🔎 CNN's Future; WSJ Legal Threats; Breaker in London

Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!

In tonight’s edition, we come to you from across the pond at Truth Tellers, The Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit.  

Breaker has been in London this week and spoke on a panel titled ”Journalism on a Credit Card” alongside the BBC’s Katie Razzall and Jim Waterson from London Centric. We hashed out the highs and lows of stepping away from legacy media to create our own independent media brand, and you can watch that conversation below.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour addressed her concerns about David Ellison's potential takeover of CNN and Emma Tucker, discussed the heightened legal threats editors face in light of the Journal’s Epstein reporting. 

Also tonight, NBC News boss Rebecca Blumenstein tells us about her upcoming book, and the New York Times masthead appears to be wearing thin on the drawn-out negotiations with the Guild over a new contract.

Finally, it’s Thursday, which means Journo Jobs is back, and tonight we have gigs at: The New Yorker, WSJ Pro, Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Information, and Business Insider

Mentioned tonight: David Zaslav, Tina Brown, Rebecca Blumenstein, Carolyn Ryan, Marc Lacey, David McGraw, David Ellison, Patrick Radden Keefe, Emma Tucker, Christiane Amanpour, Katharine Viner, Emily Maitlis, Jim Waterson, Katie Razzall, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Sir David Attenborough, Hanne Winarsky, Hamish McKenzie, Josh D’Amaro, Daniel Thomas, Garrett Haake, Karoline Leavitt, Mathias Döpfner, Natalie Korach, Charlotte Tobitt, Justin Baragona, Bari Weiss, Mark Stenberg, James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch, and more.

At the fourth annual Sir Harry Evans Truth Tellers Summit in London this week, Breaker graced the stage for a panel about independent journalism, in front of hundreds of journalists, editors, and media executives.

On the panel, moderated by BBC media editor Katie Razzall, aptly titled “Journalism on a Credit Card,” Breaker was joined by London Centric founder and editor Jim Waterson. We compared notes on a topic we both know well — building independent media businesses from scratch.

“I did not take outside funding,” Breaker told the crowd, explaining how we used what had been my New York apartment as a down payment to fund the launch of Breaker Media. 

“There were the first four months — and no joke — I was waking up in the middle of the night spewing my guts up with stress because I was worried I was going to lose my life savings.”

Waterson, the former media editor at The Guardian who left after taking a voluntary redundancy, described a similarly terrifying transition into independent journalism.

“The Guardian was the only place I ever wanted to work,” Waterson said. “But then … I thought I’d give myself six months. I’d see if I could build something on my own.”

And the gamble is paying off. Waterson said London Centric now has 5,000 paying subscribers and enough revenue to support two additional staff members. But he emphasized the emotional volatility of the subscription business, “You live and die by whether your paid subscribers are going up,” he said. “The fear that they’re just going to sort of walk away from you is brutal.”

The pair also argued — with a shoutout to Breaker’s scoops on Rupert Murdoch’s 95th and David Ellison’s WHCD party — that independent journos are increasingly competing directly with major outlets on big stories because sources actually want to help startup media. 

Catch more in this week's episode of The Breaker Pod. Make sure you check us out and subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods.