Introducing the beehiiv Media Collective

The digital era has transformed media, pitting traditional newsrooms against individual creators in a relentless race for views, engagement, and ad dollars.

The result? A steady erosion of legacy media organizations, with layoffs and cost-cutting affecting some of the industry’s most talented journalists.

Audience ownership lies at the root of the issue. Once, a handful of large media institutions enjoyed a privileged position as information gatekeepers. But today, tech giants have taken their place, with their ever-shifting algorithms standing between publishers and their readers.

At beehiiv, we’ve built a solution that puts ownership back in the hands of creators—a platform empowering anyone to build a sustainable business around their work, grounded in direct audience relationships.

And journalists are taking notice ...

• Oliver Darcy, formerly CNN’s lead media reporter, recently launched Status, an independent, email-based media venture on beehiiv.

• Emmy-winning investigative journalist Catherine Herridge, previously a senior correspondent at CBS, has also gone independent, using beehiiv to, in her words, “tell the stories she couldn’t before.”

• Ryan Broderick moved to beehiiv to scale Garbage Day, his Webby Award-winning newsletter that explores the intersections of internet culture, society, and politics.

Darcy, Herridge, and Broderick are at the forefront of a new initiative that we officially launched last night in NYC: the beehiiv Media Collective.

It’s a multimillion dollar investment to equip leading journalists with the tools, resources, and operational support they need to build sustainable, audience-first businesses.

Applications are open through the end of the year, and selected journalists will receive:

• Health Insurance: Monthly stipend and access to our network of insurance partners.

• Legal Support: Access to pre-publication legal review and Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverage.

• Powerful Software: Editorial tools like Perplexity Pro and Getty Images, plus essential accounting, tax, and back-office software to keep your business running smoothly.

• Platform Support: A dedicated Customer Success Manager, access to business strategy support, and budget to grow your audience.

Here’s to a brighter, more resilient future for independent media.