New York Magazine has become a renowned publication known for its impactful commentary on culture and politics throughout its 51 years of publishing weekly magazines. Vox Media, a massive digital media company, announced on Wednesday its acquisition of New York Media, which includes New York Magazine and other outlets like The Cut and Vulture.
Vox Media is framing this move as a merge of two media companies that will continue operations as usual, however they did receive rights to all stock in the magazine’s parent company.
Similar moves have been made by other magazines in recent years, most notably Meredith Corporation’s acquisition of Time, Inc. Meredith Co. quickly sold off the large print publications from the brand, most notably Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated.
Plenty of media companies are approaching difficult waters, including BuzzFeed, which made news earlier this year for beginning cuts that the company estimates will total around 15 percent of their staff.
BuzzFeed is an entirely digital source, which may call some to question why Vox Media would so eagerly acquire a company whose main publication is in print; the print medium has been on the decline for years as subscriptions and funding wane.
The Daily Free Press printed daily for decades before changes in funding and shifting student interest caused the paper to move to a weekly printing schedule instead. This February, the Board of Directors announced the publication would only be able to release print editions when the paper receives advertising that week.
The editor-in-chief of New York Magazine, Dave Haskell, told The New York Times, “there’s a part of me that’s a little wistful about saying goodbye to the independent family business.”
He’s right that there is something to be said about independence, especially when the alternative would restrict a publication’s journalistic freedom, but this merger has the potential to bolster the print medium in ways New York Media was not able to.
No changes in editorial staff are being made for now, but multiple New York Media staffers tweeted frustration that the merge was announced to them in the same way it was to the general public.
Madison Malone Kircher, whose work has appeared in New York Magazine and Vulture, sarcastically tweeted a link to a New York Times article that was the first she had heard of the merge with the caption: “I love this company-wide email letting us know we’ve been acquired …”
If the merge was graceful and prudent in some ways, this demonstrates how it was careless in others.
In a move that so closely reflects the strategies of other tech giants, Vox Media must be careful when preserving the unique style and mission of New York Magazine, if that is what it intends to do.
The magazine and its offshoots now report to entirely new executives that may have vastly different ideas for the future of the publication, especially considering their utter lack of experience in the world of print.
This does not disqualify them completely, but they must adapt from the editors they are keeping from New York Media, not the other way around, in order to the goals of this integration.
None of this is cut and dried. A general trend toward monopolistic media corporations is worrisome, but this marriage may very well have been the best decision for New York Media. Not all business decisions are made with short-term goals in mind and this may prove to be a long-term vision that pays off.
Vox Media is a widely successful and respected source for journalism of all kinds, but so is New York Media. In more ways than one, Vox and New York Magazine quickly became what other online outlets and magazines wanted to be soon after their creation.
It would be a shame to let one consume the vision of the other, but a print publication that works in harmony with a massive digital platform like Vox may be exactly what the future of journalism needs.
