Mother Nature Network

Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) was a news and information website focused on sustainability and ranked by Alexa Internet as the most visited for-profit website in the world in its environmental category.^[1] It was labeled "the green CNN" by Time magazine,^[2] "green machine" by the Associated Press,^[3] and "best of the breed" by Fast Company.^[4] Founded in 2009 by former marketing executive Joel Babbit and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell, it was the flagship property of Narrative Content Group, whose equity partners included CNN and Discovery Inc.^[5]

Mother Nature Network

Type of site	News and information related to sustainability and responsible living
Available in	English
Headquarters	Atlanta
Created by	Joel Babbit & Chuck Leavell
Industry	Media
URL	mnn.com
Launched	2009
Current status	Active

MNN generated revenue via exclusive content category sponsorships versus the traditional advertising model utilized by most websites.^[6] Brand partners included Walmart, Mercedes-Benz, AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, UPS, Allstate, Dell, Subway, MillerCoors, Bayer, Dunkin' Brands, and many other leading corporations.^[1] In February of 2020, Narrative sold Mother Nature Network and TreeHugger, another of its sustainability focused websites acquired from Discovery, to digital media company Dotdash, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC).^[7] The two sites were then merged and operate under the Treehugger name.^[8]

Content

It covered a wide range of topics beyond traditional "green" issues – including family, pets, travel, health, home, and food.^[9][10]

Board of directors and advisors

• Joel Babbit, CEO of Narrative Content Group and Mother Nature Network
• Thomas Bell Jr., Chairman of Mesa Capital Partners (former Chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam and Chairman of U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
• Gerald Benjamin, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Atlanta Equity (former Vice Chairman of GreenSky)
• A.D. "Pete" Correll, Co-founder and Chairman of Atlanta Equity (former Chairman and CEO of Georgia-Pacific Corporation)
• Doug Hertz, CEO of United Distributors Inc. and Partner in the Atlanta Falcons
• Chuck Leavell, Keyboardist for the Rolling Stones
• James D. Robinson III, Co-founder and General Partner of RRE Ventures, LLC (former Chairman and CEO of American Express)
• Fred Seegal, Vice Chairman of Peter J. Solomon Company (former President of Wasserstein Perella)

Nonprofit partners

MNN worked with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, including:

• American Farmland Trust
• Captain Planet Foundation
• Nature Conservancy
• National Wildlife Federation
• Newman's Own Foundation
• UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
• White House Correspondents' Association

References

1. "Portfolio: Mother Nature Network". Narrative Content Group. 28 April 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
2. Walsh, Bryan (8 January 2009). "Introducing MNN, the New 'Green CNN'". Time. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
3. "New Mother Nature Network aims to be green machine". Associated Press. 21 January 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
4. "Mother Nature Network: Online Media Finally Catches up to Sustainability Needs". Fast Company. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
5. "MNN.com Analytics" SimilarWeb. Retrieved 2015-08-02.
6. "This Company Broke the Online Ad Model for Fun and Profit". inc. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
7. "Exclusive: Dotdash acquires another 2 publishers". Axios. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
8. "About Us: Our History". Treehugger. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
9. "Has Mother Nature found key to Web success?," USA Today (2012-12-24)
10. "Mother Nature becomes a dot-com," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2008-07-20)

External links

• Official website