.svg) | |
Type of site | News |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Owner | IAC |
| Created by | Tina Brown |
| Editor | Tracy Connor[1] |
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | October 6, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-10-06) |
| Current status | Active |
The Daily Beast is an American newswebsite focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned byIAC Inc.[2]
It has been characterized as a "high-endtabloid" byNoah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021.[3] In a 2015 interview, formereditor-in-chiefJohn Avlon described theBeast's editorial approach: "We seek out scoops, scandals, and stories about secret worlds; we love confronting bullies, bigots, and hypocrites."[4] In 2018, Avlon described theBeast's "strike zone" as "politics, pop culture, and power".[5]
The Daily Beast began publishing on October 6, 2008. Its founding editor wasTina Brown, a former editor ofVanity Fair andThe New Yorker as well as the short-livedTalk magazine. The name of the site was taken from a fictional newspaper inEvelyn Waugh's novelScoop.[6]
In 2010,The Daily Beast merged with the magazineNewsweek creating a combined company,The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. The merger ended in 2013, whenDaily Beast ownerIAC soldNewsweek toIBT Media, owner of theInternational Business Times.[7] Brown stepped down as editor in September 2013.[8]
John Avlon, an American journalist and political commentator as well as aCNN contributor, was the site's editor-in-chief and managing director from 2013 to 2018.[9][10]
In September 2014,The Daily Beast reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors – a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.[11]
In May 2018, Avlon departed from theBeast to become full-time Senior Political Analyst and anchor atCNN. Avlon was succeeded by executive editorNoah Shachtman.[12]
In March 2017, former chief strategy and product officer Mike Dyer left forIntel.[13] In May 2017, Heather Dietrick was appointed president and publisher.[14] In July 2021, Shachtman announced that he'd be moving from theBeast toRolling Stone and that he would be succeeded by Tracy Connor.[15]
In January 2023, it was reported byThe New York Times that IAC chairmanBarry Diller was considering a sale ofThe Daily Beast.[2] In June 2023, however, Diller publicly acknowledged that he had ended talks to sellThe Daily Beast, stating that it is "not for sale."[16]
In April 2024, Diller hired Ben Sherwood as chief executive and publisher, and Joanna Coles as chief creative and content officer.[17] Employees were offered voluntary buyouts in May in an effort to cut costs.[18] About 70% of unionized workers took the buyout, including almost all of theBeast's senior staffers.[19]
In an April 2018 interview, Avlon described the publication's political stance as "non-partisan but not neutral": "what that means is we're going to hit both sides where appropriate, but we're not going for mythic moral equivalence on every issue."[20] In April 2017, Avlon discussed the organization's approach on thePoynter Institute's podcast saying, "We're not going to toe any partisan line."[21] In December 2017,NPR reported thatThe Daily Beast's editor-in-chief John Avlon had begun pairing reporters from both the right and left sides of thepolitical spectrum to coverWhite House stories. Specifically, reporters Asawin Suebsaeng (formerly ofMother Jones) and Lachlan Markay (formerly ofThe Heritage Foundation) were tasked with covering thefirst Trump administration.[22]
The Washington Post media criticErik Wemple stated in 2018 that "Pound for pound, [The Daily Beast] is an impressive operation. As I see it, they do a few things well: They bang the phones, they don't always follow the same story everyone else is doing, and they are fast."[23]
Later in 2018, editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman characterizedThe Daily Beast as a "high-endtabloid" that embracesgonzo journalism.[3]
According to Shachtman,The Daily Beast'ssocial media policy for journalists consists (as of 2018) of three main rules: "you're reporters, not cheerleaders" so do not be an open partisan; avoid hate speech and posts that could offend a group; and "don't get your fellow reporters in trouble".[3]
A feature ofThe Daily Beast is theCheat Sheet, billed as "must reads from all over". Published throughout the day, theCheat Sheet offers a selection of articles from online news outlets on popular stories. TheCheat Sheet includes brief summaries of the article, and a link to read the full text of the article on the website of its provider. It is found at www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet.[24]
After the launch, the site introduced additional sections, including a videoCheat Sheet andBook Beast.[25] The site frequently creates encyclopedic landing pages on topical subjects such asPresident Obama's inauguration, theBernard MadoffPonzi scheme, and the Iran uprising.[26] In 2014,The Daily Beast became the majority on mobile and released aniOS app, which Nieman Lab described as "the dawn of the quantified news reader".[27]
The illustrational style used at the top of every article has been described as, "jaunty collage and pop-art illustrations".[28]
Contributors to the publication include notable writers and political activists such as:
In May 2017, Pulitzer Prize–winning national security reporterSpencer Ackerman leftThe Guardian and joinedThe Daily Beast.[30][31][32][33]
In June 2017,HuffPost senior political editor Sam Stein announced he was joiningThe Daily Beast in the same capacity.[34]
In early June 2014, Capital New York re-published a memo by outgoing CEO Rhona Murphy, stating thatThe Daily Beast's average unique monthly visitors increased from 13.5 million in 2013 to more than 17 million in 2014.[35] By September 2014, the website reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors; it was a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.[36]
In 2015, Ken Doctor, a news analyst forNieman Lab, reported thatThe Daily Beast is "one of the fastest-growing news and information sites year-over-year in the 'General News' category".[37]
During Avlon's leadership from 2013 to 2018,The Daily Beast doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day and won over 17 awards for journalistic excellence.[38][39]
The Daily Beast won aWebby Award for "Best News Site" in 2012 and 2013.[40] Also in 2012 John Avlon won National Society of Newspaper Columnists' award for best online column in 2012 forThe Daily Beast.[41]
In March 2012, "Book Beast" won a National Magazine Award for Website Department, which "honors a department, channel or microsite".[42]
Anna Nemstova received the Courage in Journalism Award in 2015 from theInternational Women's Media Foundation.[43] Also that year, Michael Daly won with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists award in the category of Online, Blog, Multimedia – Over 100,000 Unique Visitors.[44]
In 2016, theLos Angeles Press Club nominated several of The Beast's writers including M. L. Nestel for Arts/Entertainment Investigative,Brandy Zadrozny and Ben Collins for best Celebrity Investigative, Malcolm Jones for best Obituary, Lizzie Crocker for Humor and Tim Teeman for Industry/ArtsHard News. Also nominated for best in field were Kevin Fallon for Industry/Arts Soft News and Melissa Leon for Industry/Arts Soft News.[45]
The Association of LGBTQ Journalists orNLGJA nominated both Tim Teeman 2016 Journalist of the Year and Heather Boerner Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage.[46] In 2017, NLGJA awarded Jay Michaelson for his coverage of GOP anti-LGBT legislation and Tim Teeman for reporting on ALS.[47]
In 2017, the website won three New York Press Club Journalism Awards in the internet publishing categories of Entertainment News, Crime Reporting and Travel Reporting.[48] In December, the Los Angeles Press Club's National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards announced the platform had won 4 awards for 2017 reporting including investigative articles about theNate Parker rape case, comicBob Smith's struggle with ALS, and rememberingBill Paxton.[49]
In 2018, the trade magazineDigiday awarded theBeast's Cheat Sheet for best email newsletter.[50]
In September 2009,The Daily Beast launched a publishing initiative entitled "Beast Books" that will produce books byBeast writers on an accelerated publishing schedule.[51] The first book published by Beast Books wasJohn Avlon'sWingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.[52]
In January 2011, they publishedStephen L. Carter'sThe Violence of Peace: America's Wars in the Age of Obama.[53] Also in 2011, Beast Books published Nobel Peace Prize winnerLeymah Gbowee's memoir,Mighty Be Our Powers.[54][55]
In February 2010,Jack Shafer ofSlate magazine reported that the chief investigative reporter forThe Daily Beast,Gerald Posner, had plagiarised five sentences from an article published by theMiami Herald. Shafer also discovered that Posner had plagiarized content from aMiami Herald blog, aMiami Herald editorial,Texas Lawyer magazine and a health care journalism blog.[56][57] Posner was dismissed fromThe Daily Beast following an internal review.[58]
On August 11, 2016,The Daily Beast published an article entitled "I Got Three Grindr Dates in an Hour in the Olympic Village", written by Nico Hines, the site's London editor, who was assigned to cover the Olympic Games.[59][60] Hines, aheterosexual married man, signed up for several gay and straight dating apps, includingTinder,Bumble andGrindr, and documented his experiences in theOlympic Village. While not specifically naming names, Hines provided enough detail in the article to identify individual athletes, leading to widespread criticism that this information could be used againstcloseted gay athletes, especially those living in repressive countries.[61] Facing intense backlash online,[62][63][64][65]The Daily Beast edited the piece to remove details that could allow athletes to be identified, and editor in chiefJohn Avlon added a lengthy editor's note. Criticism challenging the value of the piece continued,[66] andThe Daily Beast eventually removed the article altogether and issued an apology.[67] In March 2017, Hines issued a formal apology for his actions, and it was announced by the website's editor Hines would be returning toThe Daily Beast "following a lengthy period of intense reflection".[60][68]
Andrew M. Seaman, ethics committee chair for theSociety of Professional Journalists, called the article "journalistic trash, unethical and dangerous".[69] TheNational Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association stated "The reporting was unethical, extremely careless of individual privacy and potentially dangerous to the athletes".[70] Vince Gonzales, professor of professional practice atUSC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism wrote "I think this borders on journalistic malpractice".[70] The president ofGLAAD,Sarah Kate Ellis, wrote "How this reporter thought it was OK—or that somehow it was in the public's interest—to write about his deceitful encounters with these men reflects a complete lack of judgment and disregard for basic decency, not to mention the ethics of journalism".[70] SwimmerAmini Fonua, who represented Tonga at the Rio games, criticized the article as 'deplorable', writing: "It is still illegal to be gay in Tonga, and while I’m strong enough to be me in front of the world, not everybody else is. Respect that."[71]
In June 2019,The Daily Beast reporterKevin Poulsen was accused ofdoxing Shawn Brooks, a 34-year-oldTrump supporter living inthe Bronx, when Poulsen revealed his identity for being the alleged creator and disseminator of a widely shared fake video, which showed American politicianNancy Pelosi speaking in a slurred manner.[72][73][74] The fake video had been shared over 60,000 times onFacebook and had more than 4 million views, and also spread toTwitter andYouTube.[75][73]
In response, Brooks denied creating the fake video, despite admitting to being one of the administrators of the group that originally posted the video, Politics WatchDog, and blamed a "female admin" of the group.[72][74][75] Brooks also said that he would sueThe Daily Beast and Poulsen for publishing "inaccurate trash", and created aGoFundMe page to raise money forlegal costs, with a goal of raising $10,000.[74][75] As of the morning of June 3, 2019, he had raised more than $4,400.[74]
The Intercept co-founderGlenn Greenwald criticizedThe Daily Beast for revealing Brooks' identity, saying on Twitter that it was "repellent to unleash the resources of a major news outlet on an obscure, anonymous, powerless, quasi-unemployed citizen for the crime of trivially mocking the most powerful political leaders".[73][74]HuffPost andNew York contributorYashar Ali also criticizedThe Daily Beast for revealing Brooks' identity, saying it "sets a really bad precedent when a private citizen has their identity publicly revealed simply because they made a video of a politician appearing to be drunk".[72][73]The Daily Wireeditor-in-chiefBen Shapiro said onLaura Ingraham'sThe Ingraham Angle on June 3 that "My impression was that if you are posting anonymously on Facebook, then it's not really within Facebook's purview to start handing that information to media outlets, but I guess that isn't true".[76]
Other journalists who criticizedThe Daily Beast includefreelance journalist and formerThe Young Turks journalistMichael Tracey, who said on Twitter that "No one on the planet ever thought "disinformation is the purview of Russia alone" other than self-aggrandizing, sleazy, click-chasing Daily Beast journalists", and media editor forTheWrapJon Levine, who called the article a "hit job over a joke video that happened to go viral".[73][74]
WhenThe Daily Beast editorNoah Shachtman was asked about these criticisms byCNN media reporterBrian Stelter on hisReliable Sources show on June 2, 2019, Shachtman defended the article, noting that the fake video had reached "the highest levels of power, withRudy Giuliani himself tweeting it out" and therefore, according to Shachtman, it was worth identifying the creator of the fake video.[73] Shachtman said Poulsen spoke with Brooks in an on-the-record interview for an hour.[73]
In August 2021,The Daily Beast published an article criticizingMayim Bialik's appointment as the new host ofJeopardy!, which described theIsrael Defense Forces as "genocidal"; after human rights lawyers and members of the Jewish community objected,The Daily Beast removed the word and stated that it would review its editorial policy on the use of the term "genocide".[77][78][79][80]
In 2020, journalist Carson Griffith suedThe Daily Beast, staff writer Maxwell Tani, and editor-in-chiefNoah Shachtman for defamation over an article that alleged that Griffith made offensive comments in her role atGawker. On March 24, 2021, atrial court judge denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.[81] On August 9, 2022, another judge denied a motion to dismiss under New York's recently amended anti-SLAPP law.[82] On May 16, 2023, a New Yorkappeals court dismissed the lawsuit.[83]
It doesn't hurt that the Trump presidency manages to sit squarely within what Avlon calls the Daily Beast's 'strike zone' of 'politics, pop culture, and power'.
Most recently, Avlon was Editor-in-Chief ofThe Daily Beast since 2013, succeeding the site's founder Tina Brown. Under his leadership,The Daily Beast more than doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day, with the highest engagement of any digital first news site while winning 17 awards for journalistic excellence. He first joinedThe Daily Beast as a columnist one month after its launch, in November of 2008, and rose through the ranks as political editor, executive editor and managing director.
John Avlon is managing director and editor-in-chief ofThe Daily Beast.
Shachtman's imperative comes from new heights, too. He is progressing from executive editor of theDaily Beast to editor in chief, a position vacated by John Avlon, the smooth-talking journo who splits his time between theDaily Beast and steady appearances on CNN – where Avlon will be moving full-time as a senior political analyst and anchor.
Daily Beast president and publisher Mike Dyer is leaving the company for a new position at technology firm Intel, he announced to staff on Friday.
Today,The Daily Beast announced the appointment of Heather Dietrick as President and Publisher, where she will oversee all company operations with an emphasis on growingThe Daily Beast's journalistic influence and building out new revenue streams.
'I describe our political perspective as nonpartisan but not neutral,' he said. 'And what that means is we're going to hit both sides where appropriate, but we're not going for mythic moral equivalence on every issue.'
Our commitment is to be non-partisan but not neutral ... We're going to hit both sides where appropriate. We're not going to toe any partisan line. We're going to have a range of columnists, from liberal to libertarian. But we're also not going to pretend there's a mythic moral equivalence between candidates or on any given issue. For me, the key quote for our times is actually an older quote from Daniel Patrick Moynihan who said that everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.
Pound for pound, it is an impressive operation,Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple told me. As I see it, they do a few things well: they bang the phones, they don't always follow the same story everyone else is doing and they are fast.
Those sensibilities are carried over to theBeast's signature illustration style, the work of director of photography Sarah Rogers, with its jaunty collage and pop-art illustrations—often animated—topping every article.
Rounding out the staff is Mimi Sheraton, another columnist covering food, travel and restaurants.
Spencer Ackerman was the national security editor for Guardian US. Ackerman was part of the Guardian team that won the 2014 Pulitzer prize for public service journalism. A former senior writer for Wired, he won the 2012 National Magazine Award for digital reporting.
Others on the team of journalists included Spencer Ackerman,James Ball, David Blishen, Gabriel Dance, Julian Borger, Nick Davies, David Leigh and Dominic Rushe. In Australia the editor was Katharine Viner and the reporter Lenore Taylor.
After several years as U.S. national security editor at The Guardian, Spencer Ackerman will joinThe Daily Beast as senior national security correspondent.
The Daily Beast as a senior national security correspondent, 'covering homeland security, counterterrorism, intel and more... and reuniting with his former colleague Noah Shachtman, who's now the Beast's exec editor,' CNN's Brian Stelter reported last night
Days afterHuffPost announced a round of layoffs, one of its longtime voices is making a leap of his own accord: Sam Stein, the site's senior politics editor, was joiningThe Daily Beast in a similar capacity. He joins a 10-strong D.C. bureau atThe Daily Beast, a site that has made a series of big-name hires in recent weeks, including luring formerGuardian reporter Spencer Ackerman and former Gawker Media president Heather Dietrick.
In a memo to staff on Wednesday, Editor-in-Chief John Avlon said internal numbers on all platforms showed 21.3 million unique visitors in September, a 60 percent increase in traffic compared to the same month last year. ComScore data for September, which is often lower than internal numbers, is not yet available. "This year alone, we've grown our audience more than 30%, our social media community is up 300%, and our Facebook audience has grown from 320,000 to 1.7 million since last summer. Over the course of 2014, our advertising deal size has increased 30%, with our largest campaigns ever secured in the past quarter.
This is what we know from data: It's one of the fastest-growing news and information sites year-over-year in the 'General News' category. With a Comscore growth rate of 52 percent year-over-year, as compared to 31 percent for the top 25 news sites overall, The Daily Beast drives more than 12 million unique visitors a month, surpassing some notable legacy magazines. Its story, though, is more intriguing as we look at three factors underpinning its growth: mobile, millennials and content marketing. Those words now seem commonplace; it's the particular way The Daily Beast arranges the Legos that distinguishes it.
Most recently, Avlon was Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast since 2013, succeeding the site's founder Tina Brown. Under his leadership, The Daily Beast more than doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day, with the highest engagement of any digital first news site while winning 17 awards for journalistic excellence. He first joined The Daily Beast as a columnist one month after its launch, in November of 2008, and rose through the ranks as political editor, executive editor and managing director.
Website Department Honors a department, channel or microsite The Daily Beast, Tina Brown, Editor-in-Chief Newsweek and The Daily Beast, For 'Book Beast'
Crime Reporting – Internet 'The Pickup Artisits' Brandy Zadrozny,The Daily Beast, Entertainment News – Internet 'Rose Styron: The Truth About Life with Her Husband, Literary Legend William Styron', Tim Teeman,The Daily Beast, Travel Writing – Internet, 'Penitents, Pedophiles, Poets, Movie Stars, Silversmiths, and Drug Lords', Phoebe Eaton,The Daily Beast
JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR—Any Platform – 3rd Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast, BEST CRITIC (print, broadcast or online) – 3rd Ira Madison III, The Daily Beast, BEST CRITIC (Theater) – 2nd Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast, Celebrity Investigative – Kate Briquelet and ML Nestel, The Daily Beast, 'Inside the Nate Parker Rape Case'
Best Email Newsletter,The Daily Beast – Cheat Sheet
Wingnuts is the first book bearing the imprint of Beast Books.
Liberian peace activist and Daily Beast contributor Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her 'non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.'
First up is Liberian activist and Daily Beast columnist Leymah Gbowee's new memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers (published by the Daily Beast's Beast Books imprint), in which the author tells the story of how her small-neighborhood upbringing in Monrovia was torn apart by civil war in 1989.
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