Online news site The Messenger shuts down after less than a year

Ambitious online news site The Messenger has abruptly shut down after only eight months in operation. Founder Jimmy Finkelstein sent an email to stunned employees Wednesday night announcing the immediate shutdown. The outlet had billed itself as a nonpartisan digital outlet and spent some $50 million ratcheting up its business effort. Some 300 journalists and other workers are now being let go. Finkelstein cited “economic headwinds” and a failure to raise more capital for the immediate closure. The Messenger’s collapse follows large-scale layoffs by once-powerful and influential outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and Business Insider.