History of The Daily Beast in Timeline

The Daily Beast is an American news and opinion website launched in 2008 and owned by IAC Inc. It provides coverage of politics, media, and pop culture, offering news reporting and commentary on current events and trending topics. The Daily Beast aims to deliver engaging and provocative content across a variety of subjects to a broad online audience.

October 6, 2008: The Daily Beast Publishing Launch

On October 6, 2008, The Daily Beast officially began publishing. Tina Brown, previously an editor at Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and Talk magazine, was the founding editor. The site's name originated from a fictional newspaper featured in Evelyn Waugh's novel Scoop.

2008: The Daily Beast Founded

In 2008, The Daily Beast, an American news website focusing on politics, media, and pop culture, was founded. It is owned by IAC Inc.

September 2009: Beast Books Publishing Initiative Launched

In September 2009, The Daily Beast launched "Beast Books," a publishing initiative to produce books by Beast writers on an accelerated schedule. The first book published was John Avlon's Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America.

February 2010: Gerald Posner Plagiarism and Dismissal

In February 2010, Jack Shafer of Slate magazine reported that Gerald Posner, the chief investigative reporter for The Daily Beast, had plagiarized content from various sources. Posner was subsequently dismissed from The Daily Beast following an internal review.

2010: Merger with Newsweek

In 2010, The Daily Beast merged with Newsweek, forming The Newsweek Daily Beast Company.

January 2011: Publication of 'The Violence of Peace'

In January 2011, Beast Books published Stephen L. Carter's 'The Violence of Peace: America's Wars in the Age of Obama'.

March 2012: "Book Beast" Wins National Magazine Award

In March 2012, "Book Beast" won a National Magazine Award for Website Department, which "honors a department, channel or microsite".

2012: Website's Political Stance Described as Liberal Leaning

In 2012, GBH News described The Daily Beast's political stance as "liberal leaning."

2012: Webby Award and Online Column Award

In 2012, The Daily Beast won a Webby Award for "Best News Site", and John Avlon won the National Society of Newspaper Columnists' award for best online column for The Daily Beast.

September 2013: Merger Ends and Editor Departure

In September 2013, the merger between The Daily Beast and Newsweek concluded when IAC sold Newsweek to IBT Media. Additionally, Tina Brown stepped down as editor.

2013: Avlon's Leadership Start

In 2013, John Avlon's leadership as the Editor-in-Chief began.

2013: John Avlon Appointed Editor-in-Chief

In 2013, John Avlon, an American journalist, political commentator, and CNN contributor, became the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast.

2013: Webby Award for Best News Site

In 2013, The Daily Beast won a Webby Award for "Best News Site".

2013: Average Unique Monthly Visitors

In 2013, The Daily Beast's average unique monthly visitors were 13.5 million.

June 2014: Average Unique Monthly Visitors Increased

In early June 2014, Capital New York re-published a memo by outgoing CEO Rhona Murphy, stating that The Daily Beast's average unique monthly visitors increased from 13.5 million in 2013 to more than 17 million in 2014.

September 2014: Website Reached New Record of Unique Visitors

By September 2014, The Daily Beast reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors; it was a 60% year-over-year increase in readers, accompanied by a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.

September 2014: Record Unique Visitors

In September 2014, The Daily Beast reached a new record of 21 million unique visitors, marking a 60% increase year-over-year. The site also experienced a 300% increase in the overall size of its social media community.

2014: Mobile Majority and iOS App Release

In 2014, The Daily Beast saw a majority of its traffic coming from mobile devices and launched an iOS app, described by Nieman Lab as "the dawn of the quantified news reader".

2015: Awards Received by Nemstova and Daly

In 2015, Anna Nemstova received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women's Media Foundation. Also that year, Michael Daly won the National Society of Newspaper Columnists award in the category of Online, Blog, Multimedia – Over 100,000 Unique Visitors.

2015: Fastest-Growing News Site

In 2015, Ken Doctor of Nieman Lab reported that The Daily Beast was "one of the fastest-growing news and information sites year-over-year in the 'General News' category".

2015: Editorial Approach Described

In 2015, former editor-in-chief John Avlon described The Daily Beast's editorial approach as seeking out scoops, scandals, stories about secret worlds, and confronting bullies, bigots, and hypocrites.

August 11, 2016: Publication of Controversial Grindr Article

On August 11, 2016, The Daily Beast published an article by Nico Hines detailing his experiences using dating apps in the Olympic Village. The article was widely criticized for potentially exposing closeted gay athletes, leading to edits, an editor's note, removal of the article, and an apology.

2016: NLGJA Nominations for Teeman and Boerner

In 2016, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists or NLGJA nominated Tim Teeman as Journalist of the Year and Heather Boerner for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage.

2016: Los Angeles Press Club Nominations

In 2016, the Los Angeles Press Club nominated several of The Beast's writers, including M. L. Nestel, Brandy Zadrozny, Ben Collins, Malcolm Jones, Lizzie Crocker, Tim Teeman, Kevin Fallon, and Melissa Leon, for various categories.

March 2017: Hines Apology and Return Announcement

In March 2017, Nico Hines issued a formal apology for his actions related to the controversial article, and it was announced that he would be returning to The Daily Beast after a period of reflection.

March 2017: Mike Dyer Leaves for Intel

In March 2017, Mike Dyer, the former chief strategy and product officer of The Daily Beast, left the company to join Intel.

April 2017: Organization's Approach Discussed

In April 2017, John Avlon discussed The Daily Beast's approach on the Poynter Institute's podcast, stating that they would not toe any partisan line.

May 2017: Spencer Ackerman Joins The Daily Beast

In May 2017, Spencer Ackerman, a Pulitzer Prize–winning national security reporter, left The Guardian and joined The Daily Beast.

May 2017: Heather Dietrick Appointed President and Publisher

In May 2017, Heather Dietrick was appointed as the president and publisher of The Daily Beast.

June 2017: Sam Stein Joins The Daily Beast

In June 2017, Sam Stein, HuffPost's senior political editor, announced he was joining The Daily Beast in the same capacity.

December 2017: Reporters Paired to Cover White House Stories

In December 2017, NPR reported that John Avlon, The Daily Beast's editor-in-chief, had begun pairing reporters from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum to cover White House stories. Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markay were tasked with covering the first Trump administration.

2017: NLGJA Awards for Michaelson and Teeman

In 2017, NLGJA awarded Jay Michaelson for his coverage of GOP anti-LGBT legislation and Tim Teeman for reporting on ALS.

2017: Awards Won and Announced

In 2017, The Daily Beast won three New York Press Club Journalism Awards in the internet publishing categories. In December, the Los Angeles Press Club's National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards announced that The Daily Beast had won 4 awards for 2017 reporting.

April 2018: Political Stance Described

In an April 2018 interview, John Avlon described The Daily Beast's political stance as "non-partisan but not neutral," meaning they would critique both sides when necessary without seeking moral equivalence on every issue.

May 2018: Avlon Departs and Shachtman Succeeds

In May 2018, John Avlon left The Daily Beast to become a full-time Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN. He was succeeded by executive editor Noah Shachtman.

2018: Traffic Doubled and Awards Won During Avlon's Leadership

During John Avlon's leadership from 2013 to 2018, The Daily Beast doubled its traffic to 1.1 million readers a day and won over 17 awards for journalistic excellence. Harvard University estimated that the website of The Daily Beast is visited by 33.83 million users every month.

2018: Media Critic's Assessment and Editor-in-Chief's Characterization

In 2018, Erik Wemple of The Washington Post praised The Daily Beast for its impressive operation, noting its ability to break stories and avoid following the pack. Later in 2018, editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman described The Daily Beast as a "high-end tabloid" embracing gonzo journalism.

2018: John Avlon's Departure

In 2018, John Avlon departed from his position as editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast.

2018: Editor-in-Chief Characterization and Editorial Approach

In 2018, Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief, characterized The Daily Beast as a "high-end tabloid". Also in 2018, former editor-in-chief John Avlon described the Beast's "strike zone" as "politics, pop culture, and power".

2018: Social Media Policy for Journalists

In 2018, The Daily Beast's social media policy for journalists, as outlined by Noah Shachtman, consisted of three main rules: reporters should not be openly partisan, hate speech and offensive posts should be avoided, and reporters should not get their colleagues in trouble.

2018: Awarded Best Email Newsletter

In 2018, the trade magazine Digiday awarded The Daily Beast's Cheat Sheet for best email newsletter.

June 2, 2019: Shachtman Defends Article

On June 2, 2019, Noah Shachtman defended The Daily Beast's article identifying the creator of the fake Nancy Pelosi video on CNN's Reliable Sources, arguing that the video's reach to high-level figures justified identifying the creator.

June 3, 2019: Brooks' Response and Legal Action

On June 3, 2019, Shawn Brooks denied creating the fake video of Nancy Pelosi, blamed a "female admin," and announced his intention to sue The Daily Beast and Kevin Poulsen. He also created a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal costs.

June 2019: Accusation of Doxing Trump Supporter

In June 2019, Kevin Poulsen, a reporter for The Daily Beast, was accused of doxing Shawn Brooks, a Trump supporter, by revealing his identity as the alleged creator and disseminator of a fake video of Nancy Pelosi.

July 2021: Shachtman Moves to Rolling Stone and Connor Succeeds

In July 2021, Noah Shachtman announced his departure from The Daily Beast to join Rolling Stone, with Tracy Connor succeeding him.

2021: Noah Shachtman's Tenure Ends

In 2021, Noah Shachtman's tenure as the site's editor-in-chief ended.

January 2023: Possible Sale Considered

In January 2023, The New York Times reported that Barry Diller, the chairman of IAC, was considering a sale of The Daily Beast.

June 2023: Sale Talks End

In June 2023, Barry Diller publicly announced that he had ended talks to sell The Daily Beast, stating that it is "not for sale."

April 2024: New Appointments and Buyouts Offered

In April 2024, Ben Sherwood was hired as chief executive and publisher of The Daily Beast, and Joanna Coles was appointed as chief creative and content officer. In May, voluntary buyouts were offered to employees to cut costs, with approximately 70% of unionized workers, including most senior staffers, accepting the offer.