Starbucks Is Developing A Media Company That Will Focus On 'Social-Impact Content'

Starbucks is launching a media startup, and has already hired Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a prominent Washington Post journalist and former Baghdad bureau chief to help produce content. Chandrasekaran announced the new venture on Twitter:

Big personal news: I'm leaving @washingtonpost to form a media co that will create and produce social-impact content w/ @Starbucks

— Rajiv Chandrasekaran (@rajivscribe) February 26, 2015

"This is not going to be PR or marketing work," Chandrasekaran told the Columbia Journalism Review.

"This is Starbucks and Howard Schultz recognizing the power of storytelling and wanting to help contribute to the national understanding around a set of key issues."

According to the Seattle Times, Starbucks will not directly invest in the company, but will collaborate with the company on specific projects.

The venture will be based in Seattle, and will begin shortly after Chandrasekaran leaves his position at the Post.

Initially, the venture will focus on what Chandrasekaran called "social-impact content," beginning with documentaries focusing on veterans' issues. 

"This felt, to me, like a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he told the Columbia Journalism Review. 

 

This article was originally published February 27, 2015.