Hell Gate NYC
| Good blogs for the greatest city. | |
 Logo since July 8, 2024 | |
| Format | Digital |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) |
|
| Founded | May 2, 2022 |
| Headquarters | Brooklyn |
| Circulation | 5,368 paid subscribers (as of October 2024)[1] |
| Website | hellgatenyc |
Hell Gate NYC is an online worker-owned publication focused on local New York City news.[2][3] The publication is named after the Hell Gate Bridge, due to the bridge's reputation for tenacity.[4][5] Hell Gate covers a wide range of topics that include, but are not limited to, political corruption, local street performers, and strange subway advertisements.[6] The company is headquartered in a co-working space in Brooklyn.[5]
History
[edit]The founders of Hell Gate, Nick Pinto, Esther Wang, Christopher Robbins, Max Rivlin-Nadler, and Sydney Pereira, began developing the idea for the publication in 2021.[4] Many of them were former coworkers at local publications such as the Village Voice, The New York Times, and Gothamist, as well as non-NYC publications such as Jezebel and The Intercept.[4] Pinto, Robbins, and Rivlin-Nadler had all faced job instability as journalists due to companies mismanaging resources, lacking funding, and cutting budgets.[7] In January 2022, they pitched the idea of Hell Gate to fifty local journalists, and recruited Pereira and Wang.[7] The team decided that their publication would have a snarky tone like pre-acquisition Gothamist, and that they would approach stories from a human rights-oriented perspective.[3]
Hell Gate launched the website as a test on May 2, 2022, and launched in full two months later.[8]
Business model
[edit]Hell Gate's initial funding came from two New York-based organizations for the arts: a $25,000 grant from The Harnisch Foundation, and a $50,000 grant from the Vital Projects Fund.[3] A further $300,000 in grants was given between 2023 and 2024.[1] It supports its journalism with tiered subscriptions to access its articles behind a paywall.[3] The founders believed that a subscription-funded business would work.[4] As of October 2024[update], the site had 5,368 paid subscribers and costs an average of $59,000 per month to run.[1]
To keep costs down, they wrote from home and published online,[4] using the same provider as Defector Media, another worker-owned cooperative.[3]
Hell Gate is a worker-owned cooperative, where the journalists have the job of reporter, editor, and managing the business.[3][4] They also hire freelancers.[7] As of March 2024, all of the worker-owners were paid $60,000 per year.[9] The company offers tiered[9] and annual subscriptions,[3] but the subscription revenue is not enough to be sustaining, as of October 2024[update].[5] Hell Gate also offers a free newsletter.[4] Advertisements are not a major source of revenue.[10][1] Half of its revenue comes from donations.[9]
Reception
[edit]Hell Gate has been identified by numerous outlets to be part of a resurgence in indie publishing. They have been favorably compared to other worker-owned sites like Defector and 404 Media.[2][6][11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Hell Gate 2024 Annual Report". October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
As of October 10, we have 5,368 paid subscribers to our website; 20,840 subscribers to our bi-weekly Inbox Hell newsletter; and 19,856 subscribers to our new daily Morning Spew newsletter (both of which are free).
- ^ a b Loewinger, Micah (July 21, 2023). "The Rise of Worker-Owned Journalism | On the Media". WNYC Studios. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tameez, Hanaa' (September 6, 2022). ""We can't just cover the same old shit": How worker-owned Hell Gate is bringing the alt-weekly voice back to New York City". Nieman Lab. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Choiniere, Alyssa (January 23, 2023). "Scrappy startup Hell Gate fills NYC's missing alt voice, keeping authority in check with a sense of humor". Editor & Publisher. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c Wagner, Laura (October 12, 2024). "For the reporters of Hell Gate, heaven is covering Mayor Eric Adams". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
- ^ a b Pejcha, Camille Sojit (October 16, 2023). "The next wave of indie publishing". Document Journal. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c Wong, Ashley (July 20, 2022). "Tired of Waiting for Their Dream Workplace, These Writers Made Their Own". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ "It's Our Birthday! Help Us Celebrate". Hell Gate. May 2, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ a b c Mechling, Lauren (March 2, 2024). "Journalism is in freefall. These writers aren't giving up: 'We can go out swinging'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ Doerrer, Brandon (November 20, 2023). "New breed publishers favor subscription revenue as brand safety controls cut off ad supply". PR Week. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ Silverman, Justin R. (April 18, 2024). "404 Media and the hopes of worker-owned journalism". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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