January 2015 and December 2014
A round-up of some of the best things that happened in the last two months
Medium news
We’re hiring in outreach and partnerships in entertainment and business.
Entertainment
Shonda Rhimes published her memorable speech from The Hollywood Reporter’s Power Woman breakfast.
The producers of EMPIRE created a publication, Empire: Behind the Music, to showcase the world behind the TV show.
Elton John published an op-ed in honor of World AIDS Day.
Patrick Stewart wrote a moving meditation on time and choice to promote his film Match.
YouTube star Hank Green wrote about how he and other YT personalities interviewed the president.
Other notable contributions
President Obama broke the traditional embargo and published his State of the Union address prior to delivering it. (White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer has also published several pieces.)
Mitt Romney was the first 2016 presidential (non)candidate to use the platform, to announce the news that he wasn’t running.
Malala Yousafzai put her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on Medium.
Sports publication The Cauldron nabbed provocative pieces by NFL players Cleveland Brown Josh Gordon, Detroit Lion Golden Tate, and Carolina Panther DeAngelo Williams; and NBA player Sacramento King Royce White.
In War Is Boring, Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen wrote about “the triumph of the military-industrial-Congressional complex.”
Financial Times reporter John Gapper promoted his new novel with an op-ed about the difficulty of writing about China.
New York Times reporter Ian Urbina used the platform to solicit stories about passwords, about which he’d written for the Magazine.
Benchmark VC Bill Gurley assessed UberPool, while Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon announced a few of the firm’s investments.
Agent Emma Parry took a digital detox.
Jeff Jarvis published the entirety of his new book, Geeks Bearing Gifts, about the future of news.
Medium publications
Our flagship publication, Matter, was nominated for two ASMEs and published a short story by Americanah author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Doc Searls and David Weinberger unveiled a new Cluetrain Manifesto in Backchannel.
Cuepoint published a story on “country comedy” by foremost Americana/roots writer Barry Mazor.
Partnerships and publications
We executed partnerships with the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and TED Fellows, creating publications with both.
First Look Media’s Reported.ly started a publication to deliver global news, while organizations like Global Health Corps and Transparency International set up shop.
We produced more sponsored publications, like Gone, for Marriott, and posts, for Motorola and Intel.
And we launched a video series, Foreword, featuring interviews of authors like Mary Roach, Jason Segel, Margaret Atwood, and B.J. Novak by Kelly Corrigan.
