The New Yorker:

After its purchase by a tech entrepreneur, the publication is now a shadow of itself. A letter signed by its illustrious contributors says as much about a way of life as it does about the media industry.

By Rachel Monroe

Four years ago, Robin Thurston, a new owner of Outside, hosted an introductory meeting with the staff of the magazine. Thurston, a tech entrepreneur and a former semi-professional cyclist, Zoomed in from Boulder, where he lives. Much of the staff gathered in the magazine’s offices, in downtown Santa Fe, eager for a glimpse of their new boss.

The feeling in the room was hopeful. Like many media products, the magazine had been struggling. The thick print issues of the nineties, fat with ads for Patagonia and Land Rover, had become notably slimmer. Some employees had been furloughed to cut down on costs, and Outside had developed a reputation for not paying freelancers in a timely manner. But it was still publishing award-winning journalism, and had a solid reputation founded on decades of literary and investigative journalism. Around the industry, investors were buying distressed media companies; as far as new owners went, Thurston seemed like a good fit, the kind of guy who was happy to have a meeting that was also a bike ride—if you could keep up with him. “The guy’s a hammer,” one staffer told me.

Thurston had sold his first company, MapMyFitness, to Under Armour, in 2013. By the time he purchased Outside, he had already raised more than a hundred and fifty million dollars from venture-capital firms, including Sequoia Heritage, to create a digital hub for the outdoors. He had bought roughly a dozen titles—Backpacker, SKI, Climbing, and Yoga Journal among them—under the umbrella of Pocket Outdoor Media. Outside, the largest in circulation and in prestige, could be the centerpiece. Thurston told the staff that he was changing the name of the company from Pocket Outdoor Media to Outside Interactive, Inc. It was an encouraging step, one that felt like a true commitment.

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