David Haskell Sets the Vision for New York Magazine

As the editor at the helm of New York Magazine, a source of cultural accounting for a city whose influence shapes the world in its image, David Haskell has yet to enjoy a slow news day this year. Since last October, Haskell has presided over coverage that has explored the most divisive presidential election in modern history, an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the despair of a pandemic winter, an outburst of fractious financial tools, a contentious mayoral primary, the legacy of a racial reckoning, the resignation of a disgraced governor and the unsatisfying catharsis of a city still aching from its trauma. “That ability to bounce from beat to beat and topic to topic is the New York Magazine signature, and it's something that people count on us to be able to do,” Haskell, Adweek's Publishing Editor of the Year, says. “It makes our jobs challenging, but it also pushes us to be more creative and gutsy.” Under Haskell's guidance, reporting from New York Magazine has also set the national agenda. In January, the publisher released an investigation from Nicholson Baker that traced the origins of the pandemic, a piece that defiantly interrogated the lab leak hypothesis despite the near taboo nature of the subject. In doing so, Haskell prompted reflection throughout the industry about how the media had handled the issue. The last year and a half has shown me how much room there is for the magazine to evolve, especially in the areas of representation and inclusion.David Haskell The 42-year-old editor, who succeeded his hall-of-fame predecessor Adam Moss in April 2019, has accomplished these feats of editorial dexterity against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting media landscape. Vox Media, which acquired New York Magazine just five months into Haskell’s tenure, has provided the publisher and its signature titles a degree of stability that few others have enjoyed. But in return, Haskell has been tasked with imagining a New York Magazine that looks little like the one he inherited. Subscription revenue triumphs Digital subscriptions, the business model du jour for publishers looking to lessen their reliance on advertising, have become a key priority for Haskell. In the past 18 months, the magazine has tripled its base of digital subscribers and has grown 70% year to date over the same period in 2020. The publisher has also doubled its revenue from digital subscriptions year over year. Haskell has also sought to expand the number of ways in which its journalism meets its readers. In 2020, New York Magazine hired NPR alum Hanna Rosin as its editorial director for audio, laying the groundwork for its expansion into podcasting. It has since acquired the award-winning podcast Pivot and the critically acclaimed Switched on Pop, in addition to launching the second seasons of Tabloid and Nice Try! The magazine has also grown its newsletter audience by 25% year over year, an achievement for which it credits a blend of mainstays––One Great Story, 1.5x Speed, Buffering and others––as well as new launches, such as Are U Coming, a coquettish, clever reinvention of party reporting from the nightlife connoisseur Brock Colyar. Representation and inclusion While these efforts have netted new subscribers and helped transform the publisher into a digital powerhouse, Haskell has placed an even greater emphasis on retooling the nature of the newsroom itself. The last year has seen a wave of burnout prompting top journalists to resign or strike out alone, a crisis to which New York Magazine has not been immune. To remedy the problem, the editor in chief has embraced his expanded role as steward of employee welfare in addition to building stronger structural supports for mental health. The publisher has made its employee onboarding process more robust, Haskell says, an initiative that has proven critical as new workers joining remotely have fewer informal opportunities to learn the company culture. Like many in leadership roles, the editor in chief has had to relearn how to manage under the dual stressors of the pandemic and distributed work. “I've come to better understand the value of investing in culture systems, of bringing people into the fold when they're new employees and putting the right structures around management,” Haskell says. He has also embarked on an ambitious program designed to ensure the staff of the magazine better represents the city it covers. The publisher has undergone structural changes, according to Haskell, such as “how decisions are made and who’s invited to what rooms and meetings.” New York Magazine has also evolved its hiring practices with an aim to increase the diversity of its staff, especially in senior and editorial leadership positions. In January, he hired Lindsay Peoples Wagner to lead The Cut, which returned to print with a fall fashion issue that focused on Black excellence in the industry. Haskell says bringing on Wagner was the “most consequential” hire he has made, but he understands that the task before him will be ongoing, the project of his career rather than an issue to be solved with a meeting. “When I started this job, my biggest priority was continuity. I loved the magazine, and I wanted everybody to know that I would do everything I could to preserve what was special about it,” Haskell says. “But the last year and a half has shown me how much room there is for the magazine to evolve, especially in the areas of representation and inclusion. I think that’s the biggest opportunity I have to make a change in this place that leaves it better off than what I inherited.” Check out the rest of the 2021 Hot List here.

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'Creative and Gutsy': David Haskell Sets the Vision for New York Magazine

Adweek's Publishing Editor of the Year keeps an eye toward ambitious reporting and subscriptions

Mark Stenberg

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