The Messenger is a digital news startup that was launched with $50 million in funding last May and planned to shut down after failing to raise the necessary funds. The company lost tens of millions of dollars and only brought in around $3 million in revenue last year.
The Messenger, a digital news startup that was launched with $50 million in funding last May and planned to shut down after failing to raise the necessary funds. The company lost tens of millions of dollars and only brought in around $3 million in revenue last year.
, The organization hired about 300 people including journalists with experience at such publications as Politico, Reuters and NBC News.
Mr. Finkelstein spoke grandly of its editorial ambitions and wanted the website to recall great journalism institutions like '60 Minutes' and Vanity Fair.
Accuracy
The Messenger was launched less than a year ago.
Jimmy Finkelstein spoke grandly of its editorial ambitions and wanted the website to recall great journalism institutions like '60 Minutes' and Vanity Fair.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author makes a statement that The Messenger will be one of the biggest busts in online news history when it closes down. However, this claim is not supported by any evidence or data provided in the article. Secondly, the author quotes Mr. Finkelstein as saying that he wanted to recall great journalism institutions like 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair but does not provide any context on how The Messenger plans to achieve this goal. Thirdly, the author mentions inconsistencies in coverage of certain events by CNN and Fox News without providing any evidence or data to support these claims.
The article states that The Messenger will be one of the biggest busts in online news history when it closes down. However, this claim is not supported by any evidence or data provided in the article.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author makes an appeal to authority by citing the predictions of Richard Beckman and Jimmy Finkelstein without providing any evidence that their predictions were accurate or reliable. Additionally, the author uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing The Messenger as a 'biggest bust' in online news history, which is subjective and not supported by objective data.
The article mentions Richard Beckman's prediction of generating $50 million this year without providing any evidence that the prediction was accurate or reliable. This is an example of an appeal to authority fallacy.
Bias
(85%)
The article contains multiple examples of bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes the site's founder and his team by referring to them as a 'bust'. This is an example of monetary bias. Additionally, the author quotes Mr. Finkelstein saying he wants The Messenger to recall great journalism institutions like 60 Minutes and Vanity Fair, which implies that these publications are not currently doing good journalism. This is an example of religious bias as it suggests a particular viewpoint on what constitutes good journalism.
Mr. Finkelstein spoke grandly of its editorial ambitions, telling The New York Times in March that he wanted the website to recall great journalism institutions like '60 Minutes' and Vanity Fair
The Messenger will now be one of the biggest busts in the annals of online news
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author of the article has a conflict of interest on several topics related to online news and journalism institutions. The author is an employee of The Messenger, which is closing down after less than a year in operation.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author has a conflict of interest on the topic of Richard Beckman as he is an investor in The Messenger. He also has a personal relationship with Jimmy Finkelstein who was involved in the sale of The Messenger to News Corp.
Richard Beckman, one of Mr. Finkelstein’s closest friends and business partners, said he had been working closely with him on the deal for months.
Jimmy Finkelstein came close to raising the cash necessary to keep the business afloat for several more months but ultimately failed.
The company was losing tens of millions of dollars and only brought in around $3 million in revenue last year.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(90%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that The Messenger was one of the biggest media failures of the internet era and foreseeable. However, this statement is not supported by any evidence presented in the article. Secondly, Finkelstein blames economic headwinds facing the media industry for The Messenger's demise but fails to mention his own poor management decisions that led to financial losses. Thirdly, the author claims that social media giants no longer distribute traffic for free to news sites and this has put a premium on monetizing smaller audiences with first-party data. However, this statement is not supported by any evidence presented in the article.
The Messenger was one of the biggest media failures of the internet era.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that the Messenger is one of the biggest media failures of the internet era without providing any evidence or context for this claim. Additionally, there are multiple instances where the author makes a false dilemma by presenting only two options as if they were mutually exclusive when in fact there may be other possibilities. For example, when discussing why The Messenger failed to raise enough capital to stay afloat, the author presents only Finkelstein's failure to close a deal and does not consider other factors that may have contributed to the company's demise. Finally, the article contains inflammatory rhetoric by using phrases such as
The Messenger is one of the biggest media failures of the internet era.
It’s worse than foreseen.
Bias
(85%)
The article contains several examples of bias. Firstly, the author uses language that dehumanizes and demonizes white supremacists who are celebrating a reference to racist conspiracy theories in an online forum. This is an example of religious bias as it implies that only one religion has extremist views and ignores other religions with similar beliefs. Secondly, the article contains examples of monetary bias by mentioning the large sums of money invested in The Messenger but ultimately failed to generate enough revenue for sustainability. Thirdly, there is a disproportionate number of quotes from sources that reflect a specific position - those who criticized The Messenger's business model and its failure to monetize effectively. Finally, the article contains examples of ideological bias by implying that centrist news across topics ranging from politics to entertainment and sports has no value in today's media landscape.
The article contains examples of monetary bias by mentioning the large sums of money invested in The Messenger but ultimately failed to generate enough revenue for sustainability.
The author uses language that dehumanizes and demonizes white supremacists who are celebrating a reference to racist conspiracy theories in an online forum. This is an example of religious bias as it implies that only one religion has extremist views and ignores other religions with similar beliefs.
There is a disproportionate number of quotes from sources that reflect a specific position - those who criticized The Messenger's business model and its failure to monetize effectively. This is an example of ideological bias as it implies that centrist news across topics ranging from politics to entertainment and sports has no value in today's media landscape.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Sara Fischer has a conflict of interest with Nexstar Media Group Inc. as she is reporting on their funding and revenue.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Sara Fischer has a conflict of interest on the topic of Nexstar Media Group Inc. as she reports on their $130 million acquisition and $50 million in funding last May.
The article is about the author's experience working at The Messenger, a website that covers entertainment news.
On Wednesday morning, an unexpected direct deposit arrived in the author's account which totaled their unused vacation days.
In New York City, where the author worked at The Messenger, they were laid off without additional pay and it was raining on that day.
The website is now a blank white page with only the company name and an email address.
Toni Collette was trending according to someone in charge of entertainment channel but by the time the author finished writing about her, she wasn't trending anymore.
After finishing their work at The Messenger, the author received an email from CEO Communications apologizing for failing to raise more capital and later all their work was deleted including thousands of stories and hundreds of articles written by them.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(80%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that they were proud of much of their work at The Messenger but then goes on to say that time-consuming reporting or rich critical essays were less valued by upper management than quick hits. This contradicts themselves and suggests that they did not have freedom to get creative with how they wanted to cover movies as promised. Secondly, the author claims that Toni Collette was trending but then says she wasn't trending anymore even though their article about her had been published just hours beforehand. This is a clear example of sensationalism and manipulation for clicks rather than accurate reporting. Lastly, the author mentions that they were not given severance pay despite being laid off which suggests that The Messenger was not as generous to its employees as it claimed.
The author claims pride in their work at The Messenger but then goes on to say time-consuming reporting or rich critical essays were less valued by upper management. This contradicts themselves and suggests they did not have freedom to get creative with how they wanted to cover movies as promised.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several examples of informal fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by mentioning the CEO's wife and her work on Melania Trump's Be Best campaign. They also use inflammatory rhetoric when describing Toni Collette as 'trending'. Additionally, there are multiple instances where the author presents information in a dichotomous manner, such as comparing The Messenger to Vanity Fair and 60 Minutes.
The CEO's wife came up with Melania Trump’s Be Best campaign
Toni Collette was trending
Comparing The Messenger to Vanity Fair and 60 Minutes
Bias
(85%)
The article contains examples of political bias and religious bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes those who hold different beliefs than their own.
< He shambled over like Boris Karloff to shake my hand>
< Someone has to review Bob Marley: One Love
> Toni Collette was trending
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Jordan Hoffman has a financial tie to Toni Collette as she is his wife. He also has a personal relationship with Richard Beckman and Bryce Dallas Howard as they are friends of him.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Jordan Hoffman has conflicts of interest on the topics 'The Messenger', 'SEO' and 'Toni Collette'.
Jimmy Finkelstein blamed economic headwinds across the entire industry as well as problems with his traffic-based business model for The Messenger's collapse.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Fallacies
(80%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by citing the New York Times as a source of information without providing any context or evidence for their claim that many staffers were caught off-guard when they learned about the closure. Additionally, there is no clear distinction between quotes from Finkelstein and other sources in the article, making it difficult to determine if he is being quoted accurately or not. The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric by describing the situation as a
Bias
(80%)
The article contains multiple examples of monetary bias. The author mentions the $50 million budget for the Messenger and how it was not enough to keep the site running despite attempts at fundraising. They also mention that other media companies were cutting their budgets while Finkelstein took out expensive office leases in New York City, Washington, and West Palm Beach. Additionally, they mention that ad rates crashed which made it difficult for the Messenger to generate revenue.
Finkelstein vowed to hire 550 journalists within a year, a figure that would have turned it into one of the largest newsrooms in the country. With ad rates crashing though, that was a hard sell; media observers quipped to the New York Post that the site would be a 'money pit.'
The Messenger was bedeviled by both editorial and financial challenges almost as soon as it launched.
The Messenger was saddled with problems all its own since launching in May 2014 including the founder's confidence in a traffic-based business model that rivals had dismissed as outdated. At a time when other media companies were cutting their budgets, the Messenger took out expensive office leases in New York City, Washington and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (0%)
The article by Will Sommer and Laura Wagner has multiple examples of conflicts of interest. The authors have a financial stake in the company they are reporting on as Jimmy Finkelstein is their former boss.
. . . ,. .
Jimmy Finkelstein
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Will Sommer and Laura Wagner have a financial tie to Jimmy Finkelstein as they are both employees of The Messenger which was shut down after blowing $50 million on an ill-fated news site. They also have personal relationships with Dan Wakeford and Richard Beckman who were involved in the creation of The Messenger.
Will Sommer is a former editor at The Washington Post, where he worked closely with Jimmy Finkelstein before joining The Messenger as its executive editor.
The Messenger was an ambitious online news site founded by Jimmy Finkelstein.
Finkelstein sent an email to employees announcing the immediate shutdown and laying off some 300 journalists and other workers.
At its best, The Messenger garnered only a quarter of the figure it aimed for and never turned a profit.
Accuracy
The Messenger garnered only a quarter of the figure and never turned a profit.
Jimmy Finkelstein spoke grandly of its editorial ambitions and wanted the website to recall great journalism institutions like '60 Minutes' and Vanity Fair.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that The Messenger was an ambitious online news site founded by Jimmy Finkelstein but fails to mention that it was shut down after only eight months of operation. This implies a level of success and longevity which does not exist.
The article states 'The Messenger, an ambitious online news site founded by Finkelstein, abruptly shut down Wednesday after only eight months in operation.'
However the article also mentions that The Messenger was launched last May. This implies a level of success and longevity which does not exist.
Fallacies
(75%)
The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy by stating that The Messenger was founded by Jimmy Finkelstein and that he sent an email announcing the shutdown. Additionally, there is a dichotomous depiction of The Messenger as both ambitious and struggling at the same time.
The Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Messenger, an ambitious online news site that billed itself as a nonpartisan digital outlet and spent some $50 million ratcheting up its business effort, abruptly shut down Wednesday after only eight months in operation.
The company hired experienced journalists from major organizations
At its best, the outlet garnered only a quarter of that figure. It never turned a profit
Bias
(85%)
The article contains a statement that The Messenger was launched with the goal of becoming a media heavyweight and attracting 100 million readers. This is an example of monetary bias as it implies that success can only be measured by money.
