Former The Hill publisher Jimmy Finkelstein’s second go at a media venture is bust after less than a year in business, as the Daily Beast reports The Messenger is shutting down, putting good reporters like Adam Klasfeld and Steven Neukam out of a job. Joe Concha is now unemployed too.
Finkelstein – who last month reportedly told editorial staff not to put any stories about his “friend,” fat former President Trump’s civil fraud trial on the site’s home page, even as Klasfeld worked his ass off to cover it – had predicted in a prelaunch interview with the New York Times $100 million in annual revenue for The Messenger. The site ended up making $3 million in 2023.