The Athletic keeps growing .......

No bonus points for a Shawshank reference?

 

Maybe, although these days I don't even care that much about the craft of things and really just want information delivered to me efficiently. The amount of non-essential information in The Athletic--and many other places--is really astounding. And rather than taking advantage of the Internet to experiment with new story forms, many publications seem to use the absence of physical boundaries to write longer. And I can't imagine I'm alone in this because things like Dealbook, Axios, and other newsletters are very popular--although, to be sure, I can certainly see why the market for sports would be different.

 

I believe that the latest story said L.A. and Boston are coming soon.

 

Somebody is not happy with The Athletic’s hiring practices.

 

The question of sustainability arises.

 

I really do think they've thought out that part, though. The funding takes them through not only the first year but the all-important renewal times. If 80 percent of people subscribe again when the first year is up, the thing works. If it's 50 percent or less, the thing doesn't. I don't know where the break-even point is exactly on that. But regardless, the funding allows the business to operate as it wants for the next two years, and after that it will be sink-or-swim with the subscription base and growth.

 

When a company doesn't advertise open positions, it runs the risk of drawing from a severely limited pool of known applicants. I think the NABJ has a legitimate gripe.

I also wonder how The Athletic isn't running afoul of EEO practices. All but one of the currently advertised jobs could be considered behind the scenes or tech positions (The Athletic Media Company). Yet we all know they're hiring in multiple cities in the next month or so.

There's this from the EEOC: "For example, an employer's reliance on word-of-mouth recruitment by its mostly Hispanic work force may violate the law if the result is that almost all new hires are Hispanic."
Prohibited Practices

I like The Athletic's content. But there may be a significant issue here in how they're expanding and hiring for those positions.

 

In their minds, the only way they'll be successful is if they hire people who were already successful/established on a beat and hope that their existing audience follows them. Whether that's true, remains to be seen. But notice that only in a few cases they've hired someone lesser-known or even just someone established but from a different market. My guess is they only do that when they go after the big names in a market and strike out.

 

It's interesting that the hires are being offered ownership stakes. This smacks of a much-higher-stakes game of "you bring in revenue (ads or subscriptions), you'll get paid." I don't know if that's a bad thing, though.