Beacon Reader, founded in 2013 to fund independent journalism, said it is no longer offering services to journalists and has cancelled all subscriptions.
Adrian Sanders, co-founder of the site, based in Oakland, Calif., thanked supporters and said, “We expect and hope others will learn from and build on our efforts.”
Sanders said 25,000 backers helped Beacon to pay out $3 million “to some of the best journalists across the globe…Beacon grew to become a home for hundreds of journalists and publications.”
Topics covered included initiatives like Climate Confidential, coverage of events in Yemen and Kurdistan, and efforts to influence policy on net neutrality, mass incarceration, and immigration.
Beacon had a local reporter on the scene during the Ferguson protests when “national media was slow to respond,” said Sanders.
Wikipedia says other models of funding journalism, such as Huffington Post and The Texas Tribune, “have been more successful in raising funds.”
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
