• by Ray Schultz , March 13, 2025

Outside magazine, an outdoor periodical founded in 1977, laid off roughly 20 employees last month, including top editors Chris Keys and Mary Turner, prompting a staff revolt. A group of almost 40 editors and photographers have asked that their names be taken off the masthead. 

They also claim that investigative work and political coverage are now being discouraged.

“Your company now seems intent on destroying what Outside once stood for,” the group wrote to Robin Thurston, CEO of Outside Inc. “We urge you to return to the values that made Outside successful, and that it must embrace to navigate an uncertain future.” 

The letter continued: “Effective immediately, please remove our names from Outside’s masthead.”

Thurston responded: “Outside is not immune to the substantial headwinds in the media market that impact advertising, subscription, and e-commerce, and we are working to build a healthy and viable business that supports the content our audience loves,” according to GearJunkie. “ If you’re open to a conversation, we’d welcome the feedback and the opportunity to share more about our vision.” 

Thurston added: “We will of course honor your request to remove your names from the masthead of our next issue before it goes to print, and we thank you for your contributions over the years.”

Author Hampton Sides penned a tougher latter to Thurston, saying, “It was clear to many of us when you bought the magazine that you understood nothing about magazines, let along world-class ones like Outside. You were only interested in owning the name and the ethos you vaguely understood existed behind it.”  

Sides also noted that the publication won National Magazine Awards and that attracted renowned writers and editors. 

That has all changed. “Now, un your idiom, magazines are ‘properties.’ Editors are ‘employees.’ 
Higher ranking editors are ‘managers.’ Writers are ‘content creator.’ And stories are merely ‘content,’ “ Sides wrote.  

Sides adds that these are among the reasons that “so many of us refuse to have our names associated with Outside. “We don’t want anything to do with the worthless widget you’ve made out of a supple creation that was once bright, beautiful, eletant, and original in American letters. 

Those who signed the group letter to Thurston include:

Ian Allen, Katie Arnold, Minesh Bacrania, Erin Berger, Brendan Borrell, Tim Cahill, E. Jean Carroll, W. Hodding Carter, Jimmy Chin, Kyle Dickman, Ian Frazier, Latria Graham, Nick Heil, Elizabeth Hightower Allen, Eva Holland, Rowan Jacobsen, Gordy Megroz, Megan Michelson, Jen Murphy, Svati Kirsten Narula, Devon O'Neil, Marc Peruzzi, David Quammen, Tracy Ross, Will Saunders, Grayson Schaffer, Bob Shacochis, AC Shilton, Hampton Sides, Tim Sohn, Christopher Solomon, Abe Streep, Brad Trone, Peter Vigneron, Elizabeth Weil, Elliott Woods.