Why Journalists Are Leaving Big Media (with Maddy Myers)
4/20/202655 min
This week, Sam is joined by Maddy Myers, editor-in-chief of Mothership. She’s also a co-host of the video games podcast Triple Click. Maddy launched Mothership with co-founder Zoë Hannah in January. It’s a queer and women-owned independent publication that focuses on gender and games. They discuss Maddy’s early days of games journalism via a (print!) alt-weekly in Boston and then at the Mary Sue, how she and Zoë decided it was time to quit Polygon and launch their own indie outlet, and the importance of owning your own work as a journalist. Subscribe to Mothership Why I’m launching a feminist video games website in 2026 - The GuardianMothership and a History of Women in Games Media - the Post Games podcast YouTube Version: https://youtu.be/sQUqYKXW3fE Subscribe at 404media.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMaddy Myers· Guest0:00
After Polygon, I was like, "This has happened to me too many times. If I'm gonna do something like this again, I'm gonna do it on my own terms."
Sam Cole· Host0:06
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to the 404 Media podcast, where we bring you unparalleled access to hidden worlds, both online and IRL. 404 Media is a journalist-founded company and needs your support. To subscribe, go to 404media.co. As well as bonus content every single week, subscribers also get access to additional episodes where we respond to the best comments. And you also get early access to our interview series. That's this. Gain access to that content at 404media.co. Today, I'm joined by Maddie Myers, editor-in-chief of Mothership. She is also a co-host of the video games podcast, Triple Click. Maddie launched Mothership with co-founder Zoe Hanna in January. Uh, it's a queer- and women-owned independent publication that focuses on gender and games. Maddie, hi. Thank you for being here.
Maddy Myers· Guest0:53
Hi, I'm so excited to be here. Big 404 fam [laughs] as everyone should be.
Sam Cole· Host0:58
[laughs] Oh, my gosh. It goes both ways. I'm so excited to talk to you. I was so excited to see Mothership launch. I know it's only been a few months, which feels like years.
Maddy Myers· Guest1:06
It does, actually. [laughs] It feels like a thousand- In this life ... years in terms of- [laughs] ... the stresses of owning a small business- [laughs] ... and all that that entails. Uh, which it's, it's going great. [laughs] But I think psychologically it's been a big adjustment for me and for Zoe because, um, before this we actually worked together at Polygon. We were salaried women at Fox Media, but that obviously, uh, went awry when Polygon