Why the once-respectable magazine published an op-ed from someone it once called an "alt-right leader who has praised white supremacist Richard Spencer."
Parker Molloy! THIS is brilliant!! I just sent it on to the illustrious Bob Roe, the former editor-in chief of Newsweek, and the man who got fired for INVESTIGATING his own news organization,
I am a career journalist with more than 20 years experience, and I was almost hired by Newsweek in 2020 just a couple months before the election was decided. They were struggling at that time with the fallout from the Kamala Harris op-ed, and management was looking to clap back against their right-wing opinion editor (who they snatched from Breitbart) by hiring me, a career-long progressive news editor. I am not going to name names, but everything I'm about to tell you is true.
They were trying to hire me right off the shelf, largely because of my resume's labeling, and had no idea about my history in investigative journalism (which I only learned through questioning them). Once the job was offered to me and I accepted, I wrote a letter to the top three editorial figures at Newsweek, including their "content strategist" (another term for publisher, more frequently used at publications where advertising dramatically affects editorial content), explaining some of the adversarial content I had published and how it might affect certain partisan relationships going forward. Specifically, I revealed to them that an organization called Team Themis, funded by the Chamber of Commerce's political spending, had worked to discredit and undermine my former colleagues and I, along with a number of competing organizations. That literally scared the hell from them and they withdrew their offer immediately, but promised to come back and interview me again in six months after the election had been decided, when some of these concerns about the potential for partisan backlash was not so pressing.
When I did speak with their content strategist again six months later, it was two days before the January 6th insurrection. I expressed deep concerns about the safety of their journalists and editors, specifically due to the prevalence of QAnon and rightwing militia types, and was met with skepticism at best. I also conveyed a personal experience I had during with a mob that was whipped up on Twitter and Facebook by the spokesperson of the National Rifle Association, targeting an associate and I with dozens of death threats due to our reporting. I emphasized that I would be extremely careful and very protective of any journalist in my care because of these experiences, but that as news editor I would steer the ship toward good trouble nonetheless.
Their content strategist literally made fun of me to my face because of this, and summarized the letter I sent to him that caused them to withdraw their offer in a way that made me sound insane. This person went out of their way to humiliate me on two Zoom calls that I am glad were not recorded, and I felt so embarrassed at the end of it, both for myself and for them, that I sent an email saying never mind, I don't want to be a part of your team after all.
These people almost gave me a percentage interest in their bottom line... Yet I'm still disgusted by the whole interaction.
EDIT: I'm just going to add that I don't think Nancy Cooper is the problem. She's one of the die-hards from the old newsweek and you should really give her a little bit more credit. I think it's the owner driving your complaints—whom I did not meet or speak with, ever (I am literally just guessing here based on my experiences with other major news websites)—and I think the owner very much wants Newsweek to follow up on what has succeeded for them in their recent history, which unfortunately has been misleading opinion garbage from right-wing carnival barkers.
So yeah, don't jump to conclusions about Nancy. Honestly, I think she's the only reason why Newsweek is still a brand worth buying, no matter what Moonie-adjacent rich dude ends up owning it.
Thanks for this! I see Newsweek articles trending sometimes and I've found those articles... to be subpar and right-wingy. But I just thought Newsweek had somehow fallen off in terms of quality, and I guess I attributed that to the regular hallowing out of journalism. Anyway, thanks for explaining the ownership history and shift in political agenda.
I didn't even know Newsweek was still around. I'm saddened to hear how far it's fallen. Perhaps it will just collapse under its own weight of lies and hate someday.
A while after Newsweek was acquired by IBT Media, they published an article identifying Dorian Nakamoto as the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. I thought Newsweek was back, but the story fell apart. Oh well, spewing out right wing opinions and misinformation has a low barrier to entry.
Parker Molloy! THIS is brilliant!! I just sent it on to the illustrious Bob Roe, the former editor-in chief of Newsweek, and the man who got fired for INVESTIGATING his own news organization,
I am a career journalist with more than 20 years experience, and I was almost hired by Newsweek in 2020 just a couple months before the election was decided. They were struggling at that time with the fallout from the Kamala Harris op-ed, and management was looking to clap back against their right-wing opinion editor (who they snatched from Breitbart) by hiring me, a career-long progressive news editor. I am not going to name names, but everything I'm about to tell you is true.
They were trying to hire me right off the shelf, largely because of my resume's labeling, and had no idea about my history in investigative journalism (which I only learned through questioning them). Once the job was offered to me and I accepted, I wrote a letter to the top three editorial figures at Newsweek, including their "content strategist" (another term for publisher, more frequently used at publications where advertising dramatically affects editorial content), explaining some of the adversarial content I had published and how it might affect certain partisan relationships going forward. Specifically, I revealed to them that an organization called Team Themis, funded by the Chamber of Commerce's political spending, had worked to discredit and undermine my former colleagues and I, along with a number of competing organizations. That literally scared the hell from them and they withdrew their offer immediately, but promised to come back and interview me again in six months after the election had been decided, when some of these concerns about the potential for partisan backlash was not so pressing.
When I did speak with their content strategist again six months later, it was two days before the January 6th insurrection. I expressed deep concerns about the safety of their journalists and editors, specifically due to the prevalence of QAnon and rightwing militia types, and was met with skepticism at best. I also conveyed a personal experience I had during with a mob that was whipped up on Twitter and Facebook by the spokesperson of the National Rifle Association, targeting an associate and I with dozens of death threats due to our reporting. I emphasized that I would be extremely careful and very protective of any journalist in my care because of these experiences, but that as news editor I would steer the ship toward good trouble nonetheless.
Their content strategist literally made fun of me to my face because of this, and summarized the letter I sent to him that caused them to withdraw their offer in a way that made me sound insane. This person went out of their way to humiliate me on two Zoom calls that I am glad were not recorded, and I felt so embarrassed at the end of it, both for myself and for them, that I sent an email saying never mind, I don't want to be a part of your team after all.
These people almost gave me a percentage interest in their bottom line... Yet I'm still disgusted by the whole interaction.
EDIT: I'm just going to add that I don't think Nancy Cooper is the problem. She's one of the die-hards from the old newsweek and you should really give her a little bit more credit. I think it's the owner driving your complaints—whom I did not meet or speak with, ever (I am literally just guessing here based on my experiences with other major news websites)—and I think the owner very much wants Newsweek to follow up on what has succeeded for them in their recent history, which unfortunately has been misleading opinion garbage from right-wing carnival barkers.
So yeah, don't jump to conclusions about Nancy. Honestly, I think she's the only reason why Newsweek is still a brand worth buying, no matter what Moonie-adjacent rich dude ends up owning it.
Thanks for this! I see Newsweek articles trending sometimes and I've found those articles... to be subpar and right-wingy. But I just thought Newsweek had somehow fallen off in terms of quality, and I guess I attributed that to the regular hallowing out of journalism. Anyway, thanks for explaining the ownership history and shift in political agenda.
I didn't even know Newsweek was still around. I'm saddened to hear how far it's fallen. Perhaps it will just collapse under its own weight of lies and hate someday.
I mean, I didn't read Newsweek, but now I sure won't.
A while after Newsweek was acquired by IBT Media, they published an article identifying Dorian Nakamoto as the real Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. I thought Newsweek was back, but the story fell apart. Oh well, spewing out right wing opinions and misinformation has a low barrier to entry.