Shonda Rhimes launches digital publishing platform with Hearst
Shonda Rhimes is teaming up with Hearst Magazines Digital Media to create Shondaland.com.
Shonda Rhimes is teaming up with Hearst Magazines Digital Media to create Shondaland.com.
The site will collect essays, videos, articles, and other media from Rhimes’ production team, using Hearst’s resources to push its platform to build its brand and offer publishing services.
“This was a logical continuation of what we’ve been doing for a long time,” Troy Young, global president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, told Adweek. “We’re enhancing leadership in the female space with another distinguished title.”
–Shonda Rhimes signs major multi-year deal with Netflix–
“We’re dedicated to finding ways of bringing new voices, that are honest and candid, to a big audience,” Young added. “We want the magic of a strong community.”
Young pointed to the history of zines, self-published and DIY magazines for small and specific audiences.
“That’s what modern media should be,” said Young. “Publishing should connect a passionate group of people, and we’re excited to see this birth of a new publishing brand based in a real point-of-view and a community.”
As for Rhimes, she wants the site to be a place for people to feel like they belong even as they “are looking to be inspired, to feel empowered and to feel like they have a sense of community.”
“As a storyteller, I am excited to have another platform to tell all kinds of stories,” Rhimes told Adweek. “We are all about cultivating quality stories, not trending topics. This is about real people with real lives.”
