First Look Media

First Look Media
Company typeNonprofit organization
IndustryMass media
FoundedOctober 2013; 11 years ago (2013-10)
FoundersPierre Omidyar
Headquarters
New York City, New York
,
United States
Key people
Michael Bloom (CEO)
ProductsInvestigative journalism, new media
Subsidiaries
Websitefirstlook.media

First Look Media is an American nonprofit media organization founded by Pierre Omidyar in October 2013 as a venue for "original, independent journalism".[1][2] The project was started as a collaboration with Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, and Laura Poitras with a promised $250 million in funding from Omidyar.[2][3][4] The organization announced plans to support multiple publications, the first of which was The Intercept, launched in February 2014.

A second publication was announced in February 2014 that would focus on financial and political corruption, headed by Matt Taibbi. Although the name of the publication was not publicly announced, the name Racket was reportedly chosen.[5] The publication was to be launched autumn 2014[6][7] but in October, it was reported that Taibbi was on leave after "disagreements with higher-ups".[8] On October 28, Omidyar stated in a press release that Taibbi had left First Look.[9]

  1. ^ "About - First Look Media". FirstLook.media. First Look Media. 2018. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Jay Rosen (December 19, 2013). "A First Look at NewCo's structure". Pressthink.org. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  3. ^ "The extraordinary promise of the new Greenwald-Omidyar venture (Updated)". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. ^ "Here's Who's Backing Glenn Greenwald's New Website". Reuters via HuffPo. Archived from the original on December 21, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Barr, Jeremy (August 20, 2014). "Matt Taibbi's First Look Media project looks like it's called 'Racket'". capitalnewyork.com. Politico. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  6. ^ Somaiya, Ravi (February 19, 2014). "Start-Up Site Hires Critic of Wall St". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  7. ^ Taibbi, Matt (August 12, 2014). "Matt Taibbi Expands Team for Upcoming Digital Magazine" (Press release). First Look Media. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  8. ^ Somaiya, Ravi, "Matt Taibbi Is on Leave Only Months After Joining First Look Media" Archived 2018-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  9. ^ Omidyar, Pierre (October 28, 2014). "Important Announcement" (Press release). First Look Media. Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.