Vox

Vox was built on the bet that media did too little explanation. Ezra Klein co-founded Vox in 2014 around the idea that the media did too little explanatory journalism, and it helped start the era of online explainers. Its explainer videos were hugely popular.

Klein says that even when he doubted himself as an editor, he trusted this core idea.

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Explainers were copied fast, giving Vox influence but not a moat. Every other organization copied the explainer format, which gave Vox influence over the profession while removing what set it apart.

Klein says Vox did not run out of ideas. Its problem was that it could not keep hiring as fast as others poached its people.

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An ad-funded model can't keep paying talent, so quality degrades. Digital media depended on advertising and the hope that big audiences would turn into money, but the platforms took the money, so "print dollars became digital dimes." Vox's business model could not pay to keep its talent.

Klein's conclusion: "If you can't keep paying the talent over time, you will degrade."

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An editor who doesn't trust his taste leaves the team guessing. Klein says his editorial judgment at Vox was good but he did not trust it. He looked for outside validation, such as a story popping or other media covering it, and wishes he had said no far more often.

When an editor isn't confident, others can't tell what he wants from them. He now believes that if he really feels something, it is likely right, even if it seems weird. Quote: "part of taste is not always its development but your faith in it."

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At Vox, Klein had to cover whatever the institution needed. At Vox his work mattered to the company, so he covered whatever was needed that day. At the New York Times he lets most pitches pass and does only what he expects to do best, which he says raises his hit rate.

Quote: "Now the organization is supporting me, I don't have to support the organization."

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Klein made the product himself and never felt managing was real work. At Vox he wrote two to three pieces a week and also made The Weeds and The Ezra Klein Show. Meetings never felt like a day of work to him.

His wife told him it would not work unless he felt managing was a day of work. For him, real work is reporting, writing and podcasting, which is why he says he is not cut out to mainly be a manager long term.

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Vox's video team was a loose lab: strict on facts, open on style. Johnny Harris describes the video team as a "wild west petri dish" that taught him to be factual and rigorous while leaving style open to experiment. He left when the team centralized.

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Vox pioneered the friendly voice plus visuals explainer style. Harris credits Vox with pioneering video that pairs a friendly narrating voice with visuals, as in its minimalist interview with Obama.

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