So, once-indie Brooklyn Magazine is now part of Nets owner Tsai's BSE Global, which plans a larger media enterprise to champion/amplify Brooklyn.

Nearly twelve years ago, I wrote A Brand Called Brooklyn for The Brooklyn Rail, a publication that, with the departure of co-founder Theodore Hamm in 2013, would no longer publish tough coverage of Brooklyn issues.

With the advent of the Barclays Center, I wrote, developer and arena operator Forest City was doing its best to "exploit [Brooklyn's]s reputation as a world-class destination."

Well, the current arena operator, BSE Global, is now doing more. After all, the acronym comes from "Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment."

Notably, the formerly-indie Brooklyn Magazine--mostly a web presence, plus a good podcast--has joined BSE Global, the holding company owned by Joe Tsai (and the Julia Koch family) that includes the Brooklyn Nets, New York Liberty, and Barclays Center operating company.

It's apparently part of a larger effort to grow an enterprise called Brooklyn Media, focusing on "sports, music, fashion and sneakers, and food," as embodied by Brooklyn. Stay tuned.

Screenshot of Brooklyn Magazine home page July 18

BKMag goals

In its most recent print issue, Fall/Winter 2023, Editor-in-Chief Brian Braiker described Brooklyn Magazine as "a small, independent media outlet that aims to celebrate, uplift and explore all corners of this vast and diverse borough." It's punched above its weight, given a willingness to go beyond hipster Brooklyn.

Its website says it "explores New York’s most populous borough through the lens of culture, community, commerce, arts and leisure." So the emerging Brooklyn Media would build on the publication's solid, if generally upbeat, coverage. 

It's surely advertiser-friendly, though, as stated regarding the most recent print issue, not advertiser-driven. There's no investigative journalism, but occasional pointed pieces on subjects like congestion pricing or Israeli Jazz Musicians Grapple With Antisemitism (a framing that some criticized).

Its media deck also touts the ability to partner with brands on sponsored content aimed at an audience skewed to "young, creative, mission-driven leaders," citing examples from GrubHub, the real estate firm Prevu, and the investment platform Stash.

Regarding Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, I've cited an advertisement for Brooklyn Crossing (18 Sixth Ave., aka B4) and sponsored content for 595 Dean Street (aka B12/B13).

Expanding the mailing list

Emerging evidence

Before July 12, emails from Brooklyn Magazine, which was purchased and relaunched in December 2020 (more on that below), came from hello@bkmag.com. Starting July 12, emails have been sent from email@info.bseglobal.net.

In a credit line, BSE Global stated, "You are receiving this email message because your email address was used for a ticket purchase or you signed up via our website." 

In other words, BSE Global's very large mailing list has now extends Brooklyn Magazine's reach--and readers of the publication who don't subscribe to BSE Global emails now have that option. (See screenshot at right.)

While it's not (yet) mentioned on BSE Global's website as a BSE Global brand, a page on privacy choices states that the BSE Family includes numerous entities, including Brooklyn Magazine, and links back to the publication.

Brooklyn Magazine history

As summarized by Wikipedia, Brooklyn Magazine was founded by Northside Media Group (which published the weekly L Magazine), with quarterly print publication launched in Spring 2011. By 2018, however, it was struggling, with writers unpaid.

Then it was relaunched. As the Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 8, 2020:

Political marketing veteran Michael Bassik has left the advertising holding company MDC Partners Inc. to relaunch Brooklyn Magazine and start a flurry of other ventures, including a flavored sprinkle brand and a health-data firm.

In May, Mr. Bassik teamed up with former Ad Age editor Brian Braiker to purchase the archives, trademark and membership database for Brooklyn Magazine, a quarterly print publication that shut down about two years ago, for an undisclosed sum. Mr. Braiker will serve as co-owner and editor in chief.

In an inaugural essay Dec. 7, 2020, Why Brooklyn Needs a New Brooklyn Magazine, Brooklyn resident Steven Waldman, a leading national proponent for local journalism as co-founder of Report for America, expressed enthusiasm for the relaunch, stating:

Will Brooklyn be able to navigate this period? It will depend in part on whether we break out of our Brooklyn bubbles—not just neighborhoods but socioeconomic bubbles–and come to really understand all of the people the borough.

Note: they bought the archives, but didn't transfer the comments. (Maybe there's a liability issue, but Brooklyn Magazine doesn't enable comments.) See this excellent 2016 article, The Rise and Fall of Smith Street, with comments (via the Internet Archive), and the current incarnation.

The relaunched Brooklyn Magazine's first print issue was Fall 2021, followed by four issues in 2022 and two in 2023. Putting out a print magazine with a small staff can be a logistical and financial challenge.

Partnership on movie nights

On May 15, TimeOut NY reported on Paramount+ movie nights this summer at four outdoor locations in Brooklyn, citing a "collaboration between Brooklyn Magazine, Paramount+ and BSE Global."

Note: while listings such as the Brooklyn Paper cite the hosts as Brooklyn Magazine, Paramount+, and BSE Global, Brooklyn Magazine's own page doesn't mention BSE Global among various partners and sponsors. (Maybe because of the implied overlap?)

The absorption was surely in the works by May 15. Brooklyn Magazine's privacy policy, last updated June 7, cites "Brooklyn Media Enterprises, LLC, a BSE company," calling BSE "an entertainment platform comprised of venues, professional sports franchises, and emerging businesses." (Its previous privacy policy cited Brooklyn Magazine LLC.)

Growing Brooklyn Media

Brooklyn Magazine lists only one editorial staffer, Braiker, though various others contribute. BSE Global was recently advertising for a Managing Editor, Brooklyn Media:

BSE is developing a modern media company that champions the spirit and demeanour [sic] of Brooklyn and amplifies it to the world. Rooted in digital storytelling across all channels and formats, we will cultivate a highly-engaged global audience by reaffirming the connective threads that tie sports, music, fashion and sneakers, and food not just to Brooklyn geographically, but in how they’re embedded into its DNA.

So it makes sense to use Brooklyn Magazine, already active in those areas, as a jumping off point.

The job implies a growing project:

BSE is seeking an expert newsroom leader to help craft and implement its editorial coverage and supervise its daily operations. Working closely with the VP, Content Strategy on defining and implementing editorial strategy, including programming the calendar and tentpoles, the Managing Editor will help manage a team of freelance editors and writers covering music, sports, fashion and style, and food through a range of editorial formats.

The salary range, $116,000-$135,000, looks pretty good.

What's next?

So it's unclear what they have in mind, since there's been no announcement. But it's not unreasonable for BSE Global to want to extend its brand to become a bigger media presence both in Brooklyn and about Brooklyn in the larger world.

Why didn't I ask them? Well, BSE Global never gets back to me quickly, and this is the kind of enterprise where they likely have an announcement prepared but not released. I'll update when I know more.

(Note: I pitched Brooklyn Magazine once re a non-Atlantic Yards topic and got a cordial rejection. No hard feelings. But I don't expect them to publish an essay on, say, why Joe Tsai doesn't deserve Ticketmaster Plaza for free.)

Renaming Brooklyn "BSE"?

For now, let's recall a song.

“It makes me mad / and it’s such a pity / they’re trying to rename Brooklyn / “Forest City,” lamented roots rocker John Pinamonti in his fight song/elegy “The Burrow,” performed in 2007 at Freddy’s Bar & Backroom in Prospect Heights, the clubhouse of the Atlantic Yards resistance.

Well, "Forest City" and "BSE" sort of rhyme.