By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | November 29, 2023 |
By Dustin Rowles | Social Media | November 29, 2023 |
Jezebel, the resilient and pioneering feminist website that was shuttered last month by G/O Media, will resume publication again, as soon today. The outlet has been purchased by Paste Magazine, which also picked up Splinter from G/O Media, a political site that shut down in 2019. Josh Jackson, a co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Paste, plans to relaunch Splinter in 2024.
In the meantime, Jezebel does not technically have any employees, but Paste will quickly hire a new Editor-in-Chief and likely reach out to former writers of the site. Paste is an independent ad-supported site and not the kind of venture capital tech company likely to strip Jezebel for parts or change it in significant ways to squeeze every cent out of the purchase. There aren’t a lot of indie sites left.
In fact, Jackson is hoping to give Jezebel back its feminist bite, as he told the New York Times. “I want them to push the boundaries. I think there are advertisers out there who have the courage to go to where the audience is.”
For its part, Paste Magazine — a digital-only publication that began as a print music magazine — has changed considerably over the years to take advantage of the changing media landscape (they run a lot of streaming lists). It has presumably survived, in part, because it did not have major investors looking for a quick return on their investments.
Hopefully, Jezebel can survive and thrive under its new owner for years to come.