We've Got Some Very Digg News To Share
In the media business, 2016 has been a year of learning and adjustment. New platforms are dominating reader engagement, with traditional distribution continuing to decline. Publishing revenues are in flux, with Google and Facebook growing rapidly while the rest of the online media business is actually shrinking in aggregate. Publishers both large and small are navigating a new world of branded content. And if that weren't enough, Brexit and the US presidential election have created a crisis of identity in our industry, starting ongoing debates about the definition and accountability of media companies. It has been a long year already, and it's not yet over.
In spite of this market turbulence, Digg is having its best year since the acquisition and relaunch by betaworks in 2012. We are especially proud that we have:
- grown our audience — our community, really — steadily throughout the year,
- tripled (!) our monthly revenue over the last 12 months, and
- launched a myriad of new ways for users to discover the best articles and videos on the internet.
Accomplishment #3 is the one we'll celebrate the loudest, because Digg's purpose is to help readers discover and illuminate this curious world. Since December of last year, we have
- created topical channels using a "cyborg approach to curation"
- launched Digg on Slack and Facebook Messenger
- introduced the best live-updating feeds for the election, and
- made Amazon Alexa the smartest news device in your home.
Along the way, we also raised a Series C financing led by Gannett. In addition to the investment, the Gannett relationship will help us improve discovery for the highest-quality national, regional, and local news in the US.
So, while it has been a long year, it has been a great one here at Digg.
Now, are you adequately egg-nogged up for some other news? I mean, what's a holiday season without a tinge of sadness, right?
This December, while most of you will be missing batteries after opening presents, we will be missing two leaders who are leaving Digg for industry-changing roles at two of the world's premier news organizations. Digg's CEO Gary Liu will be joining the South China Morning Post in the same role (his words here), and Editorial Director Anna Dubenko will be joining The New York Times as its Senior Digital Strategist (her words here).
It would be difficult to overstate their contributions to Digg. Anna joined Digg in 2012 and became Editorial Director in June, 2015. Some of her success has been very visible, in the high and consistent quality of Digg's curation, its distinctive voice, and the growth and increasing breadth of its original content. But much of her success — in developing and nurturing a team of very talented editors and creators, and in growing Digg's audience the hard way, without resort to short-term tricks — is apparent only when you're here at the Digg office. Her imprint will be felt long after she's left, and she will be missed.
Gary excelled at applying rigor and discipline to an organization that needed a bit of both. He brought leadership, strategic clarity, and operational excellence to Digg, all without sacrificing any of the warmth and joy that have characterized this place since 2012. The results of his work are apparent both on the balance sheet and in the loyalty of Digg's community. Digg is a startup and like most startups we have hit a few big bumps along the road. Without Gary's steady hand we might well have run off the road a long while back.
I'm so confident about Digg's future because of Anna and Gary's successes at building strong teams and strong processes. On the Edit side, I'm thrilled that Dan Fallon has agreed to become Head of Edit and will lead the talented editorial team of which he has been an integral part for the last two years.
As a long-time betaworks partner and Digg Board Member, I will be stepping in as interim CEO while we conduct the search for Gary's successor. I've spent the last couple weeks in Digg's office and the energy and enthusiasm here is simply wonderful.
2016 is nearly in the books — the record books in Digg's case — and we eagerly anticipate what 2017 will bring. Thank you for being a part of this amazing community.
