The Outline was an

online publication Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues. It also includes the editi ...

focused on "power, culture, and the future." It was founded independently by

Joshua Topolsky Joshua Ryan Topolsky (born October 19, 1977) is an American technology journalist. He is also a record producer, and DJ under the stage name Joshua Ryan. Topolsky was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of technology news network ''The Verge'' ...

in 2016 and later became a subsidiary of ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. ...

''. The company did not want to be too reliant on social media distribution, but instead aimed to reach a "smart, influential" readership who would visit its website directly. The articles are visually interactive, and highly optimized for mobile. The interface contains articles represented as a stack of cards that users can swipe through. The company earned income by virtue of its partnerships with 10 to 12 companies a year, as opposed to reliance on a format employing traditional banner ads.

History

The Outline was founded in 2016 under a holding company named Independent Media with funding from

RRE Ventures RRE Ventures is an American Venture Capital firm based in New York City. The firm primarily invests in seed, series A and series B rounds and focuses on companies operating in the software, internet, communications, aerospace, robotics, 3D ...

, Advancit Capital, Boat Rocker Ventures and Nextview Ventures. The company initially hired 10 employees and launched its website on December 5, 2016. It later grew to 26 employees, having recruited people from news media outlets like

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 b ...

Vice News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice News was create ...

, and

Buzzfeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ke ...

. In April 2017, The Outline introduced The Outline World Dispatch, a short daily

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

with news roundups. The company announced a second fund-raising in May 2018 of $5.15M, stating that it would use the money for "measured growth." U.S. broadcast television company TEGNA signed on as a new investor, having earlier announced a content partnership as part of the investment in February 2018. In June 2018, The Outline let go of a writer and editor from its Power section. Joshua Topolsky, the website's founder and CEO, characterized the two as "underperforming employees." However, after receiving criticism, he apologized for his earlier statement. Later that year in September, the website laid off two full-time staff writers and also planned to move its office into a co-working space. Topolsky said the actions were necessary to "move the business into a break-even financial position." Study Hall, a collective of freelance writers, expressed its disapproval with ''The Outline'''s layoffs. A Study Hall member told ''

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

'', "we don’t want management to think that it’s OK to fire their employees and rely on us to pick up the slack." The group's members have pledged not to work with the website and encouraged others to follow its lead. On March 27, 2019, it was announced that

Bryan Goldberg Bryan Goldberg (born June 29, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and the owner of Bustle Digital Group, which operates a number of media properties, including ''Bustle'', ''Nylon'', ''W Magazine'' and ''Gawker''. Previously, Goldberg founded Bleac ...

and his company Bustle Digital Media had bought ''The Outline''. Despite the sale, Joshua Topolsky would still run the website. On April 3, 2020, executive editor Leah Finnegan announced that the entire editorial team had been laid off. The last article posted on the site was by Finnegan, on March 20, 2020. She would later go on to be editor of the

Gawker ''Gawker'' is an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers and based in New York City focusing on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded ...

website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Outline 2016 establishments in New York City American news websites Internet properties established in 2016 Internet properties disestablished in 2020 Mass media companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 2016 2019 mergers and acquisitions