Joe Ragazzo

Based in New York, NY

Org Talking Points Memo (TPM Media LLC)

Role Publisher

Notable work and positions

Talking Points Memo (TPM) — Publisher
Debtwire (Financial Times Group) — Former commercial real estate reporter
Bloomberg News — Former bonds/foreign currencies intern
The Post (Ohio University) — Former Editor-in-Chief

Biography

Joe Ragazzo is the publisher of Talking Points Memo (TPM), overseeing the outlet's design, product and revenue operations out of its New York City office. He graduated from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism with degrees in journalism and philosophy, and served as editor-in-chief of The Post, the university's independent student newspaper, during his time there. Before moving into publishing, Ragazzo worked as a journalist: he interned in bonds and foreign currencies at Bloomberg News, then covered commercial real estate for Debtwire, a unit of the Financial Times Group.

Ragazzo joined TPM on January 7, 2013, brought on to rebuild the company's advertising revenue during a period of financial retrenchment that founder Josh Marshall has since called one of the most difficult stretches in TPM's history. Starting as an assistant, he rose through the company's business side over the following years — as associate publisher and then deputy publisher, overseeing development, design and sales — before being named publisher, the role in which he now oversees TPM's entire business operation. Ragazzo helped steer the organization's shift from advertising-dependent revenue toward TPM Prime, its reader-membership program launched in 2015; TPM's paying membership grew from roughly 3,500 when he joined in 2013 to more than 35,000 by 2020, a shift that today supplies more than 91 percent of the organization's income.

Ragazzo co-hosts The TPM Social Club, a podcast with TPM investigations reporter Josh Kovensky, and writes periodically for TPM's Editors' Blog, including a first-person account of the company's business history for its 20th-anniversary retrospective in 2020. He also writes Rhapsody, a personal newsletter on Substack about happiness and meaning.

Career highlights

1. TPM's financial turnaround, 2013–2014 Joined TPM on Jan. 7, 2013, amid a company-wide retrenchment, and helped rebuild its programmatic and direct-sale advertising revenue; by 2014, TPM reached what was then a company high in revenue and profitability.

2. Launch and growth of TPM Prime, 2015–2020 Helped lead TPM's pivot to a reader-membership model, which more than doubled membership revenue in its first year; paying membership grew from about 3,500 in 2013 to more than 35,000 by 2020.

3. Named Publisher of TPM, 2020 Advanced from assistant to associate publisher to deputy publisher before being named Publisher, taking responsibility for TPM's design, product and revenue operations company-wide.