Why a former New York Times editor launched her own women-focused magazine

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Francesca Donner has had a somewhat unusual journalism career in that she never aspired to be a reporter or have her own bylines; instead, she started out her career as an editor and rose through the ranks of places like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. But though she wielded some influence at these publishers, she was always frustrated by the lack of female viewpoints, both in terms of who was writing the articles and who was being interviewed for them. So in 2022, she launched the Persistent, a sort of online magazine that's written entirely by women.

In a recent interview, Francesca talked about her experience working in mainstream media, how she's trying to build an interactive community with the Persistent, and why she's been hesitant to lock content behind a paywall.