Odyssey (publication)
Type of site |
News Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Owner | Odyssey Media Group, Inc. |
| Key people |
Eoin Townsend (co-founder) |
| Website | theodysseyonline.com |
| Alexa rank |
 6379 (June 2017)[1] |
| Launched | July 16, 2010[2] (made public in 2014) |
Odyssey (also known as The Odyssey or The Odyssey Online) is an American internet media company that operates based on a crowdsourced model, receiving articles from a base of thousands of volunteer authors and edited through their teams of volunteer, outsourced, and professional content strategists.[3][4][5] The platform produces material covering virtually all major topics, including politics, sports, fashion, technology, business, science, and health, among others.[3]
Odyssey was co-founded by Evan Burns and Adrian France, two students from Indiana University, in 2014 under the Odyssey Media Group, Inc.[3][6][7] The platform's users consist mostly of university and college students in the age range of 18-28, and its viewers mostly come from each individual user's social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.[3][6]
History
Origins
In 2009, Evan Burns, executive chairman of Odyssey Media Group, Inc., started a print publication called The Odyssey at Indiana University with a focus on Greek life and campus issues not generally covered by the university’s official news publication.[6]
After initial success at Burns’ own university, Odyssey remained a print publication, but it expanded its reach to include chapters at other universities, including San Diego State University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama.[6]
Online transition and funding
In 2014, Odyssey was launched as an online publication.[3][6]
In 2015 and early 2016, Odyssey received funding from various sources, totaling over $33 million.[3][8]
In February 2017, Odyssey laid off 53 employees or 1/3 of their staff despite raising over $33 million in funding. Evan Burns, former CEO, was relieved of most major financial and management duties and was given the title executive chairman. Eoin Townsend now runs the company.
Business Overview
Odyssey is based on a top-down approach, with many writers instead of few, which is how many media companies are currently run.[8] Each user is required to apply in order to start writing articles, though there are few requirements for these authors, including a “unique perspective” and the ability to submit one piece per week.[3][6]
Odyssey is divided into communities, most of which are college and university campuses, though users are not required to attend as a student at those campuses. Instead, users who do not attend a college or university can write for the community which is located nearest to them.[6] Once a user has been approved, they can start posting content on the platform. Most pieces of content are reviewed in a three-tiered editing system, starting with volunteer editors, then moving on to an outsourced set of freelance copy editors, and finally back to a set of paid content strategists, hired by Odyssey.[3][6]
While users are not regularly paid, incentives for highly-viewed articles are given. The incentive is $20 for the author who had the highest number of views each week in their respective chapter.[6]
References
- ↑ "Theodysseyonline.com Site Overview". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
- ↑ "TheOdysseyOnline.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "A startup that just raised $25 million is like a college newspaper on steroids — and it’s racking up 30 million uniques a month". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- ↑ "Odyssey Media Group, Inc.: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- ↑ "Fast-growing local media firm lands $3 million in funding". Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "This Is Odyssey". Odyssey. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- ↑ Rooney, Jennifer. "Evan Burns, 27 - pg.3". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- 1 2 Dick, Gerry. "Odyssey Eyes 100 Million Users". Retrieved 2017-01-13.