By Abdulla Gaafarelkhalifa
For the last decade, Patheos, a multifaith media platform that hosts commentary from writers of different religions and the religiously unaffiliated, has been going in a concerning direction. According to departing bloggers and their manager, Dale McGowan, the nonreligious channel has been steered away from criticizing religion.
Fifteen bloggers left the site in the last days of 2021, including Hemant Mehta of the Friendly Atheist. He stated “The writing on the wall was that unless you’re prepared to say nice things about religion you need to find a new outlet.”
Adam Lee, who wrote the “Daylight Atheism” blog for Patheos, said, “What they were asking of us was not compatible with the editorial tone we had taken until then.” He added “Many of us felt this would require an editorial shift to such an extent as to make our blogs unrecognizable.” If one were to visit the nonreligious channel today, it's considerably more spacious than it used to be.
Everyone who left Patheos can now be found at OnlySky, where Dale McGowan will be their new editor and chief. The site will launch sometime this month.
Patheos is owned by BN Media, which created a new umbrella organization called Radian last year. It includes Patheos, the lifestyle site Beliefnet, and other wellness and spirituality platforms with a mission to help people “live their most fulfilled lives.”
Once a vigorous journalistic site, Beliefnet underwent a similar transformation after it was twice acquired, first by the Fox Entertainment Group in 2007 and then BN Media, where it became an inspirational site focusing on spirituality, health, and wellness.
“There aren’t any media outlets that cater specifically to atheists,” Mehta said. “All the other atheist specific blogging networks are run by volunteers and people who are passionate about the subject but don’t do business-savvy anything, so they falter and die. This one has digital expertise.”
Atheist Republic is, of course, an exception when it comes to digital expertise. If you want to donate to us to become more “business-savvy,” as Mehta says, please donate here at your convenience.
