First Paw Media

State of Mushing March 2024

Join Michele Forto, the editor and producer at First Paw Media as she shares an update on Mushing Magazine and the business decisions behind the changes in this challenging market.

First Paw Media Acquires Mushing Magazine

Tech entrepreneurs Robert and Michele Forto try to revive the Mushing Magazine brand with a membership offering the print magazine, and digital access to several Mushing media titles.  Robert Forto, an outdoor leadership consultant, dog musher, and technology entrepreneur, is on a mission to become a historian for the sport of dog sledding. At a moment when the print magazine industry is crumbling, the entrepreneur who has been in the creative media space for more than two decades developing the Dog Works Training Company podcast and brand, has purchased Mushing Magazine to complement its podcast with over three million downloads. With the acquisition, Forto strives to become a media dynast and made it official by rebranding his podcast with the Mushing name.

Contributors will be paid what they are worth

First Paw Media is making waves in the freelance community by developing a payment schedule for freelancers and contributors that bucks the conventional system. Robert Forto, the managing partner of First Paw Media, "the decision to address payment concerns arose from a desire to fix a system—endemic to media in general, not just outdoor—that is “very, very broken.” “Our contributors, whether they are full-time or freelancers, are the lifeblood of these [media] organizations and we have to take care of them,” Forto said. “They are the people that make this stuff go. Great storytelling is, frankly, what it’s all about.”