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The social publisher NowThis, whose trending news and entertainment videos often go viral on social platforms, has hired media veteran Sharon Mussalli as its chief executive officer—its first since the title was spun off from Vox Media in April.
The newly independent publisher is now owned by Accelerate Change, a nonprofit media company whose portfolio includes titles like Push Black and Pulso and aims to increase civic engagement among underrepresented groups.
“Looking forward for NowThis, the new ownership structure allows it to have a degree of latitude that it didn’t have before,” Mussalli said. “I’m excited to be part of a company with such a strong focus on mission and identity.”
Vox Media, which acquired NowThis as part of its 2021 purchase of Group Nine Media, has retained a minority ownership stake in the publisher. It also sells, produces and executes advertising campaigns for the news brand.
The 70-person NowThis newsroom is composed almost entirely of editorial and operational staff, and it generates the vast majority of its eight-figure revenue from advertising.
The for-profit publisher also makes money by working with grant-funded organizations to craft and deliver messaging on key topics, such as climate change and reproductive health. The publisher declined to provide financial specifics or comment on its profitability.
Mussalli joins NowThis following a series of commercial leadership positions in the media and technology industries, including stints at Bustle Digital Group, Some Spider Studios, Facebook and iHeartMedia. Most recently she founded and led XtraCrisp, a sales representative firm, which she will remain involved in as chairwoman.
Under her leadership, NowThis will seek to navigate a media ecosystem whose monetization and readership landscape have changed dramatically since the publisher first launched in 2012. According to Mussalli, the publisher plans to pivot its content strategy in two key ways in hopes of capitalizing on advertising demand ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Leaning into franchises and creators
NowThis rose to prominence over the last decade by creating content—often videos—designed for distribution on platforms like Facebook.
But that strategy has fallen out of favor in recent years, as social media companies and search engines have limited the visibility of news content and throttled referral traffic. The shift has left former bastions of the scale era, such as BuzzFeed Inc. and Vice Media, in commercial and editorial straits.
