First Look Media to Launch With Snowden-Themed Online Magazine

By Tom McCarthy, Guardian UK

07 February 14

New journalism outlet funded by Pierre Omidyar will start publishing next week, as company announced new hires

irst Look Media, a new journalism outlet funded by Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay, will begin publishing an online magazine next week, according to a statement released Thursday.

The first stories will be based on classified government documents obtained by Edward Snowden, the statement said.

The publication will be led by Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras – journalists who have worked directly with Snowden – and by Jeremy Scahill, the investigative journalist and co-author of the film Dirty Wars. Greenwald broke the first revelations based on Snowden's documents when he worked at the Guardian.

First Look plans to publish a "family of new digital magazines," the company said, "each with its own editorial voice, its own look and feel.

The organization also announced a spate of new hires on Thursday, including Marcy Wheeler, the national security journalist who writes the emptywheel blog; Peter Maass, the investigative journalist; Scottish journalist Ryan Gallagher. Andy Carvin, the social media innovator formerly of National Public Radio, announced earlier this week that he was joining First Look.

The company said it would launch its flagship general-interest website later this year.