Defector Media
{{short description|Sports-related blog and media company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Defector Media
| motto = The last good website.
| logo = File:Defector logo.png
| staff = 12
| foundation = September 2020
| headquarters = New York City
| circulation = 40,000
| circulation_date = 2024
| website = {{URL|defector.com}}
| type = Sports, social commentary
| format = Digital
| chiefeditor = Tom Ley
| depeditor = Barry Petchesky
| maneditor = Samer Kalaf
}}
Defector Media is a subscription-based sports and culture blog and media company founded in September 2020 and based in Manhattan.
The Defector blog is primarily written by former employees of the Deadspin sports blog. In October and November 2019, all writers at Deadspin quit en masse following an edict from the blog's owner, G/O Media, to "stick to sports" and the firing of editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/01/775548069/after-days-of-resignations-the-last-of-the-deadspin-staff-have-quit |title=Staffers Quit Deadspin After Order To 'Stick To Sports' |newspaper=NPR |date=2019-11-01 |accessdate=2020-08-17|last1=Booker |first1=Brakkton }} On January 31, 2020, Tom Ley and several other former writers established an interim site that which operated over Super Bowl LIV weekend.{{Cite news |last=Kirell |first=Andrew |last2=Tani |first2=Maxwell |date=January 30, 2020 |title=Ex-Deadspin Writers Reunite for Super Bowl Blog Sponsored by a Tech Company |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-deadspin-writers-reunite-for-super-bowl-blog-sponsored-by-tech-company-dashlane |access-date=January 31, 2020 |work=The Daily Beast}} The site reopened for the week of April 20, sponsored by a cannabis oil company.{{Cite news|last=Tani|first=Maxwell|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-deadspin-writers-reunite-once-again-this-time-sponsored-by-a-weed-company|title=Ex-Deadspin Writers Reunite Once Again, This Time for 4/20|date=2020-04-19|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=2020-04-20|language=en}}
In July 2020, they announced their new subscription-based sports website, Defector Media.{{Cite news|last=Tracy|first=Marc|date=2020-07-28|title=After Quitting Deadspin in Protest, They're Starting a New Site|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/business/media/deadspin-staffers-start-defector.html|access-date=2020-07-28|issn=0362-4331}} Ley is the editor-in-chief. The company had 19 employees, each of whom owned approximately 5% of the company.{{cite web|url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2020/07/defector-new-deadspin|last=Scott|first=Nate|title=Defector sports blog launches: All we know about the 'new Deadspin' |work=USA Today |date=2020-07-28 |accessdate=2020-08-17}}
Business model
Defector relies on a subscription model for revenue. In an interview with Slate, co-founder Maitreyi Anantharaman, while discussing how the writers worked out the logistics of starting the site, said "[e]veryone had the same priorities, which were editorial independence and worker stake, and we did come to a consensus that this model was the best way to do this thing." Anantharaman also mentioned that the site was "interested in sustainable growth" and did not "need a million subscribers or anything to be successful".{{Cite web|last=Olmstead|first=Molly|date=2020-07-28|title=An Ex–Deadspin Writer on Starting a New Publication With Her Old Colleagues|url=https://slate.com/culture/2020/07/defector-deadspin-interview.html|access-date=2020-11-10|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}}
Subscriptions are mostly two tiered, at $79 and $119 a year, with the higher cost subscription enabling commenting on articles, access to staff Q&As, and subscription to the blog's newsletter. A third tongue-in-cheek subscription tier at $1,000 per year offers the chance to guest host a Defector podcast, MS Paint artwork by a blog writer, and an "annual video from a writer wishing you a happy birthday, the day after your birthday".{{Cite web |title=Defector Products |url=https://defector.com/products |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=Defector Media}} Alex Shephard writing for The New Republic said "Defector has slipped between two subscription-based trends, neither the atomized Substack model nor the scale model being deployed by traditional newsrooms like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic." Shepard also praised the site for being "refreshingly, both very much like the old Deadspin and very much not like the rest of the internet."{{Cite magazine|last1=Shephard|first1=Alex|last2=Bacharach|first2=Jacob|last3=Bartlett|first3=Bruce|date=2020-09-23|title=Is Defector the Future of Media?|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/159461/defector-future-media|access-date=2021-01-29|issn=0028-6583}}
As a way of enticing readers to subscribe, the site offers multiple incentives from the ability to comment on articles to personalized birthday videos by staff. In July 2020, it was reported that Defector had reached over 10k subscriptions on launch day{{Cite web |last=Ellefson |first=Lindsey |date=2020-07-29 |title=Former Deadspin Staffers Report Over 10,000 Subscriptions for Defector |url=https://www.thewrap.com/defector-subscriptions/ |access-date=2020-11-10 |website=TheWrap |language=en-US}} and by September had almost reached 30k subscriptions. By the end of 2020, that number had reached over 34,000.{{Cite tweet |number=1339619527236194305 |user=drewmagary |title=And then, finally... we started Defector.com. Over 34,000 people have subscribed thus far. We all have health insurance and we're getting Christmas bonuses. We just instituted paid six-month maternity/paternity leave. We made good jobs for each other. Pure fucking joy. |author=Drew Magary |date=17 December 2020}} {{As of|2024|October}}, Defector has around 40,000 paid subscribers.{{Cite news |date=October 16, 2024 |title=Defector Annual Report, September 2023 – August 2024 |url=https://defector.com/defector-annual-report-year-four |access-date=October 16, 2024 |work=Defector Media}}
The business side of the site is run by former Deadspin reader Jasper Wang, who worked for Bain & Company. Both Wang and editor-in-chief Tom Ley can be removed from their positions with a two-thirds vote of Defector staff.
Defector has been compared to other worker-owned journalism companies like Hell Gate NYC and 404 Media.{{Cite web |last=Loewinger |first=Micah |date=2023-07-21 |title=The Rise of Worker-Owned Journalism {{!}} On the Media |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/segments/rise-worker-owned-journalism-on-the-media |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=WNYC Studios |language=}}{{Cite web |last=Pejcha |first=Camille Sojit |date=2023-10-16 |title=The next wave of indie publishing |url=https://www.documentjournal.com/2023/10/the-drift-404-media-hell-gate-byline-whitney-review-independent-media-magazine-publishing/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=Document Journal |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Silverman |first=Justin R. |date=April 18, 2024 |title=404 Media and the hopes of worker-owned journalism |url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/404-media-and-the-hopes-of-worker-owned-journalism.php |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=}}
Podcasts
Drew Magary and David Roth debuted a podcast, The Distraction, on August 13, 2020.{{cite web |last=Shultz |first=Alex |date=July 24, 2020 |title=The Staff of Deadspin Is Taking Their Talents to Defector. Here's What Happens Next. |url=https://www.gq.com/story/defector-tom-ley-interview-deadspin |accessdate=July 30, 2020 |publisher=GQ}}{{Cite web |last=Finn |first=Chad |date=July 28, 2020 |title=Former Deadspin staffers are launching their own website, Defector Media |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/28/sports/former-deadspin-staffers-are-launching-their-own-website-defector-media/ |accessdate=August 17, 2020 |work=The Boston Globe}}{{Cite web |last=Downing |first=Andy |date=September 11, 2020 |title=Daily Distraction: Spend some time getting to know Defector |url=https://www.columbusalive.com/entertainment/20200911/daily-distraction-spend-some-time-getting-to-know-defector |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912054440/https://www.columbusalive.com/entertainment/20200911/daily-distraction-spend-some-time-getting-to-know-defector |archive-date=September 12, 2020}} In January 2023, Multitude Productions became the podcast's producer, replacing Stitcher.{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=David |date=2023-01-19 |title=We're Back, We're Back |url=https://defector.com/were-back-were-back |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=Defector Media |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=January 19, 2023 |title=New Production Partner: Defector Media! |url=https://multitude.productions/blog/distraction |access-date=2024-12-24 |work=Multitude |language=}}{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=David |date=2024-12-12 |title=One Hundred Distractions Deep, With Eric Silver |url=https://defector.com/one-hundred-distractions-deep-with-eric-silver |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=Defector Media |language=}}
In December 2021, Defector launched the Namedropping podcast, hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf. The show uses names as an entry point to discuss cultural topics such as religion, family, gender, and other forms of identity.{{Cite web |last1=Nathan |first1=Giri |last2=Kalaf |first2=Samer |date=2021-12-08 |title=Introducing 'Namedropping,' A Podcast About Names |url=https://defector.com/introducing-namedropping-a-podcast-about-names |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Defector |language=en}}
In January 2022, Defector premiered the Normal Gossip podcast, hosted by staff writer Kelsey McKinney and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Each episode features McKinney telling an anonymized gossip story to a guest.{{Cite web |last=Quah |first=Nicholas |date=2022-09-07 |title=The Best Gossip You've Never Heard |url=https://www.vulture.com/2022/09/normal-gossip-podcast-interview.html |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Vulture |language=en}} In 2023, the show became a member of the Radiotopia podcast network.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-27 |title="Normal Gossip" from Kelsey McKinney, Alex Sujong Laughlin, and Defector Media Joins Radiotopia from PRX |url=https://podnews.net/press-release/normal-gossip-radiotopia |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=Podnews |language=en}} According to Defector