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Peter Koechley | |
|---|---|
| Born | Peter Lennon Koechley |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, writer, editor |
| Known for | Co-founder of Upworthy and managing editor of The Onion |
Peter Lennon Koechley [1] is an American writer and internet entrepreneur. He was the managing editor of The Onion and co-founded Upworthy. [2] [3]
Koechley attended Madison West High School and graduated from Columbia University in 2003 with a double major in philosophy and creative writing. [4] [5] In 2005, he was profiled by Ezra Klein as the youngest staff writer for The Onion on Generation Progress. [6]
His association with The Onion began when he published his first article on the site at age 17 as a high school student in Madison, Wisconsin. [6] He also published a satirical newspaper on campus and sent articles to The Onion, eventually attracting the latter's attention. [7] Later, he began to work at the office of the publication and landed an internship during his senior year in high school as the site's first intern. [8] At Columbia, he also freelanced for the publication, publishing a total of 25 articles for which he received a payment of $20. [6] [5] He was hired out of college and became manager editor of the website at age 24. [6] [9] At The Onion, Koechley was responsible for creating the Onion News Network and gravitated towards tech content. [10]
Koechley joined MoveOn in 2009 to produce viral media content for the nonprofit group. [11] There he met Eli Pariser and the two began to develop a concept for a platform that generates viral content devoted to significant social issues, what they call "social media with a mission". [8] Their business plan appealed to Chris Hughes, who provided them with $500,000 in seed capital. [12] They also attracted seed capital from BuzzFeed co-founder John Seward Johnson III and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. [13]
In 2012, Koechley and Pariser launched Upworthy. [12] By the end of October 2012, it has attracted 8.7 million users, leading Business Insider to name it the fastest growing media company in the world. [13] [14]
In 2015, he apologized for Upworthy's out-sized success and pledged to change the algorithm, saying:"We sort of unleashed a monster. Sorry for that. Sorry we kind of broke the internet last year. I'm excited going forward to say goodbye to clickbait." [15] [16]
In 2017, Koechley announced his departure from Upworthy. [17] He has been working with Compass, Inc. founder Robert Reffkin, in writing the book No One Succeeds Alone: Learn Everything You Can from Everyone You Can, published in 2021. [18]
In 2021, Koechley joined The Our City PAC, a progressive political action committee supporting left-leaning mayoral and New York City Council candidates. [19] [20]
Koechley is born to Barbara E. Koechley and Robert H. Koechley in Madison, Wisconsin. His father is an executive with Promega Corporation and his mother is a teacher for the McFarland School District in McFarland, Wisconsin. In 2009, Koechley married Kristina Williams, also a Madison native. [1] The couple lives in Brooklyn. [9]
The Onion is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 29, 1988, in Madison, Wisconsin. The Onion began publishing online in early 1996. In 2007, they began publishing satirical news audio and video online as the Onion News Network. In 2013, The Onion ceased publishing its print edition and launched Onion Labs, an advertising agency.
The Daily Cardinal is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. One of the oldest student newspapers in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the university.
Eli Pariser is an author, activist, and entrepreneur. He has stated that his focus is "how to make technology and media serve democracy". He became executive director of MoveOn.org in 2004, where he helped pioneer the practice of online citizen engagement. He is the co-founder of Upworthy, a website for meaningful viral content, and Avaaz, a global citizen's organization. His bestselling book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You, introduced the term “filter bubble” to the lexicon. He is currently an Omidyar Fellow at New America and co-directs the Civic Signals project at the National Conference on Citizenship.
Madison West High School is a comprehensive four-year high school in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1930. Its athletics teams compete in the WIAA Big Eight Conference.
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John Harrison Nichols is a liberal and progressive American journalist and author. He is the National Affairs correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times. Books authored or co-authored by Nichols include The Genius of Impeachment and The Death and Life of American Journalism.
Upworthy is a left leaning storytelling website with a focus on positive aspects.
Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading. A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Clickbait headlines often add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered. The "-bait" suffix makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.
Mic is an American internet and media company based in New York City that caters to millennials.
ClickHole is a satirical website that parodies clickbait websites such as BuzzFeed and Upworthy. It was launched on June 12, 2014, in conjunction with The Onion's decision to stop its print edition and shift its focus exclusively to the internet. According to ClickHole's senior editor, Jermaine Affonso, the website is "The Onion's response to click-bait content" and serves as "a parody of online media". Critics noted that, on a deeper level, ClickHole illustrates the shallow nature of social media content and media sites' desperation to share such content.
A Plus is a digital media company based in New York City. The company produces original written, social, and video content, with a focus on positive journalism. The company states that it "strive[s] to deliver positive journalism to readers, with the intention of making a meaningful difference in the world by highlighting our common humanity, promoting personal growth, and inspiring social change."
SHE Media is an American digital media company. It operates the website properties BlogHer, SheKnows, STYLECASTER, and HelloFlo. It has been a brand of Penske Media Corporation since 2018.
Emilie A. Amundson is an American educator and government administrator. She is the current secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families in the cabinet of Governor Tony Evers. She previously served as Evers' chief of staff when he was the state's Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Distractify is an online publication and Internet media company launched in 2013 by Quinn Hu, Yosef Lerner, and Jake Heppner. The company started as a social media startup for viral content and later branched out into news about pop culture.
Robert L. Reffkin is an American entrepreneur who co-founded the online real estate brokerage Compass, Inc. and serves as the company's CEO.
Lang Fisher is an American comedy writer and director. She co-created and executive produced the Netflix coming-of-age comedy-drama series, Never Have I Ever.
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Jacob "Jake" Dobkin is an American journalist, blogger, author, and co-founder of Gothamist. He is currently a director of New York Public Radio.
Aaron Blanton is an American producer and director.