Two new Hollywood newsletters are betting they've got the town covered
LOS ANGELES — It was June 2020, weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, sparking Black Lives Matter protests around the world and a widescale conversation about race.
In Hollywood, power players pledged support, money and change. Richard Rushfield, a veteran entertainment journalist, took note. Then he took aim, posting screenshots of the mostly white executives of nearly every studio, network and streamer under the headline "Class Photos" in his industry newsletter, the Ankler.
It was the kind of bold, no-holds-barred take that Rushfield set out to deliver when he launched the Ankler in 2017. Intended as a wry alternative to the soft touch and frequent gladhanding of the Hollywood trades, it began as an email Rushfield sent to his friends.
The self-described "newsletter Hollywood loves to hate and hates to love" soon garnered attention as a buzzy voice in a fast-changing industry; it recently moved to the digital newsletter platform Substack, a player in the growing inbox subscription journalism game.
In December Janice Min, the high-profile media executive who had successfully revamped the Hollywood Reporter after joining it in 2010, announced that she had partnered with Rushfield, becoming the Ankler's co-owner, chief executive and editor-in-chief.
In June, they picked up from startup accelerator Y Combinator and other investors, including Richard
