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Oliver Darcy is launching a subscription news service committed to covering the media industry, joining a busy field.
By Michael M. Grynbaum
What is the duration of the news market?
That’s a question veteran journalist Oliver Darcy is about to answer. On Thursday he announced that he would be leaving his former position at CNN, where he writes the widely read Reliable Sources newsletter, to publish an independent, subscription-based news story committed to the media industry.
Mr. Darcy, 33, throws his fedora, into a crowded ring. Puck, a virtual media outlet, has discovered good luck with adapted emails aimed at gossip from the media in Manhattan, Hollywood and Washington. Semafor recently introduced a podcast aimed at the media, “Mixed Signals,” and The Hollywood Reporter has stepped up its media policy this year.
Darcy’s new venture, called Status, will be similar to the daily news digest he helped run for four years at CNN, with a combination of reporting, observation and analysis. Topics will range from Silicon Valley to presidential politics to the effects of synthetic technology. Generation of intelligence on data consumption.
“We try to connect all those dots every night,” he said in an interview.
Reliable Sources, founded in 2015 by journalist Brian Stelter, is distributed for free through CNN. Subscriptions to Mr. Darcy’s edition will start at $15 per month or $150 per year; an elite membership, with consistent perks like personal Zoom calls, is available for $595 per year. The first is expected to appear on Monday.
Several sleuths have left the classic media to check their luck on subscription sites like Substack. Darcy plans to start with an initial sponsor (he declined to specify the company) and an advertising sales partnership with The Ankler, a start-up covering Hollywood. He has no outside investors, and for now, Darcy will report alone.
“My argument to readers is that this is a 100 percent independent voice,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a single product that does exactly what we do. “
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