Vice goes bankrupt, Messenger keeps hiring, WaPo’s new ME: TBN Ticker for May 19

The events leading up to Vice Media filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy were chaotic as many members were let go and the flagship “Vice News Tonight” was shuttered. News startup The Messenger is at it again with a new slate of hires, a few nabbed from Grid. Matea Gold is The Washington Post’s new managing editor. Listen to our editor and publisher Lou Carlozo’s “Bankadelic” podcast, where we get to listen to the “solar energy’s trillion dollar moment.”

Vice Media files for bankruptcy… On Monday, Vice Media Group announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which will protect it as it seeks a sale to a subset of its backers. Morgan Hertzan, president of global TV said in an internal memo, “As you are aware, over the last several months, our Board and management team have been evaluating a range of strategic options with the ultimate goals of improving our financial health and protecting the long-term viability of VICE. As part of that effort, today we announced that VICE has entered into an agreement with our lenders, including Fortress, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, under which VICE will be acquired by these investment companies. This agreement positions us to achieve those goals and ensure that VICE will continue to produce and support the ground-breaking journalism and content creation with which we have become synonymous.” Read more here.

Gold’s glittering editorial promotion… Matea Gold, a national editor at The Washington Post, has been appointed managing editor, a role in which she will oversee several major newsroom departments. She has served as national editor since January 2022. Commenting on her role, Gold said, “It’s an incredible privilege to join the leadership team of The Post and to continue to carry on the values that make this such an exceptional news organization. This is a dynamic, ambitious moment for the newsroom, and I’m excited to help shepherd all the great journalism that is to come.” She joined the Post in June 2013 as a national politics reporter and previously spent more than 15 years at the Los Angeles Times.

The Messenger’s data and investigative hires… Sometime in 2023, we expect to stop hearing news about The Messenger hiring and hiring and hiring and… But for now, Anna Deen has joined as a data visualization reporter, a post she recently held at Grid. Deen also freelanced for Grid, as well as Outside Magazine, Grist, Carolina Public Press, City Limits, and Eater NY. Deen has a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a M.A. in journalism from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. You can congratulate Deen on Twitter. Steve Reilly has been tapped to serve as an investigative reporter, a post he recently held at (yes) Grid. He held the same post at The Washington Post and USA Today. Reilly has degrees from Vassar College and the University of Cambridge. You can congratulate Reilly on Twitter.

…and two more nabbed off the Grid… Matthew Zeitlin, a domestic economics reporter at Grid, has joined The Messenger as a reporter. Zeitlin freelanced for Vox, The Nation, n + 1, Barron’s, Business Insider and One Zero. He was a news blogger at Slate and a business reporter at BuzzFeed News. Zeitlin has a B.A. in English language and literature/letters from Northwestern University. Be sure to congratulate Zeitlin on Twitter. And Sophie Tatum, politics reporter at Grid, has joined in the same role. She will cover all things politics, with a focus on U.S. House and Senate races. Previously, she worked as a reporter and producer at ABC News and as a digital producer and reporter at CNN. Tatum has a bachelor’s degree in broadcasting and journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and can be reached on Twitter.

Part III: Messenger hires Holt to cover politics… Matt Holt has joined as a politics reporter, where he will help launch a new daily politics reporter. Commenting on his new role, he said, “I’m so excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to get started!” Recently, Holt was a staff correspondent for Hotline at the National Journal, where he covered Senate campaigns. He was a news associate at CNN and a collegiate correspondent at USA Today. Holt has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from American University, where he also worked at the student newspaper, The Eagle.

Want an encore? The Messenger hires for climate coverage… Dave Levitan has been tapped to serve as a climate reporter. He joins from Grid, where he held the same post. Levitan has also been working freelance for more than 18 years with his work appearing in The Washington Post, Wired, Scientific American, The Daily Beast, Slate and Gizmodo. He also worked as a science writer at Factcheck.org and staff writer at health care information, education, and communication company Slack Inc. Levitan has a B.A. from Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia and an M.A. from New York University.

[Editor’s note: As soon as The Messenger starts accepting applications for pretty much any job you can think of or just want to make up out of thin air, you’ll be the first to know.]

The sun (as in solar) shines at Bankadelic… Lou Carlozo’s “Bankadelic” podcast’s latest episode features Susan Tanski of Sunstone Credit, who talks about how the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act has created a trillion-dollar opportunity for financial institutions to help make solar energy a reality for commercial businesses. You can listen to the podcast here. Dating to his first banking podcast, Carlozo has amassed 150,000 listens covering topics related to financial technology, cybersecurity, regulation and more.

LA Times hires Olson for consumer econ coverage… Carly Olson has joined the Los Angeles Times to cover the consumer economy. Olson has been a reporting fellow at the New York Times for the past year. She also freelanced for The Guardian, Architectural Digest and Oprah Daily. Olson holds a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Cryptobummer: CoinDesk lays off non-editorial staff… Cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk laid off 14 people. A spokeswoman said, “Yesterday, CoinDesk, Inc had to make the difficult decision during the ongoing crypto winter to pare back on some non-core projects and consolidate some functions. No full-time reporters or editors from the editorial team were affected, but as a result, a restructuring took place, resulting in 14 full-time and additional contractor functions being removed. CoinDesk Indices was not impacted.” Read more here.

NY Times Opinion’s new podcast… As the paper reports, “The New York Times today debuted “Matter of Opinion,” a new Opinion podcast that features four of Opinion’s signature voices: Michelle Cottle, Ross Douthat, Lydia Polgreen and Carlos Lozada. Each week, they select a topic — from the news, from politics and culture, from their own unpublished work — and talk it through with depth and nuance. Michelle Cottle is a member of the New York Times editorial board, focusing on U.S. politics. Carlos Lozada joined New York Times Opinion as a columnist in 2022. Lydia Polgreen spent a decade as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and was editor in chief of HuffPost before joining New York Times Opinion as a columnist in 2022. Ross Douthat joined The New York Times as an Opinion columnist in April 2009.” You can read more here.

Bauer Media’s SEO hire… Stuart Forrest will join Bauer Media Group as global SEO director of its publishing business on June 12. “I’m pleased and excited to be joining Bauer at what’s clearly a key moment in its digital transformation journey. My whole career has been in media, and I’ve always enjoyed working closely with content, technology and commercial teams to reach and engage consumers with world-class quality content,” Forrest said. “Bauer’s brands have a deserved reputation for quality, and this is an excellent platform from which to grow our digital audiences. I’m looking forward to working with Bauer’s teams to realize what I see as enormous growth potential.” He will join from Future, where he recently served as senior VP, audience and marketing.

Wilkinson joins i Paper as assistant news editor… The i Paper has hired Sylvie Wilkinson as an assistant news editor on the breaking news team. Recently, she was a content editor at MyLondon, where she held the posts of news reporter and senior news reporter. She worked as a features writer at Beast Magazine, provided freelance services to the PA Media newsroom for the local elections and served as a broadcast journalist at Global. Wilkinson has a bachelor’s degree from Queen Mary University of London and a master’s degree from City, University of London.

CBS News nabs ABC’s Wiersema… CBS News has hired Alisa Wiersema as a political producer. Recently, she served as a politics producer at ABC News. Wiersema has been with ABC News for more than 10 years, joining as a digital news intern. She also held the posts of assignment desk assistant, production assistant, segment producer, digital journalist and producer. Wiersema has a B.A. from Indiana University Bloomington and a M.A. from Georgetown University.

Newsweek’s exec appointment… Newsweek has hired Josh Awtry as senior VP of audience development. Recently, Awtry served as senior VP of audience at The Hill. Before that, he worked at Gannett | USA Today Network for more than eight years. He also worked at the Salt Lake Tribune for more than six years as an assistant managing editor and served as a design director at The Sun News. Awtry has a bachelor’s degree from Hastings College in Nebraska and can be reached on Twitter.

The Week taps Marsden to serve as staff writer… Harriet Marsden has joined The Week as a staff writer to cover world news, U.K. news, politics and gender equality. Recently, she was a news editor at informed, where she was responsible for selecting and curating quality content from the Financial Times, the New York Times, the Economist, and Foreign Policy. Since September 2019, she has been working freelance for The Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, Tortoise, and the Telegraph. Marsden has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree from City, University of London and can be connected via Twitter.

Injustice Watch appoints Salinas audience director… Helga Salinas will join Injustice Watch as its first-ever audience director on June 1. In her new role, she will develop an audience growth strategy and oversee the digital and community engagement efforts which includes newsletter, social media, events, and engagement reporting. “As Injustice Watch’s first-ever audience director, I look forward to working with thoughtful folks at a place that I know has worked hard to build trust with communities most affected by the court system, and that cares about centering people’s lived experiences in their reporting,” she said. Salinas is an experienced digital journalist, having recently worked at CapRadio News, an NPR affiliate in Sacramento, Calif. Salinas has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

A CBC mainstay retires… CBC.ca reports, “After 15 years hosting The Next Chapter — CBC Radio’s award-winning weekly magazine show on Canadian authors and literature — this current season will be the last for Shelagh Rogers: she’s retiring in the spring of 2023. Rogers has been a broadcasting icon at the CBC with a standout career that has spanned more than four decades. ‘I started at CBC Radio when I was 24 years old. The last 43 years have been remarkable,’ said Rogers during the May 13, 2023 episode of The Next Chapter. I am deeply grateful to the writers I’ve spoken with. I’m also very, very grateful … to [the listeners], for tuning in week after week. But if it’s not too cheesy to express it this way, it’s time for me to get on with my own next chapter. There are other stories I want to tell, and this is my choice,’ said Rogers. ‘Why leave now? I want to create a space for somebody new. I want to give the keys to somebody else and say, ‘This is yours now — just go for it.’” Read more here.

Mariam Ahmed is Talking Biz News’ content correspondent. For tips on the Friday TBN Ticker, email her at mariam@talkingbiznews.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.