffs and damages of up to $6.3 million, Vox Media had the suit moved to the United States federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act.[49]

In several cases, plaintiffs represented by the attorney Richard Liebowitz sued Vox Media over copyright infringement claims.[50]

Properties

[edit]

Vox Media is made up of six large media brands: The Verge (technology, culture, and science), Vox (general interest news), SB Nation (sports), Polygon (gaming), Eater (food and nightlife), and Curbed (real estate and home).[51] It also owns the online publications Select All, The Strategist, New York Magazine (and its affiliated websites), Daily Intelligencer (up-to-date news), The Cut (fashion and beauty), Grub Street (food and restaurants), and Vulture (pop culture).[52] Vox Media also previously owned or operated the online publications Racked (retail and shopping) and Recode (technology news).[53][54]

SB Nation

[edit]

SB Nation (originally known as Sports Blog Nation) is a sports blogging network, founded by Tyler Bleszinski and Markos Moulitsas in 2005. The blog from which the network formed was started by Bleszinski as Athletics Nation in 2003, and focused solely on the Oakland Athletics.[55] It has since expanded to cover sports franchises on a national scale, including all Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League teams, as well as college and soccer teams, totaling over 300 community sites.[56][57] In 2011, the network expanded into technology content with The Verge, leading to the parent company Sports Blogs Inc. being rebranded as Vox Media.[56][58] Vox Media's chief executive, Jim Bankoff, has been SB Nation's CEO since 2009.[56] The network expanded into radio programming in mid-2016 with SB Nation Radio, in partnership with Gow Media.[59]

The Verge

[edit]

The Verge is a technology news site, which launched on November 1, 2011; it was originally staffed by former employees of Engadget, including former editor Joshua Topolsky and the new site's editor-in-chief Nilay Patel.[60] While Topolsky and his team were developing the new site, a "placeholder" site called This Is My Next was created to allow them to continue writing articles and producing podcasts.[61] Topolsky described the site as being an "evolved version of what we [had] been doing [at AOL]."[62]

In February 2014, The Verge had 7.9 million unique visitors according to ComScore.[63]

Vox

[edit]

Vox was launched in April 2014; it is a news website that employs explanatory journalism. The site's editor-in-chief is Swati Sharma.[64]

Vox Media acquired technology industry news website Recode in May 2015.[54] Recode hosts the annual invite-only Code Conference, at which editors of the site interview prominent figures of the technology industry.[65] Recode was integrated into Vox in May 2019 under the name Recode by Vox.[66]

Polygon

[edit]

The video game website Polygon launched in 2012 as Vox Media's third property, and publishes news, culture, reviews, and videos.[67][68] The site's founding staff included the editors-in-chief of the gaming sites Joystiq, Kotaku (Brian Crecente), and The Escapist.[69] Staff published on The Verge as "Vox Games" beginning in February 2012, and launched as Polygon in October.[68] The network features long-form journalism that focuses on the people making and playing the games rather than the games alone, and uses a "direct content sponsorship" model of online advertising.[69][70] Christopher Plante is the editor.[71]

Eater

[edit]

Eater is a food and dining network of sites, offering reviews and news about the restaurant industry. The network was founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009,[72] and covered nearly 20 cities by 2012.[73] Vox Media acquired Eater, along with two others comprising the Curbed Network, in late 2013.[74] In 2017, Eater had 25 local sites in the United States in Canada, and launched its first international site in London.[75] The site has been recognized four times by the James Beard Foundation Awards.[76] Eater is led by editor-in-chief Amanda Kludt.[77]

New York magazine

[edit]

New York is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. On September 24, 2019, it was announced that the magazine's parent company, New York Media, was acquired by Vox Media.[78]

The magazine's website, NYMag.com, was a companion to the magazine until it was relaunched as a news site in 2006. It further includes several branded sites:

  • Intelligencer: news
  • The Cut: women's issues
  • Grub Street: food and restaurants
  • The Strategist: internet shopping companion
  • Vulture: pop culture
  • Curbed: real-estate. The brand originated as a real-estate and home website that reached beyond New York City to publish in 32 markets across the U.S. It was founded in 2004 as a side project by Lockhart Steele, managing editor of Gawker Media. Vox Media would later acquire Curbed's parent company, Curbed Network, in November 2013 for $20–30 million in cash and stock, accumulating sister brands Eater and Racked as well.[53] In May 2020, Vox Media announced it was merging Curbed into New York magazine's website, NYMag.com as a vertical.[79]

Former

[edit]

Technology industry news website Recode was acquired by Vox Media in May 2015.[54] The property was then integrated into the company's namesake brand Vox under the name Recode by Vox in May 2019.[66]

Racked

[edit]

Racked was a retail and shopping website which covered style. It was acquired by Vox Media when the company acquired Curbed Network in November 2013.[53] In December 2014, the site had 11.2 million page views and 8 million unique visitors.[80] In addition to the national site, Racked had local sites for Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, and San Francisco.[81] The editor-in-chief was Britt Aboutaleb.[82] Racked was folded into Vox in September 2018.[83]

Businesses

[edit]

Chorus

[edit]

Conceived in 2008, Chorus was built to be a "next-generation" publishing platform.[84][85] Developed specifically for SB Nation, it facilitates content creation, and implemented commenting and forums, which allowed for company growth, later evolving to analyze viewership and distribute content via various multimedia platforms.[86][87] In 2014, Ezra Klein and Melissa Bell left The Washington Post to join Vox Media, in part because of the publishing platform.[85][88] Additionally, the founders of Curbed, Eater, and The Verge said Chorus was a key reason for partnering with Vox Media.[85] In 2018, Vox Media began to license Chorus as a software as a service (SaaS) business to other publishers,[89] including Funny or Die and The Ringer.[87] The Chicago Sun-Times signed on as the first traditional newspaper to launch on the platform in October 2018.[90][91] Vox announced it would "wind down" Chorus in December 2022 amid a slump in advertising demand, stating that no new customers would be added and that existing customers had 18 months to depart the platform.[92]

Concert

[edit]

In April 2016, Vox Media and NBCUniversal launched Concert as a "premium, brand-friendly ad network" to reach more than 150 million people across their digital properties.[93] New York Media, PopSugar, Quartz and Rolling Stone joined the marketplace in May 2018. In May 2018, Comscore estimated the network reaches almost 90 percent of all internet users.[94] With the new partners, Concert launched C-Suite to reach executives among brands such as CNBC, Recode, The Verge, and Vox.[95]

Vox Creative

[edit]

Vox Creative is Vox Media's branded entertainment business.[96] In October 2017, Vox Creative expanded to launch The Explainer Studio to bring the explainer format to brand partners.[97] In 2016, Vox Creative's ad for "Applebee's Taste Test" won the Digiday Video Award for Best Video Ad.[98]

Vox Media Studios

[edit]

In April 2019, Vox Media opened an operation unit known as Vox Media Studios. It is run by company president Marty Moe and is an umbrella for the Vox Entertainment, Vox Media Podcast, and simultaneously acquired Epic units.[99][100] Vox Media Studios soon announced a new show, Retro Tech, hosted by Marques Brownlee on YouTube.[101]

Vox Entertainment

[edit]

In March 2015, Vox Media formed a new division known as Vox Entertainment. The division was created to expand the company's presence in developing online video programming.[102] Vox Entertainment announced new shows in 2018, including American Style on CNN,[103] Explained on Netflix,[104] No Passport Required (hosted by chef Marcus Samuelsson) on PBS,[105] and another named "Glad You Asked" series on YouTube.[106] Vox Entertainment is helmed by Vox Media president Marty Moe.[107] In 2016, vice president of Vox Entertainment, Chad Mumm, was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 and Variety's "30 Execs to Watch" list.[108][109]

Vox Media Podcast Network

[edit]

The Vox Media Podcast Network is Vox Media's non-fiction audio programming business and has a broad portfolio of audio programming across business, technology, news and policy, sports, and dining.[110] Shows include Stay Tuned with Preet by Preet Bharara,[33] Recode Media with Peter Kafka[111] and Recode Daily;[112] The Verge's The Vergecast; and Vox's The Weeds,[113] Vox Conversations,[114] Today, Explained,[110] Switched on Pop,[115] Impeachment, Explained,[116] Unexplainable[117], Pivot by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway[118], and Vox Quick Hits.[119] The network won "Podcast Network of the Year" at the 2020 Adweek Podcast Awards.[120]

Forte

[edit]

In December 2019, Vox Media announced a first-party marketing platform named Forte, in order to offer marketers access to Vox Media's direct-to-consumer relationships. [121]

Reception

[edit]

In 2016, business magazine Inc. nominated Vox Media for "Company of the Year", citing that the company generated approximately $100 million in revenue in 2015, and was attracting 170 million unique users and 800 million content views monthly by 2016.[122] Vox Media was named one of the world's "most innovative" media companies in 2017 by Fast Company for "doubling down on quality content while expanding".[123] Vox Media was also named one of the "50 Great Places to Work" in Washington, D.C., by magazine Washingtonian.[124] The company gained a rating of 95 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which rates businesses on their treatment of LGBT personnel.[125]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (January 29, 2020). "Listen: Pam Wasserstein Brings Her New York State of Mind to Vox Media". Variety. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Bond, Shannon (October 22, 2017). "Jim Bankoff, Vox Media CEO, on moving into TV". Financial Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  3. ^ Guaglione, Sara (February 21, 2020). "Vox Media Names Margaret Chu CFO". MediaPost. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Bienaimé, Pierre (February 18, 2020). "Vox Media CRO Ryan Pauley on acquiring NY Mag: There is no trade-off between scale and quality". Digiday. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Digital Media Hub Vox Valued at $1B as NBCUniversal Invests". Inc. Associated Press. August 13, 2015. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  6. ^ Kaufman, Leslie (April 6, 2014). "Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Plambeck, Joseph (June 6, 2010). "Sports-Centric Web Sites Expand, and Bias Is Welcome". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "Rankings". Comscore, Inc. May 7, 2016. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d "The Raid On AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget And Founded An Empire". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  10. ^ SUTTON, KELSEY (December 14, 2015). "Tyler Bleszinski, co-founder of SB Nation, to leave Vox Media". Politico.
  11. ^ a b c "Interview with Jim Bankoff, CEO of SBNation.com". Inc.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Overly, Steven (December 20, 2010). "SB Nation's sports blogger collective sees bias as a plus". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  13. ^ a b Albanesius, Chloe (April 4, 2011). "Engadget's Topolsky, Former Editors Starting New Rival Tech Site". PC Magazine. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  14. ^ Ellis, Justin (November 1, 2011). "This is their next: Vox Media becomes the new parent company to SB Nation and The Verge". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2021.; Mullin, Benjamin (July 17, 2018). "Vox Media to Begin Licensing Publishing Technology Chorus". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Davis, Noah (November 1, 2011). "The New Site From The Engadget Crew And SB Nation Is About To Take The Tech World By Storm". Business Insider. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  16. ^ Guaglione, Sara (February 7, 2017). "Vox Taps Brundrett As COO To Oversee Video, Native Ad Push". MediaPost. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  17. ^ Brian Solomon. "The Inside Story Of Polygon, The Verge's New Gaming Sister-Site". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  18. ^ Kaufman, Leslie (November 10, 2013). "Vox Media Buying Curbed.com Network of Sites". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  19. ^ Bercovici, Jeff. "Why Do So Many Journalists Hate Vox?". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  20. ^ Barr, Jeremy (May 19, 2015). "Vox Media expands Melissa Bell's role". Politico. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.; Carr, David (January 26, 2014). "Ezra Klein Is Joining Vox Media as Web Journalism Asserts Itself". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2014.; Kaufman, Leslie (April 6, 2014). "Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2014.
  21. ^ Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2014). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  22. ^ Grinapol, Corinne (February 6, 2017). "Vox Media Names Trei Brundrett as Its First COO". Adweek. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  23. ^ "Bill Simmons' The Ringer Inks Advertising, Tech Pact With Vox Media". Variety. May 30, 2017. Archived from the original on May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
  24. ^ "Vox Media Laying Off Around 50 Staffers". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  25. ^ Spangler, Todd (February 21, 2018). "Vox Media Lays Off 50 Staffers, or 5% of Workforce". Variety. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  26. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (April 15, 2019). "Vox Media Acquires Epic Magazine (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  27. ^ Bennett, Anita (September 25, 2019). "New York Magazine Acquired By Vox Media". Deadline. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.; Tracy, Marc; Lee, Edmund (September 24, 2019). "Vox Media Acquires New York Magazine, Chronicler of the Highbrow and Lowbrow". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  28. ^ Levy, Ari; Sherman, Alex (December 16, 2019). "Vox Media to cut hundreds of freelance jobs ahead of changes in California gig economy laws". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.; Tracy, Marc; Draper, Kevin (December 16, 2019). "Vox Media to Cut 200 Freelancers, Citing California Gig-Worker Law". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  29. ^ Horn, Austin (April 17, 2020). "Popular Blog SB Nation Furloughs Writers With Few Sports to Cover During Pandemic". NPR.org. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.; Flynn, Kerry (April 18, 2020). "Vox Media furloughs more than 100 employees for three months". CNN. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  30. ^ Robertson, Katie (January 4, 2021). "The Cut Finds Its New Top Editor at Teen Vogue". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  31. ^ Noor, Dharna (June 7, 2024). "News and tech media mostly quiet after UN chief calls for ban on ads for oil and gas". The Guardian. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  32. ^ Tracy, Marc (February 16, 2021). "Vox Finds Its Next Top Editor at The Atlantic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  33. ^ a b Journal, Benjamin Mullin (April 11, 2021). "Vox Media to Buy Owner of Preet Bharara's Podcast". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  34. ^ Mullin, Benjamin (August 23, 2021). "Vox Media Agrees to Acquire Punch, Weighs Going Public". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved August 24, 2021.; Stenberg, Mark (August 23, 2021). "Vox Media Acquires Drinks Publisher Punch". Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  35. ^ "Vox Media to Merge with Group Nine, Home to Leading Collection of Multi-Platform Media Brands". Group Nine Media. Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  36. ^ "Completes Acquisition of Group Nine". Vox Media. February 22, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  37. ^ "Why is Vox Media buying Group Nine?". December 13, 2021.
  38. ^ Sakoui, Anousha (February 6, 2023). "Penske's media roll-up continues with purchase of Vox stake". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  39. ^ Catherine Shu (December 2014). "Vox Media Raises $46.5M At A Reported $380M Valuation". TechCrunch. AOL. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  40. ^ "Blog network SportsBlog Nation scores funding". CNET.com. October 29, 2008. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2008.; Ali, Rafat (July 16, 2009). "Sports Blog Site SBNation Gets $8 Million More, From Comcast And Others". Paid Content. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  41. ^ Solomon, Brian (December 6, 2012). "Meet The Digital Upstart That Thinks Millions Of Rowdy Fans Are The Future Of The Web". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  42. ^ "Vox Media aims to obtain USD40 million funding via Accel Partners". Venture Capital Post. October 16, 2013. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  43. ^ Stelter, Brian (August 12, 2015). "NBCUniversal invests big in Vox Media". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  44. ^ "Vox Media agrees to recognize labor union". New York Post. January 11, 2018. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  45. ^ Darcy, Oliver (June 6, 2019). "Some Vox Media websites go dark as hundreds of employees stage walkout to demand union deal". CNN Business. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.; Tani, Maxwell (June 6, 2019). "Vox Media Employees Walk Out Over Union Contract Dispute". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  46. ^ Ha, Anthony (April 17, 2020). "Vox Media is cutting pay and furloughing 9% of employees". techcrunch.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  47. ^ a b Wagner, Laura (September 1, 2017). "Former SB Nation Site Manager Files Lawsuit Against Vox Media For Alleged Labor Law Violations". Deadspin. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.Worthington, Danika (September 2, 2017). "Centennial woman who ran Avalanche website sues Vox Media on claims that SB Nation broke labor laws". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  48. ^ a b Flood, Brian (March 7, 2019). "SB Nation Writers, Editors Win Class Status in Overtime Suit". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  49. ^ a b Wagner, Laura (April 17, 2019). "Court Docs: SB Nation Bosses Detail How Much Money Team-Site Workers Could Be Owed In Lawsuit". Deadspin. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  50. ^ Peters, Justin (May 24, 2018). "Why Every Media Company Fears Richard Liebowitz". Slate. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  51. ^ Lukas I. Alpert (August 12, 2015). "Comcast Invests $200 Million in Vox Media". WSJ. Archived from the original on September 1, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  52. ^ Tracy, Marc; Lee, Edmund (September 24, 2019). "Vox Media Acquires New York Magazine, Chronicler of the Highbrow and Lowbrow". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019.; "Terms of Use: New York Media". New York Magazine. September 6, 2019. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  53. ^ a b c Hempel, Jessi (November 11, 2013). "Vox Media acquires Curbed Network for $20-30M". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  54. ^ a b c Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2015). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
  55. ^ Orlando, Dan (July 12, 2013). "What's the future of the sports-blogging industry? Here are 3 different answers from rival contenders". New York Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  56. ^ a b c Lincoln, Kevin (January 9, 2012). "The Raid on AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget and Founded an Empire". Business Insider. Axel Springer SE. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  57. ^ Warzel, Charlie (September 25, 2012). "SB Nation Relaunches, Hires First Editorial Director". Adweek. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  58. ^ Swisher, Kara (April 3, 2011). "SB Nation Sacks AOL in Raid of Former Engadget Team for Competing New Tech Site, As AOL Zeroes in on New EiC". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  59. ^ Fox, Brooke (July 18, 2016). "SB Nation Expands Into Radio Programming With Gow Media Accord". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on November 25, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  60. ^ Carr, David (April 3, 2011). "Team From Engadget Makes Jump to SB Nation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  61. ^ "Latest Gadget Reviews – The Verge". Archived from the original on October 31, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  62. ^ "Topolsky and Bankoff on Engadget, SB Nation, and the new tech site that's bringing them together » Nieman Journalism Lab". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.; "With The Verge, SB Nation looks beyond just gadgets". Fortune. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  63. ^ "Vox Media's The Verge Staffs Up Culture Coverage". Advertising Age. March 24, 2014. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  64. ^ Bell, Melissa (March 25, 2014). "Masthead". Vox. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  65. ^ Hoffman, Claire (May 31, 2018). "Inside This Year's Invite-Only Code Conference". BizBash. Archived from the original on November 12, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  66. ^ a b "Vox Media integrates Recode with flagship brand, four years after purchase". Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  67. ^ Duryee, Tricia (October 24, 2012). "Let the Games Begin: Vox Media Launches a New Site Covering Videogames". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  68. ^ a b Swisher, Kara (February 21, 2012). "On the Verge Again: Vox Media Officially Launches Into Videogames Content Arena". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  69. ^ a b Solomon, Brian (October 24, 2012). "The Inside Story Of Polygon, The Verge's New Gaming Sister-Site". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  70. ^ Stark, Chelsea (October 25, 2012). "Veteran Game Journalists Unite to Launch Vox's 'Polygon'". Mashable. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  71. ^ Beaujon, Andrew (October 25, 2012). "Why Polygon takes video-games journalism seriously". Poynter. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  72. ^ Druckman, Charlotte (October 6, 2009). "The Insiders: Ben Leventhal and Lockhart Steele". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  73. ^ Midson, Lori (December 1, 2011). "Eater launches Denver food site". Westword. Voice Media Group. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  74. ^ Hempel, Jessi (November 11, 2013). "Vox Media acquires Curbed Network for $20-30M". Fortune. Meredith Corporation. ISSN 0015-8259. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  75. ^ Guaglione, Sara (July 12, 2017). "Vox Launches 'Eater London,' Company's First". MediaPost Communications. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  76. ^ "The 2015 James Beard Award Winners!". James Beard Foundation. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.; "The 2016 James Beard Award Winners!". James Beard Foundation. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on July 11, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  77. ^ Bhuiyan, Johana (April 16, 2014). "Food site Eater 'Vox-ifies'". Politico. Capitol News Company. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.; Vora, Shivani (February 2, 2018). "How Amanda Kludt, Editor in Chief of Eater, Spends Her Sundays". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 13, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  78. ^ Tracy, Marc; Lee, Edmund (September 24, 2019). "Vox Media Acquires New York Magazine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  79. ^ "Vox Media site Curbed to be merged into New York magazine". nypost.com. April 29, 2020. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  80. ^ Steigrad, Alexandra (February 10, 2015). "Vox Media Looks to Racked for Growth". WWD. Archived from the original on October 24, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  81. ^ Steigrad, Alexandra (January 11, 2016). "Racked Poaches New Editor in Chief From Yahoo Style". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.; Meltzer, Marisa (May 18, 2016). "The Last Days of Scoop". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  82. ^ Shepard, Eliot (January 29, 2015). "About". Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  83. ^ Hays, Kali (June 19, 2018). "Vox Media Is Folding Racked". Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  84. ^ Eldon, Eric (May 7, 2012). "A Closer Look at Chorus, the Next-Generation Publishing Platform That Runs Vox Media". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  85. ^ a b c Kaufman, Leslie (April 6, 2014). "Vox Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to a New Level". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  86. ^ Solomon, Brian (December 6, 2012). "Meet Vox Media: The Digital Upstart That Wants to Be Conde Nast 2.0". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  87. ^ a b Mullin, Benjamin (July 17, 2018). "Vox Media to Begin Licensing Publishing Technology Chorus". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  88. ^ Ember, Sydney (May 26, 2015). "Vox Media Adds ReCode to Its Stable of Websites". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  89. ^ Knight, Jesse (November 20, 2018). "Is it finally time for media companies to adopt a common publishing platform?". Nieman Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  90. ^ Fuller, Melynda (October 12, 2018). "'Chicago Sun-Times' To Redesign Site, Join Vox Media's Ad Marketplace". Publishers Daily. MediaPost. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  91. ^ Armentrout, Mitchell (October 11, 2018). "Sun-Times to launch redesigned website powered by Vox Media platform". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  92. ^ Stenberg, Mark (December 9, 2022). "Vox Media Will No Longer License Chorus, Its CMS Software". Adweek. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  93. ^ Shields, Mike (April 4, 2016). "NBCU and Vox Will Start Selling Ads on Each Other's Sites". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  94. ^ Jerde, Sara (May 31, 2018). "New York Media, Rolling Stone Join Expanding Digital Ad Marketplace". Adweek. Archived from the original on November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  95. ^ Jerde, Sara (May 8, 2018). "Quartz Joins Digital Ad Marketplace Concert to Reach Top Execs". Adweek. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2018. The new partnership allows for a vertical on Concert called, "Concert C-Suite" to reach top executives and, as the companies claimed, the ability to reach 86 million unique monthly visitors among brands that include Recode, Vox, The Verge and CNBC.
  96. ^ Rooney, Jenny (September 24, 2018). "CMO Next 2018: The Full List Of 50 Chief Marketers". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  97. ^ Mullin, Benjamin (October 13, 2017). "Vox Media Pitches Signature 'Explainer' Format to Advertisers". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 4, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  98. ^ "Valspar wins Best in Show at the Digiday Video Awards gala". Digiday. January 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  99. ^ Fuller, Melynda (April 16, 2019). "Vox Media Launches Vox Media Studios, Acquires Epic Magazine". MediaPost. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  100. ^ Vox Media (April 15, 2019). "Introducing Vox Media Studios". Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  101. ^ Vox Media (April 19, 2019). "Youtube Greenlights Vox Media Studios-Produced, Original Series 'Retro Tech' Starring Youtube Creator Marques Brownlee". Vox Media. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  102. ^ "Vox Media Launches Entertainment Division, Signs With WME (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  103. ^ Levine, Jon (April 11, 2018). "Vox Entertainment to Produce New CNN Original Series 'American Style'". TheWrap. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  104. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (January 19, 2018). "Netflix Grows Docuseries Lineup with 'Flint Town,' Ezra Klein-Produced Explainer Show". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  105. ^ Patel, Sail (May 24, 2018). "'A meaningful business with real money': How Vox approaches producing for TV and streaming". Digiday. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  106. ^ "Vox's newest show Glad You Asked launches on YouTube". Vox. September 23, 2019. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  107. ^ Patel, Sahil (February 9, 2018). "Publishers with TV ambitions are pursuing Netflix". Digiday. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  108. ^ "2016 30 Under 30: Media: Chad Mumm, 29". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  109. ^ "Digital Entertainment Impact Report: 30 Execs to Watch: Chad Mumm". Variety. January 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  110. ^ a b "Vox Picks Panoply's Megaphone for Podcast Distribution". Inside Radio. November 13, 2018. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  111. ^ "Recode Media with Peter Kafka". www.vox.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  112. ^ "Recode Daily". www.vox.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  113. ^ Grinapol, Corinne (October 2, 2015). "Vox Debuts Its First Podcast on Panoply". Adweek. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  114. ^ "Conversations". www.vox.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  115. ^ Seaton, Claire (July 24, 2020). "Vox Joins Pulitzer Center, Diversify Photo for Eyewitness Photojournalism Grant". Pulitzer Center. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  116. ^ "Impeachment, explained". www.vox.com. Archived from the original on November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  117. ^ Resnick, Brian (March 10, 2021). "Unexplainable: A new podcast about the most fascinating unanswered questions in science". Vox. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  118. ^ "Pivot Podcast Joins New York Magazine". New York Press Room. April 13, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  119. ^ Maycan, Taylor (January 19, 2021). "Start your day with our new, bite-sized podcasts, Vox Quick Hits". Vox. Archived from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  120. ^ Griner, David; Gamboa, Julian (October 26, 2020). "Adweek's Podcasts of the Year for 2020". Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  121. ^ "Vox Media announces first-party marketing platform, Forte". Vox Media. December 30, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  122. ^ Matthews, Melissa (November 22, 2016). "Vox Media: From Sports Blog Hobby to Multimillion-Dollar Media Company". Inc. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  123. ^ "Most Innovative Companies 2017". Fast Company. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  124. ^ Dalphonse, Sherri (March 7, 2017). "50 Great Places to Work in Washington, DC". Washingtonian. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  125. ^ "Buyers Guide: Vox". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
[edit]