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Gothamist

Website:

www.gothamist.com
Location:

New York, NY
Type:

Media Outlet
Formation:

2003
Editor-in-Chief:

Andrew Cooper

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Gothamist is a left-of-center, New York City-based online news outlet operated by New York public radio station WNYC that reports on local news in New York City’s five boroughs as well as northern New Jersey. 1 2 3 4

History and Controversies

Gothamist was founded in 2003 in New York City with a focus on local news aggregation and  coverage. 5

 

In March 2017, DNAinfo purchased the Gothamist network of websites operating in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Los Angeles. At the time, DNAinfo was owned Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who in 2012 opposed then-President Barack Obama’s (D) run for president and supported Donald Trump (R) in the 2016 general election after opposing Trump in the Republican primary. 6

During the acquisition negotiations, Gothamist was criticized for removing articles on its site critical of the Ricketts family. 7 Jake Dobkin, the co-founder of Gothamist, said at the time that “no one asked us to do it” and that he and his co-founder Jen Chung “made the decision when our discussions with Mr. Ricketts were starting to get more serious.” 8

In November 2017, Ricketts shut down both DNAinfo and Gothamist. Ricketts said he shut down the sites due to operating costs, however, observers at the time noted that the week before the sites were shut down, editorial staff at both the Gothamist and DNAinfo had voted to unionize with the Writers Guild of America. 9

In February 2018, Gothamist and DNAinfo were purchased by New York public radio station WNYC. The deal was reportedly funded by two anonymous private donors. Upon completing the acquisition, WNYC planned to archive the contents of DNAinfo and relaunch Gothamist. 10

Gothamist was officially relaunched on April 26, 2018. The outlet’s first piece after relaunching argued that the decision of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to restrict electric bicycles harmed immigrants. 11 The relaunch of Gothamist was aided by a Kickstarter public funding campaign that doubled its $100,000 goal. 12

In January 2018, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced writers at the re-launched Gothamist had joined its union. 13

Reporting

The Gothamist covers local news focused on the five boroughs of New York City as well as New Jersey. 14 According to Media Bias/Fact Check, Gothamist conducts largely factual reporting with a left-center bias. 15

In 2016, notable Gothamist stories included an expose on “hideous” built-in air conditioners in New York buildings, a profile of New York City sex parties, reporting on an allegedly predatory New York City landlord, and a piece by co-founder Jen Chung entitled, “How I explained Trump’s Win To My 6-Year-Old Daughter,” in which Chung reported her daughter declared, “This. Is. The. Worst. Day Of. My. Life.” 16

The re-launched Gothamist retained the same approach to reporting, focusing on local news often from a left-leaning angle. For example, in March 2024, articles focused on left-of-center protests at Columbia University, a cappella competitions, a story on the struggles New York City mosques have serving migrants, and reports on a new task force to combat fake license plates.” 17

People

Gothamist was co-founded by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. 18 As of March 2014, the editor-in-chief of Gothamist was Audrey Cooper, who previously worked as the editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle. 19

Funding

Gothamist receives funding from New York Public Radio, which does business as WNYC Radio WQXR NJ Public Radio. According to tax filings, in 2022 Gothamist received part of the $46,831,565 New York Public Radio spent on programming. Other recipients of this programming funding included WNYC AM 820, WNYC FM 93.9, www.wnyc.org, WNJT FM 88.1, WNJP FM88.4, WNJY FM 89.3, WNJO FM 90.3, www.njpr.org, WQXR 105.9 FM, www.wqxr.org, www.wqxw.org, and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. 20

References

  1. Manskar, Noah. “Gothamist To be Resurrected After Deal With WNYC.” Patch. February 23, 2018. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://patch.com/new-york/queens/s/gd2r5/gothamist-to-be-resurrected-after-deal-with-wnyc.
  2. Manskar, Noah. “Gothamist Site Officially Relaunched Under WNY.” Patch. April 26, 2018. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/gothamist-site-officially-relaunched-under-wnyc.
  3. “Gothamist.” Gothamist. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://gothamist.com/.
  4. “Gothamist – Bias and Credibility.” Media Bias/ Fact Check. Accessed March 13, 2024.  https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/gothamist/.
  5. Rosenberg, Eli. “DNAinfo Buys Gothamist, With Plans to Merge Local Websites.” New York Times. March 8, 2017. Accessed March 24, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/nyregion/dnainfo-buys-gothamist.html.
  6. Pompeo, Joe. “Joe Ricketts, local news publisher and Trump backer, acquires Gothamist websites.” Politico. March 8, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.politico.com/media/story/2017/03/trump-donor-local-news-publisher-joe-ricketts-acquires-gothamist-websites-004939/
  7. Geigner, Timothy. “Gothamist Purges Stories About The Ricketts Family While Joe Ricketts Was Negotiation To Buy Site.” Tech Dirt. March 9, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.techdirt.com/2017/03/09/gothamist-purges-stories-about-ricketts-family-while-joe-ricketts-was-negotiating-to-buy-site/
  8. Rosenberg, Eli. “DNAinfo Buys Gothamist, With Plans to Merge Local Websites.” New York Times. March 8, 2017. Accessed March 24, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/nyregion/dnainfo-buys-gothamist.html.
  9. Sith, Gerry. “Billionaire Joe Ricketts Shuts Down Gothamist and DNAinfo.” Bloomberg. November 2, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-02/gothamist-dnainfo-shut-down-as-billionaire-ricketts-cites-costs.
  10. Manskar, Noah. “Gothamist To be Resurrected After Deal With WNYC.” Patch. February 23, 2018. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://patch.com/new-york/queens/s/gd2r5/gothamist-to-be-resurrected-after-deal-with-wnyc.
  11. Manskar, Noah. “Gothamist Site Officially Relaunched Under WNY.” Patch. April 26, 2018. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/gothamist-site-officially-relaunched-under-wnyc.
  12. “Bring Back Gothamist.” Kickstarter. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/675760894/bring-back-gothamist/description.
  13. “SAG-AFTRA and New York Public Radio Reach Voluntary Recognition Agreement Covering New Employees.” WNYC. January 7, 2019. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://www.wnyc.org/press/sag-aftra-nypr/10719/.
  14. “Gothamist.” Gothamist. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://gothamist.com/.
  15. “Gothamist – Bias and Credibility.” Media Bias/ Fact Check. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/gothamist/.
  16. Pope-Sussman, Raphael. “The Best of Gothamist, 2016.” Gothamist. December 21, 2016. Updated October 12, 2017. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://gothamist.com/news/the-best-of-gothamist-2016.
  17. “Gothamist.” Gothamist. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://gothamist.com/.
  18. Rosenberg, Eli. “DNAinfo Buys Gothamist, With Plans to Merge Local Websites.” New York Times. March 8, 2017. Accessed March 24, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/nyregion/dnainfo-buys-gothamist.html.
  19. Articles by Andrew Cooper.” Gothamist. Accessed March 13, 2024. https://gothamist.com/staff/audrey-cooper.
  20. New York Public Radio. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2022.
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Gothamist


New York, NY