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Home , Curbed, Eater (website), Ezra Klein, Jim Bankoff, Lockhart Steele, SB Nation

Is Media CEO James Bankoff WG’96 a Henry Luce for the Digital Age?

BY ALYSON KRUEGER

1922, a 24-year old journalist named Henry One person who thinks he’s found a way is James IN Luce quit his job at a Baltimore newspaper to Bankoff WG’96, chair and CEO of , Inc. Unlike launch the country’s fi rst weekly newsmagazine. Luce, Bankoff isn’t a kid anymore—at 46, he’s old enough Writing to his future fi rst wife, Lila Hotz, he promised to have witnessed most of the history of the commercial that his new publication would off er “articles on politics, , having started his career with AOL in 1996 books, sport, scandal, science, society, and no article during what we now call Web 1.0 (at the time, naming will be longer than 200 words” and that it would “serve internet eras like software versions hadn’t been in- the illiterate upper classes, the busy business man, the vented yet). But similar to the Time, Inc. visionary, tired debutante, to prepare them at least once a week Bankoff has looked around his industry landscape and for a table conversation.” realized something was missing. The market was under- Luce was on to something. Time became a huge success, supplying the kind of targeted, beautiful, smart websites and he used the same model to launch such iconic titles that Bankoff wanted to build. as Fortune, Life, and Sports Illustrated. By the 1960s, “Just as great magazine companies that have multiple Time, Inc. was the county’s largest and most prestigious titles were built in one era, and great cable networks magazine publisher, reaching mass audiences across that have multiple diff erent topics were built in an- America and raking in advertising money. As for its other era,” says Bankoff , “we recognize, OK, the great founder, in the words of his recent biographer, historian digital brands that are focused on big consumer catego- Alan Brinkley, he secured a place in history as “one of ries are going to be created in this era, and we want to the great media visionaries of the twentieth century.” invest accordingly and go for it.” But that was the last century. The revenue model that sustained Luce’s empire and a host of other newspaper PHOTOGRAPH BY DUSTIN FENSTERMACHER and magazine properties is profoundly broken; audi- ences have fragmented and been lured away by other entertainment and information options; and for the modern media-mogul hoping to replicate both Luce’s innovative vision and material success in the 21st cen- tury there is no clear path forward.

36 JULY | AUGUST 2015 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE JULY | AUGUST 2015 37 “The Vox Media sites, they feel like mag- el worked,” says D’vorkin. “Now there is in love with the internet because of the azines,” says Joshua Benton, director of the no singular model that guarantees suc- discovery and exploration, but he had Nieman Lab at Harvard Univer- cess, and there are so many diff erent the skill to understand it was also a busi- sity. “They are high production value.” models that people are trying.” ness,” says D’vorkin. In his seven years leading Vox Media, While The Huffi ngton Post is trying to The fi rst time Bankoff surfed the Web Bankoff has launched or acquired such be an internet newspaper, a site like was as a Wharton MBA student, in a com- digital brands as SB Nation, a collection aims to produce content that is munal computer lab in Vance Hall. of fan sites focusing on diff erent sports shared on social media and goes viral, to Another time he tried to impress the cute and teams; (technology); take just two examples. Vox’s approach— girl next door by showing her how to sign (gaming), (food and drinks); to provide high-quality content to smart, into AOL and pull up a picture of Tom (real estate); Racked (fashion); and Vox (“a affl uent people—hasn’t yet proven itself. Cruise. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, whatever, can general interest news site for the 21st cen- It also faces numerous challenges in you get out of here, please? I have work tury,” edited by the former Washington maintaining and growing its readership to do,’” he remembers. He used his class- Post columnist and blogger ). numbers—and making a profi t. “I’ cer- es to study the tactics of forward-think- In late May it was announced that the com- tainly not hanging up any ‘Mission ing media players like , Rupert pany had acquired Re/Code, a tech site Accomplished’ banners,” says Klein. Murdoch, and Warner Communications started by former Wall Street Journal tech- But then, Time was a chancy proposi- (and later Time Warner) CEO Steve Ross. nology reporters and Kara tion when Luce started out, too. “I can When it came time to secure an intern- Swisher after they left the paper in 2013. only say that Vol 1 No 4 will be published,” ship, he set up an informational interview Re/Code continued the AllThingsD website he wrote in March 1923. “And that Vol 1 at a company just entering the public con- and tech-conference business they’d de- No 5 may or may not be published.” sciousness: America Online, Inc. But after veloped for the WSJ and parent company traveling from Philadelphia to the appoint- News Corp, but which, though highly re- Luce, who stayed up nights ment at the company’s Virginia headquar- spected, had never acquired a solid follow- LIKE cutting up The New York ters, he realized he’d come on the wrong ing as a standalone. Times and rearranging the paper into a day. He was walking around, feeling Joining Vox Media may help solve that new format he liked, Bankoff has always gloomy, when he saw a group of men walk- problem. The company currently boasts been an avid student of media. ing towards him on the AOL campus. 400 employees, and claims its sites re- “Not to overanalyze it, but I grew up an “I’m Jim Bankoff , and I’m here for a ceive more than 170 million unique view- only child,” he says. “I had to fi nd ways to job interview,” he said. The lead man ers a month—a number that far exceeds entertain myself, and you can only throw responded, “Well, kid, you have fi ve min- media sites such as , a ball against a brick wall and catch it utes. Tell me why I should hire you.” which gets 55 million visitors a month, yourself so many times before you start The man—, a senior execu- and Bloomberg News, with 25 million. looking for other forms of entertainment.” tive who would later become a vice-chair- In November Vox Media raised $46.6 So he read books and magazines, watched man of AOL and president of the com- million from General Atlantic, a New television, listened to music, and eventu- pany’s audience group—did hire Bankoff , York investment fi rm, which reportedly ally started wondering how “this stuff who would end up working in a variety put the company’s value at $380 million. was actually made and who made it.” of capacities at AOL for the next tumul- Lewis D’vorkin, who worked with As a senior at Emory University in the tuous decade. During that time the com- Bankoff at AOL and is currently chief early 1990s, he had an internship at CNN. pany experienced explosive growth, technology offi cer of Media, It was the time of the fi rst Gulf War, and forged its famously ill-fated 2000 merg- praises his former colleague and current a high point for the cable news network er with Time Warner, and struggled to competitor. “I pay very close attention in terms of both audience reach and jour- stay relevant as the era of dial-up con- to what Jim does, and I enjoy and I take nalistic credibility. After that excite- nections gave way to broadband and a the lessons from following [him] that ment, there was no turning back, he says. much more competitive landscape rife apply to me,” he says, adding, “There “I got bit by the bug.” with new and deep-pocketed players. aren’t many Jim Bankoff s out there.” Early stories about the internet were When Bankoff started, most people’s A big part of Vox Media’s appeal comes beginning to appear, and Bankoff remem- experience of the internet—to the extent from Bankoff ’s vision of making the com- bers reading articles about the World that they had any—consisted of dialing pany the next Time, Inc., says Benton. Wide Web in newspapers. Interested, he into portals like AOL, Yahoo, or MSN “It’s an understandable model that is both would cut them out and collect them in a where they would check their email and echoing something that has come before, small binder so he could retrieve the in- then sign off . AOL was starting to think but having the advantage of building formation. “Then, all of a sudden every- about what else people could do once they something from the ground up.” thing was media, and I couldn’t keep up were in their portal. Could they chat with But in today’s complex media environ- anymore,” he says, and he began reading other users? Could they be entertained or ment, such a model is problematic, es- about the internet on the internet. educated? And if the company could pro- pecially when it comes to the business From the start, what fascinated Bankoff vide this content, could it be monetized? side of the equation. “For the largest was the internet’s business potential. “I Because he was there for this pivotal time, 50 years, 75 years, a singular mod- think there are a lot of people who fall time span, Bankoff got a front-row seat

38 JULY | AUGUST 2015 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE to the action. “AOL was inventing the But AOL’s leadership had other ideas. Bankoff grabbed it to launch a website future,” says Leonsis, who led the com- “The new management wanted to put in about technology, The Verge, and then pany’s eff orts developing websites and someone else, and I thought they made used it as bait to get existing digital selling advertising, “and Jim did every- a huge mistake.” brands under his roof. thing. He was in technology, in program- But Bankoff isn’t interested in looking “Jim said, ‘I have this amazing CMS. ming, in marketing. He ran businesses back. “Instead of complaining about it Go play with it and create something … He got a 360-degree view of running after a great 11-year career,” he says. “I awesome!’” says Salmon. “All of those and scaling a growing business.” decided to leave, and wound up doing people—, Ezra Klein—they As an executive on the something entrepreneurial myself.” are like, ‘Oh, Chorus, shiny, exciting, we media side of the company (as opposed to can do amazing things with it!’” AOL’s role as an internet service provider, rom the outside, Vox Media’s New Lockhart Steele is a former managing or ISP), Bankoff helped launch and over- York headquarters (they have an- editor at publisher saw AOL Instant Messenger and the celeb- Fother one on Washington’s who went on to build a mini-empire of rity-gossip website TMZ, as well as ) looks like its Midtown successful websites focusing on real es- Mapquest, , AOL Music, and the neighbors. The shiny glass- tate, fashion, and food (Curbed, Racked, technology site . In 2006, he ac- and-steel tower has a fancy lobby; law and Eater, respectively), which he sold cepted the fi rst Emmy Award ever given fi rms and fi nancial institutions share to Vox Media in November 2013. He’s now to a digital company, for AOL’s live stream- the space. Once you arrive at Vox’s ninth- editorial director at the company. ing of the Live 8 benefi t concerts that took fl oor offi ces, however, the vibe is all Vox Editor-in-Chief Ezra Klein shot to place in , Paris, Berlin, Rome, startup. Millennials in jeans and plaid prominence during the run-up to the Philadelphia, Barrie (Canada), Tokyo, and shirts wander around with their laptops 2012 elections as the manager of The Moscow on July 2, 2005, for which he looking for a spare beanbag or oversized Washington Post’s “WonkBlog.” His de- served as executive producer. Bankoff still bright orange chair to sprawl in. There’s parture from the Post in January 2014 to chuckles as he remembers being present- even a “ room” for playing video work with Bankoff on a news vertical ed with the award by TV journalist and games. On display in the reception area called vox.com was seen as a triumph host Meredith Vieira. “It was a cool recog- are retro typewriters and tape players— for Vox Media and a bit of a watershed nition, but behind the recognition was a an appropriate touch for a company try- moment in the media landscape. “What lot of hard work and risk and invention ing to experiment with new forms of is D.C.’s most famous young policy wonk that needed to take place,” he says. “Now journalism while hanging on to the pres- doing leaving ?” ran we have Netfl ix and YouTube, but back tige and credibility the media has en- a teaser headline in New York magazine. then it was a big achievement, so we helped joyed in the past. “Trying to start a news organization he move the needle forward.” Vox Media got its start in 2008 when thinks could one day eclipse it.” But by around 2005, Bankoff felt that Bankoff was asked by a sports blogging Klein confi rms that he chose Vox AOL wasn’t innovating as aggressively network called SB Nation to help it raise Media to partner with because of the way as it needed to. Web. 2.0 had arrived—a money and then serve as its CEO. It was the company was creating content. “The period when “people said, ‘I’m signing a surprising move; Bankoff would be go- things we needed to do, they were already up with my cable company for broad- ing from a prestigious job at an estab- in the process of doing,” he says. “What band, and I’m using for my mail, lished company where he managed 1,600 was instantly clear was that we were not and I’m going to get sports from ESPN people to what was essentially a startup. going to be able to build a product team and SB Nation, and I’m going to get my But SB Nation was the perfect fi rst brand or a product editorial culture as [good news from Newser,’” explains Leonsis, for Bankoff —because it had arguably the as] the one Vox Media already had.” who since leaving AOL has become the most important ingredient a media com- While Steele acknowledges the attrac- owner of sports franchises and arenas pany needed to thrive in Web 2.0: a strong tions of the Chorus publishing platform— in Washington. As consumers started publishing platform, or content-manage- “In terms of tools for digital storytelling, feeling comfortable choosing where to ment system (CMS), called Chorus. it really is the best thing out there,” he go on the internet for themselves, it was “SB Nation was a million diff erent sites says—he adds that what actually makes up to companies to provide diff erent with a bunch of not particularly amazing Vox Media stand out among digital-me- products that would appeal to them. editorial content,” says fi nancial journal- dia companies is its culture. According to Leonsis, while Bankoff ist and blogger Felix Salmon, who writes Digital journalism requires close col- understood that AOL needed to up its often about media companies. “It wasn’t laboration between the editorial and the game to meet these challenges, the com- exactly winning any Pulitzers. But the technology team. However, many organiza- pany did not. CMS was f-ing amazing! Jim saw how tions—especially legacy brands struggling “When I retired from AOL, I recom- that could then be extended.” to transition from print—have a hard time mended Jim become president,” he says. Chorus was leagues ahead of similar getting their engineers and journalists on “I thought Jim was the up-and-comer and programs like Word Press that compet- the same page. “Vox is the fi rst company would have been a great leader and would ing media companies were using. It cre- I’ve worked at where editorial and product be representative of the next generation ated vivid, beautiful content and could are true equals,” says Steele. When Edward of what we were trying to accomplish.” accommodate a range of projects. So Snowden released a huge cache of docu-

THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE JULY | AUGUST 2015 39 ments from the NSA and the writers want- the same technology tools that make the sports doesn’t seem as hard of a question.” ed to search for particular topics, the en- sites’ editorial product so attractive on And then there are those who, even now, gineering team performed a data analysis behalf of its advertising clients. “We have don’t view digital journalism—no matter for them in less than two hours. a whole lot of experience making content how high the quality—as prestigious, reli- Bankoff also has a saying: “Substance good, and we’ve applied that to making able, or worthy compared to print. Steele goes viral.” So while many companies are advertising content good,” Bankoff ex- tells a story about interviewing a well- in a “race to the bottom,” says Steele, pub- plains. “It’s not just a crappy old banner known writer, someone who would add lishing slideshows or listicles just to get ad. It’s more analogous to a beautiful cachet to the team, for a position as drinks viewers, “Jim talks about us being engaged magazine layout or a beautiful video so editor at Eater. was going in the race to the top.” All content should it engages the audience better and it well until the very end when the writer said, off er something meaningful to readers. performs better.” After all, he adds: “Can I throw something out there? If this “I like to point to them for people who “When was the last time you liked an really works, and we become really popular question [whether] the internet is a place online ad or even noticed it?” on the internet, can we launch it as a mag- where news always chases the lowest According to Benton, “this higher-end, azine?” Steele’s reaction: “Damn it.” common denominator, and it’s kind of more polished, better packaged advertis- “Magazines are read by 20,000 people cheap and tawdry,” says the Nieman Lab’s ing stuff ” has the potential to be a stable an issue; what Eater is doing is read by Benton. “I think their sites, and Vox source of income for Vox Media, espe- millions of people a day!” he says. “We Media, are aiming a lot higher than that.” cially since traditional digital advertising have this multi-media platform to tell To hit that target, Bankoff puts real is on the decline. The problem, however, stories, not just a piece of paper and ink. resources into his sites. When Vox Media is that no company has yet been success- Doing media on the internet is the single bought Steele’s dining site, Eater, he ful at off ering this type of service. greatest place to do media that’s ever been provided a six-fi gure budget to hire two “It’s clear what Vox Media needs to do invented. It’s way better than print, and full-time food critics in New York in ad- in terms of moving up the advertising I believe that whole-heartedly, and I want dition to its roving critic Bill Addison, value-chain,” says Salmon. “It’s not yet to work with people who believe that.” who travels the country 40 weeks a year. clear they are actually capable of doing Eater claims he is currently the most it … It just hasn’t been done.” hat’s a vision Jim Bankoff has well-traveled food writer in America. Vox also has to prove that it can attract been pursuing for as long as al- Bankoff is also good at hiring talented advertisers of all kinds, he adds. The com- Tmost anyone in the business, ever people and “letting them do the things pany’s fi rst three brands—focusing on sports since he showed up at AOL on the wrong— that he has hired them to do,” says Benton. (SB Nation), tech culture (The Verge), and and lucky—day. A key focus at Ezra Klein’s Vox is ex- gaming (Polygon)—were all tailored to The tale of Bankoff ’s impromptu inter- perimenting with a new type of website youngish men with disposable income. The view—which Leonsis confi rms is “gospel where people can get the full history of other sites are newer, and the company has truth”—has become part of Wharton lore, an issue, not just information about what less practice attracting advertisers to them. according to classmate Jason Trennert happened with it today. That’s pretty Vox also faces a number of other chal- WG’96. “When I talk to young people I much the exact opposite of click-bait, lenges—“Oh my gosh, there are 100,000 always tell them the Jim Bankoff story,” but because Klein doesn’t have a of them!” says Steele—regarding its he says. “I just think he had an ability to who micro-manages him, he has the reputation as a publisher. Vox Media see the potential in some of these things. space to make this happen. may be building better websites than There is an art of having a longer-term Klein also believes he benefi ts from a anybody else, but they are still producing view, while everyone else is just assum- boss who takes risks: “Jim is pretty good the same type of content, Benton points ing if they get the job at McKinsey all at placing a bet to make something much out. “I don’t think anybody looked at the their troubles are over, their life is set. bigger than it was before him,” he says. internet a few years ago and thought, It takes a lot of guts to recognize there “But it’s funny because he is a laid back, ‘Man, there’s not going to be enough are other paths.” chill guy when you deal with him, and then sports coverage,’ or, ‘Man, there isn’t Besides being unorthodox for the time, you kind of think about what he does. I going to be enough tech coverage,’” he Bankoff ’s path wasn’t especially lucrative would be incredibly manic … I assume he says. “What would be revolutionary is if to start, either. He remembers that, when has a glass-breaking room or something!” they could fi gure out how to write about the salary ranges for his class were post- Vox Media also has great appeal to ad- local communities or issues that aren’t ed, his was the second to lowest. “And the vertisers, who are eager to reach the of interest to the rich populations adver- lowest one was someone who was working company’s 170 million unique visitors a tisers are interested in reaching. in a nonprofi t, and at least they were do- month. “Our brands are trying to be “I think Vox Media can completely ig- ing something noble with their lives,” he smarter, savvier,” says Bankoff , “so they nore those questions and be a very profi t- adds. But he pursued it anyway, because appeal to people who are curious about able, very successful company,” he adds. he believed creating content for the in- the world around them, so that self-se- “I’m just saying that, from my perspective, ternet was the future. “I’ve since dedi- lects into a young, affl uent audience.” those are the questions that seem hard cated my career to that,” he says.◆ The company has also launched a divi- to answer. The question of how do you Alyson Krueger C’07 is a New York-based freelance writer sion called Vox Creative that will employ build a business around writing about who contributes frequently to the Gazette.

40 JULY | AUGUST 2015 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE