Independent Journal Review
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
News aggregation, blogging, original reporting
Available inEnglish
Founded2012
HeadquartersAlexandria, Virginia[1][2]
OwnerMedia Group of America
Founder(s)Alex Skatell, Phil Musser
Key peopleAlex Skatell, Phil Musser
IndustryNews
Employees52
URLijr.com
AdvertisingYes
Launched2012
Current statusActive

The Independent Journal Review is an American news and opinion website based in Alexandria, Virginia.[1][2] The publication was founded in 2012 by former Republican party staffers Alex Skatell and Phil Musser.[3] The publication is owned by Media Group of America. Skatell serves as its CEO. The site covers general interest topics including politics, culture, entertainment, and viral news content.

In 2012, Skatell hired Bert Atkinson as chief editor.[1] Soon afterward, the website hired Kyle Becker, who became the managing editor. In 2016, Atkinson left Independent Journal Review to join the start-up Axios. The editorial team is currently led by Becker, the director of viral media, and Benny Johnson, the chief content officer. Matthew Manda, husband of Representative Elise Stefanik, is the site's spokesman. The site has been described as "geared toward conservative millennials";[4] its founder Skatell says that the site aims to appeal to a "mainstream center-right audience."[5]

History

Founding and early expansion

In 2012, Alex Skatell, a former digital director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, launched the Independent Journal Review, using $40,000 that Skatell had earned via a software application that he developed at college and $20,000 borrowed from his parents. He believed that there was a gap in the market for a publication that would appeal to "a more mainstream center-right audience" and began aggregating news stories on a Facebook page called Conservative Daily. Skatell promoted the page and later launched the Independent Journal Review.[1]

Skatell then teamed up with Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association, who became a co-founder of the journal, as well as Media Group of America. Skatell then hired his friend Bert Atkinson to fill the position of editor and chief writer. Atkinson hired a staff of writers and editors to contribute to and grow the journal.[1] By November 2014, the organization employed approximately fifty full-time staff members and several contributing writers.[6]

The site attracted an audience that largely lived outside Washington D.C. political circles that had broader interests than average consumers of political news.[6]

In January 2015, an angel investment firm invested $1.5M in the parent company of the site and Pete Snyder joined the board.[3]

In June 2015, they hired Benny Johnson as a "content director." Johnson had previously worked at Buzzfeed, being fired after plagiarizing content from other websites.[7][8]

2016 election cycle

During the 2015 campaign season, a number of Independent Journal Review political videos acquired national attention, such as Lindsey Graham destroying his cell phone [9] and Ted Cruz making "machine gun bacon."[10]

Then, Independent Journal Review partnered with ABC News to host the Republican Presidential Debate on February 6, 2016.[5][11]

During the 2016 election, Independent Journal Review was listed in the top 10 websites engaged per news story on Facebook. [12] In November 2016, Independent Journal Review became one of the first two digital media companies accepted into the News Media Alliance, formerly the Newspaper Association of America. [13][14]

Post-2016 election

In January 2017, the website was noted for being the first major U.S. news outlet to confirm that Judge Neil Gorsuch would be nominated by president Donald Trump for the Supreme Court.[15]

During United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's diplomatic trip to Asia in March 2017, the Independent Journal Review was the only news publication invited to send a reporter to accompany the trip.[16]

Several key members of the Independent Journal Review's editorial staff, including Benny Johnson and Kyle Becker, were suspended in March 2017 after the site determined they had mischaracterized a meeting between former President Barack Obama and judge Derrick Watson to imply that Obama had been behind one of Watson's court rulings.[4]

In May 2017, Haley Byrd, a congressional reporter for the Independent Journal Review said she was kicked out of the Speaker's Lobby in the U.S. Capitol because she was wearing a sleeveless dress; Byrd says she was told that she was violating the rules.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kaufman, Leslie (November 2, 2014). "Independent Journal Review Website Becomes a Draw for Conservatives". The New York Times. New York City: The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "About - Independent Journal Review". Independent Journal Review. Alexandria, Virginia: Media Group of America. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Heath, Thomas (January 6, 2015). "IJReview gets $1.5 M funding, led by GOP politico and investor Pete Snyder". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Farhi, Paul (March 24, 2017). "A conservative news crack-up? Things just got real for some partisan personalities". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Gold, Hadas. "Independent Journal Review's big debate moment". Politico. Arlington County, Virginia: Capitol News Company. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  6. ^ a b Miller, Katherine (November 27, 2013). "The Right Wing Has Its Own Upworthy And You Won't Believe How Well It's Doing". BuzzFeed. New York City: BuzzFeed Inc. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  7. ^ Terris, Ben (June 9, 2015). "Benny Johnson got fired at BuzzFeed. You will believe what happened next". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C.: Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
  8. ^ Gold, Hadas; Shutt, Jennifer (July 26, 2014). "BuzzFeed fires Benny Johnson for plagiarism". Politico. Arlington County, Virginia: Capitol News Company. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  9. ^ Kelly, Conor (July 22, 2015). "Lindsey Graham Just Destroyed His Cellphone To Spite Donald Trump". ABC News. New York City: ABC. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Maddow, Rachel (August 3, 2015). "Hey Ted Cruz, that's not a machine gun you're cooking with". MSNBC. New York City: NBCUniversal. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  11. ^ ABC News Press (February 4, 2016). "ABC News Hosts "New Hampshire: The Republicans Debate" in Partnership with WMUR, Independent Journal Review, RNC and Saint Anselm College". ABC News. New York City: ABC. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  12. ^ Corcoran, Liam (November 10, 2016). "These Were the Biggest Election Day Publishers on Facebook". NewsWhip. New York City: Blogger. Retrieved November 10, 2016. ((cite news)): Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ Stroh, Sean (November 4, 2016). "The Newspaper Association of America Rebrands as the News Media Alliance". Editor & Publisher. Irvine, California: Duncan McIntosh Co. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  14. ^ Wang, Shan (September 6, 2016). "Who are the first digital members of the newspaper industry's club? Billy Penn's owner and IJ Review". Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Nieman Fellowship. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  15. ^ Gold, Hadas (February 1, 2017). "Meet the website that scooped the world on Gorsuch". Politico. Arlington County, Virginia: Capitol News Company. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Yuhas, Alan (March 18, 2017). "Rex Tillerson defends blocking reporters from diplomatic trip to Asia". The Guardian. Kings Place, London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  17. ^ "Are sleeveless dresses "appropriate attire"? Congress doesn't think so". CBS News. New York City: CBS. July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.

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