Talking about the media
+ The Weston family is putting millions into a media start-up, a Canadian billionaire bought a stake in The Economist Group.
Good afternoon, and happy St Patrick’s Day to Milk Bag’s Irish readers, at least two of which are actually reading this newsletter from Ireland.
Today’s edition is focused on media news because between the Weston family putting millions of dollars into a digital media start-up and a Canadian billionaire buying a stake in The Economist Group, there’s a lot going on.
That means there are plenty of business news updates that I’ve left out, but for those of you still looking for conversation starters:
The New York Times wrote about Rôtisserie La Lune and Canada’s growing appetite for roasted chicken. Part of the appeal is affordability, and part of it is feeling like being hosted in someone’s home. Bernhardt's nails both.
John Galliano will design seasonal collections for Zara as part of a two-year partnership. It’s part of the fast fashion brand’s attempt to move upmarket to capture growth, including a recent Zara Home partnership with Colin King.
Two days ago, I saw this repost of Grace Cook’s call for more anti-workout workout gear. And today The Lycra Company filed for bankruptcy, which could suggest that workout wear is set to loosen up. Is Lululemon ready?
Further proof that a good way to meet interesting people is selling things on Facebook marketplace. Imagine my surprise a few years back when eTalk host Chloe Wilde showed up at my apartment to pick up an EQ3 floor lamp.
Free ice cream is a legitimate work perk. If you didn’t get that summer internship you wanted, Ruru Baked, Bang Bang Ice Cream, and On Third Thought have all confirmed to me that they are hiring for the summer.
The Weston family is putting millions of dollars into a new digital media start-up called Be Giant. I heard this was happening few weeks ago but had no intention of writing about it until it launched in the spring, but now that it’s a national news story let’s get into what’s public: the start-up will be run by former Maclean’s editor (and Milk Bag reader) Alison Uncles and focus on stories covering innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada, which lines up with a broader shift by the Westons’ holding company, Wittington, to invest in clean energy and early-stage technology companies. The Globe and Mail’s reporting found that Be Giant is understood to be operating “at arm’s length from the family, with editorial independence” and compares it to the other digital publications that have launched to compete with mainstream media. They seem to have secured the @begiantca and @begiantcanada handles on Instagram and TikTok, so I’m interested to know what their plans there are.
The Globe and Mail is hiring an online culture reporter for a 12 month contract. The role will cover Samantha Edwards as she goes on leave and reports into Rachel Giese, who would be a cool person to work for.
Serviette publisher Max Meighen wrote about restaurants that are evolving beyond just serving food for the Sociology of Business. It’s always interesting to see journalists writing for Substacks over traditional media companies, but you can see why they do: it’s hard to imagine a piece covering restaurants that also operate as publishers, designers, or retailers, getting an easy green light, even though it’s what many Milk Bag readers might be interested in reading. At this point, Ana Andjelic’s audience is also many times more than that of a traditional media company, and reaches a younger demographic as well.
Katie Drummond guessed Anna Wintour’s email address to get the top job at WIRED. Katie has her critics, but she’s the also reason I pay for a WIRED subscription. In less than three years, the Calgary-born editor has revitalized the magazine, adding 200,000 paying subscribers by covering more politics, according to reporting by The New York Times. This year, the magazine will push into live events with Wired World Fair, which sounds like it’ll be an in-person version of its annual trends briefing.
Canadian mortgage billionaire Stephen Smith will buy a stake in The Economist Group from Lynn Forester de Rothschild. Smith is one of the most interesting yet low key billionaires in the country. Before he was ranked 25th on the Maclean’s rich list and had a business school named after him, he came out of a bankruptcy to co-found First National Financial with Morey Tawse, which they sold to Brookfield Asset Management and Birch Hill last year for about $2.9 billion. He’s invested in several financial firms, including EQ Bank and Fairstone, Canada’s biggest alternative lender, through Smith Financial, which is also the container for his first media deal. He gains a 27% stake, but voting rights are capped at 20% to block against efforts to gain majority control at the 173-year-old media institution. The Economist’s list of owners includes members of the Agnelli, Cadbury and Schroder families.
Axios is cutting 11 jobs and will focus on hiring subject matter experts. I did not realize the company delivered hiring updates in Axios-style bullets. My guess is this will be a trend to watch more broadly in media, especially when you think about the number of underemployed economists and analysts.