How to (very softly) launch a new media outlet in 2025: One month of hitting ESC
Each week, we deliver your TL;DR Briefing on the things worth tracking. This week we’re not doing that. Instead, we’re diving into the “why” behind the soft launch of ESC KEY .CO and the 32,140 words we’ve published so far. (We are, however, following the TL;DR template even though this is long.)
The thing is:
Omphaloskepsis derives from the ancient Greek words omphalós, or navel, and sképsis — viewing, examining and, yes, gazing. In contemporary vernacular, we use the phrase navel gazing to refer to the kind of self-serving, narcissistic fixation on oneself. But the act of literally gazing at one’s umbilical region has rich roots in spiritual and philosophical traditions the world over. “Why bore us with etymology right now, JD?! This is supposed to be a TL;DR Briefing!!” Well, if you’re asking that, you might’ve scanned past the summary at the top of this post: We’re one month into the soft launch of ESC KEY .CO. And, of course, we’re about to get a little louder.
Ergo, the thing this time is a behind the scenes look at the glamorous #GirlBoss lifestyle of our Chief Editorial Officer (which, OK, yeah, that’s a bit hyperbolic since this is an unglamorous team of one). As CEO, 99 percent of my time will be dedicated to a signature blend of long-form analysis and short-form TL:DR Briefings to break it down. (And, well, consulting.)
To that end, we’ve published 32,140 words on the site since day one, not counting this post (5,469 of those words were published before the soft launch officially commenced with the weekly newsletter).
But roughly one percent of the time, I’ll bring you behind the scenes as I bootstrap a new independent media venture in the year of our lord 2025. BTS @ ESC, if you will. And so today, I’m attempting the more philosophical kind of omphaloskepsis — some navel gazing about what I’m hoping to achieve with you all and how things are going after publishing enough words to fill a silly novella.
The thing about that is:
“How dare you launch yet another newsletter, you swollen pufferfish?!” is not one of the questions that journalist, and friend whose wedding I emceed, Britany Robinson asked me when she profiled me for her excellent newsletter, Wild Writing.
But in the profile she ran about my personal take on the state of lifestyle media, she naturally posed a few questions that put me on the spot for the first time about the “why.” Here’s her question and my answer:
Robinson: Oof. I really need to work on the screen limit thing. [We’d just talked about the burnout that comes with having to maintain a “personal brand” online when you’d rather snail-mail revisions in manila envelopes back to magazine editors and call it a day.] OK, tell us about ESC KEY .CO!
Shadel: ESC KEY .CO is a new media outlet and editorial consultancy that I, an internet writer, started with the sense that the internet had, in fact, broken my brain.
Maybe that resonates with you? If so, I’ve quietly soft-launched it this month with what I’m only half-jokingly describing as “the only lifestyle newsletter on the internet.” It’s a subtle nod to The Stranger’s iconic tagline, but also because we’re living in an era where everything is somehow “lifestyle,” a writing label I once hated and now reclaiming because why the fuck not.
It’s intended for terminally online pros in the creative industries — like writers! — who feel like they can’t really escape the internet. It’s a blend of original reporting and analysis, always grounded in the very pragmatic stuff about the forces reshaping our lives and careers.
“Is it a tech newsletter? Is it a lifestyle newsletter? Can you pick one, silly little lizard?!” Robinson also did not ask me that question. But she did probe the weird turns in my career — from writing about dating app UX for Vice to tracking “overnomadism” for The Washington Post to the Future of Travel column for Condé Nast Traveler. When she asked how these seemingly divergent beats shaped my approach now, I couldn't resist channeling Whitman about containing multitudes. Because hey, that’s where things get interesting.
Where things get interesting:
Robinson: What makes now the right time to launch something like this?
Shadel: Three things. 1. Mainstream media has dwindling budgets for the kind of reporting that critically unpacks the hype. Lifestyle media, in particular, has hardly any venues for these conversations that go beyond surface-level trend pieces. I want to create a home for that kind of analysis and reporting.
2. Creative careers are increasingly on the chopping block, with synthetic media and “AI”-powered austerity threatening the very people who make culture worth consuming. We need space to parse these shifts without falling into either techno-optimism or complete despair.
And, 3., don't you kind of feel like you just want to hit the fucking escape key sometimes, philosophically speaking? The name, ESC, references that existential urge. It's also an acronym: Embrace Skeptical Curiosity. And in this weird era, we need that skeptical curiosity more than ever, I’d say.
Beyond the obvious fiscal realities of sustaining this kind of work in mainstream media, the other reason we’re here today is because lifestyle glossies have rarely ever had the appetite for this kind of coverage. Therefore, there are fewer and fewer venues for reporting and analysis that provokes the intellectual curiosity and a sense of wonder. And I’d argue we need to foster more of that curiosity and wonder to make it in these times.
We have not earned a victory lap yet, but this is the reason ESC KEY .CO aims to challenge the obvious even in our soft launch era. When we examine dating apps’ “AI” roadmaps, we’re not just covering product updates — we’re investigating platform culpability in our loneliness epidemic. When we profile scholars like Katherine Cross unpacking social media's false promises, we're connecting personal experiences to structural critique. And when newspapers parrot Sam Altman’s “virtual employee” hype, we see through the “AI” austerity and read ‘em with a drag competition judge’s precision. That's the why. And we're just getting started.
The thing to talk about over your next power lunch:
Every week over on Wild Writing, Robinson asks critical questions about showing up and doing the work in these times. She asked me this concluding one:
Robinson: There is so much fear and stress swirling around our writing careers these days. What are you feeling good and excited about when it comes to journalism and writing?
Shadel: Yep, it’s a super stressful time to work in the media. And yet, sometimes it’s these sociopolitical moments when we see the counterculture flourish in unexpected venues. I’m hoping the new wave of independent media can support some of this rebellious undercurrent and inspire more solidarity among creatives. It’s why I’d like to grow ESC KEY .CO into something that can platform other writing beyond my own. And I’m inspired by the many talented writers I’ve seen who are using the moment as the impetus to do their most challenging and original work.
If you look at Robinson’s question to me and swap “writing” out for any kind of creative or knowledge work, I suspect it resonates.
You could spend a luxuriously long lunch answering that question. Because there is so much fear and stress swirling around right now. Certainly, that’s why I was really extra and made the name for this new thing a trio of acronyms — yes, Embrace Skeptical Curiosity. Because we need to defy the anti-intellectualism of our times. But the KEY part is equally vital: Keep Enjoying Yourself. Because that’s, well, key. You can’t change the world doomscrolling — or without challenging obvious. Challenge Obvious is, after all, what the .CO stands for. (Sadly, ESC KEY .COM was not available.)
And another long thing to read:
Wow, if you’ve still got an appetite for some more omphaloskepsis, then I had even more to say in response to Robinson’s questions over on Wild Writing:
Britany Robinson
