Really sucks to lose yet another interesting, unique, and mostly progressive media outlet. Something that was especially rare in the sports world.

Long story short:

1. Deadspin and the other ex-Gawker sites were bought by a private equity firm

2. This week the multimillionaire CEO issued a now-infamous memo where he told the writers and editors to "stick to sports"

3. Editors immediately responded by posting some of what built Deadspin such a strong audience: funny, non-sports related articles

4. In response, executives fire Barry Petchesky, a managing editor and someone who's been with Deadspin from the beginning, double down on the decree, and then disable commenting across the site because too many commenters were supporting the workers

5. Yesterday and today editors and writers started resigning en mass, including Drew Magary and their other best-known writers.

So

- Yet another media outlet killed by private equity. This is an especially impressive kill considering that Deadspin WAS a stable and profitable website.

- The true conservative politics of the executive class are revealed yet again. They didn't want Deadspin to "stick to sports", they wanted Deadspin to stop having a mildly progressive editorial voice, especially on issues of class, labor, gender, and race politics.

Deadspin was more than a sports site and that's part of what made it unique in a landscape of shitty, overwhelmingly mediocre sports journalism. It also had an unapologetically progressive voice, which again is something largely missing in the sports world and media in general.

Perhaps worst of all, we are now robbed of their annual Hater's Guide to the Williams-Sonoma catalogue.

lets not put them on too high of a pedestal

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

but overall they were good and this really sucks

the hogan sex tape thing started ALL this

had deadspin not employed trash like aj daulerio, gawker would still own deadspin, and none of this would be happening

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

If they didn't want to get shuttered by amoral creeps in 2019, they shouldn't have committed a sin against journalism in 2016. Which... whatever. But publications get sued all the time. That one was an organized hit by Peter Thiel, not just in targeting Gawker but structuring the lawsuit so that their insurer could step aside. The purpose was never protecting Hulk Hogan's privacy, or anybody's privacy, it was destroying a publication that had a reputation for not caring who it annoyed.

So to be clear, the point you're making is: don't say things that upset rich people.

That's wrong. And bad. Don't think that any longer.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

to realize this is part of an insanely worrying trend

I don't give a FUCK.

Both them niggas can fry, I don't care.

and Peter Thiel sure as shit doesn't care about it.

learning the truth about both (I really DGAF about Thiel being gay, but him showing his hand in the Hogan matter revealed who he really was) was a net positive.

Hence: fuck 'em.

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The idea of freedom of press and expression is being opposed and frowned upon. News, data, and stories are being formulated to follow the ways that advertisers want, or the way a certain corporation wants.

The truth is no longer mandatory. It's now an option, and if the truth goes against, or does not illustrate things in a favorable light, then it will be extinguished. And fake news will be propagated.

Look at facebook, look at instagram, just look at the fake images and fake lives that are being posted, where people are living a lie.

Truth, honesty, real news, and the real stories are now considered the enemies to our society.

We talk about fighting against countries like North Korea and China, where their leaders are falsely painted as great men, saviors of the world, etc. And the people are coerced to believe and communicate fake news, and if they rebel, they are scorned, brutalized, jailed,and even killed if necessary.

Since Trump has taken office, I have slowly, but surely seen the removal and suppression of liberated news voices and platforms.

a lot of dope insight and supplemental information down there.

it was well moderated.

One of the only comment sections on the internet with humor or insight, and not full of racists or bigots.

<--- Big Baller World Order

like when the news first broke about this in my mind im like "oh that quirky little site is done. that's a shame. it had some funny shit on there (s/o the Williams Sonoma haters guide)"

i thought it was just a niche sports site popular w/ folks like us that post on forums and rip on everybody on sports twitter. i had no idea the kind of readership it and i definitely did not expect such a vocal sadness over it being gone.

<--- Big Baller World Order

all the bullshit these vultures crow about, how they know "markets" and whatnot... is bullshit.

they can't even make a good excuse for their behavior.

at their core, profitable.

all those retailers they've ended?

still profitable!

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

A week later and this news still sucks.

This is an alternate universe. The bad guys are winning.

I really enjoyed all the sites that are now under the G/O umbrella, but gotta stand for something.

These private equity dick bags did what they always do: buy up a media outlet on discount, gut the entire thing, and sell it for parts while trying to drag value out of the name for as long as possible with a zombie staff.

It happened to Sports Illustrated and hundreds of small newspapers around the country before that.

But this time rather than getting slowly ground down over time, the entire staff just said fuck you and left.

I think it's part of a larger trend of class and worker consciousness and pushing back against the investor class exploiting labor, especially in tech and in media.

Gothamist voting to unionize.
The current fight going on to unionize Kickstarter.
And now the entire staff of a media outlet taking the extremely courageous stance of sacrificing their security for a greater good.

Losing Deadspin really sucks, in part because of the positive, progressive, class-, race- and gender-conscious positions it took. But I do think the landscape is changing and positive change is coming.

This was a big fuck you to a group not used to being told to go fuck themselves.

From teacher strikes in so-called red states, to tech workers trying to unionize.

I see the mass resignations by Deadspin workers, including the replacement editor who quit after two hours on the job, as part of the trend.

but under capitalism it can always get worse

always

The guy who issued the "Stick to sports!" mandate abruptly quit soon after this fiasco unfolded. And now it appears one of the executives instrumental in buying Deadspin and related site seems to have disappeared from the company's website. I'm aware that they'll be replaced by different hacks, but you take your small victories.

But in general, yes, this incredibly depressing. And it's been moving this direction for a while now. It's a big reason why I don't work in the newspaper/new field anymore. And it's actually worse now than it was 15 years. But a lot of what's happening today is something out of an episode of "Succession."

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www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

That asshole (Paul Maidment) is trying to claim he's leaving to pursue an "entrepreneurial opportunity".

L
O
L

The "entrepreneurial opportunity" of being fired, maybe.

https://twitter.com/UnDeadspin?s=17

A lot of them are crashing at Vice it seems.

What were some of y'alls favorite articles? And should we link to them? Off the top of my head, my faves were The Manti Te'O fiasco and Drew Magary's "The Reckoning always comes." Also, I loved their lists, especially the "Cheap American Beers, Ranked" and Tim Marchman's "Cereals, Ranked" that caused a hilarious shitstorm in the comments.

Deadspin was a good website

<-------------------
Represent the city that I'm from- Dum diddy dum

Highlight of every NFL pre-season.

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www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

They had me laughing at them while they clowned my squad every year.

I always looked forward to it every year too. His LA takes were dead on and hilarious.

<-------------------
Represent the city that I'm from- Dum diddy dum

look forward to it every year.

Everything.

https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/the-2018-ish-hater-s-guide-to-the-williams-sonoma-cata-1832646809

https://deadspin.com/deadspin-hof-nominee-run-you-stupid-f-ing-dinosaur-198465

OK, the TRUE classic. CLEVELAND'S Investigative Reporter: https://deadspin.com/the-most-brilliant-thing-youll-see-all-day-176349


Leitch Era forever

Also, apparently SI was planning to poach Drew right before private equity fucked THEM over too.

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Photo zine(some images NSFW): http://bit.ly/USaSPhoto

"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

https://twitter.com/maxwelltani/status/1193906428249026560

The union was able to get some needed pay raises and other benefits awarded to the workers along with some job protections in case the paper was sold.

It definitely helped that the paper was no longer owned by Tribune since they were griding the paper into oblivion. But unions work.

May have to subscribe to one of those mags on principle.