COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW – 13/05/2020
Jon Allsop
WHAT DO THE SEATTLE TIMES, Axios, and the National Enquirer have in common? They didn’t all win a Pulitzer recently; rather, they’re all among the “small businesses” eligible to apply for financial assistance under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program. The Seattle Times, which is independently owned, received a loan of $9.9 million, just under the program’s upper limit of $10 million. American Media Inc., the Enquirer’s parent company, reportedly asked for a loan between $5 million and $6 million; it’s not yet clear if its application was successful. (Not all AMI staffers welcomed the move; one told the Daily Beast that it’d be “sickening” if the loan is granted, given AMI’s incestuous relationship with President Trump.) Axios, for its part, received around $5 million, but decided to return the money. Jim VandeHei, its co-founder and CEO, wrote that PPP had become “politically polarized” and “divisive,” and that he had faced “public backlash” for taking advantage of it—because Axios is a media company, and because it’s venture-funded. VandeHei said the site found funding from an alternative source instead.