Deadspin takes down SB Nation's business model

There are many things that it's not in the best interests of young people to do: hardcore drugs, drink and drive, have unprotected sex, vote republican, become a Jets fan. Unfortunately ya just have to learn some things the hard way.

 

An important thing that was missing was any mention of revenue from the blogs. The article referred to the company's valuation, but never discussed the actual cash coming in or going out. That's more important in valuing the bloggers input. Tech companies valuations can be crazy relative to actual profit.

 

Good read, with points that most of us realize, but Joe in the street might not.

And still, I was overcome throughout by the thought, "Damn, Deadspin's house had better be squeaky clean."

I suppose that's my default position when media rats on media.

 

Have they ever cared about being hypocrites?

 

Valid point.

 

Speaking of "unless these sites get hammered by labor laws"....

http://deadspin.com/former-sb-nation-site-manager-files-lawsuit-against-vox-1798715721

 

I loved the one comment below that story:

"Let’s be fair though; the real reason to be a juror on this case is how it gives you a platform for honing your juror skills, building your brand as a juror, and attaining more high-profile jury stints as you develop your career."

 

Never really thought of these sites as jobs/businesses/employers, but rather hobbies.

 

From what I've seen personally, it doesn't take long before the fanboys that write for these places realize it's more work than fun. Most of them quit within a few months, sometimes even a few weeks. Only the die-hard, friendless, socially awkward stick around longer. That's why these places read like shit. BTW, I never read SB Nation, FanSided or Bleacher Report. They all fuckin' suck.

 

This is important.

Given the state of the industry and fake news, we need to point out who the real journalists are and who the charlatans are. Taking down fanboy sites that piggyback off others' hard work is OK by me, no matter who's doing it.

 

Only thing I haven't done there is become a Jets fan.

 

I worked for a fairly successful sports site for a while that operated on a similar model as the sports blog netowrks. It started out with twenty-odd writers doing quirky, off the beaten path coverage of our sport. As time went on, money started coming in, the number of writers ballooned into the triple digits, and the owner started taking months off to knock around Spain, Australia, etc. He would brag about this in the private message board cum press room to staff who were sometimes working two to three jobs to keep the lights on. Most of his writers were paid less than a hundred dollars a month cranking out two to three articles a week.

One summer, in the space of a few days, we lost writers Grantland, the writer pool for a minor league, and SI.com. Bossman the Owner Guy threw a fit. He was tired of people coming in, getting their start, and leaving. I explained that when you treat writers like air plants with no needs, they will move on to sites who will, oh, I don't know, pay them for their work. The employers who pay for what they publish are destination sites.

"I want to be a destination, not a starting point!"

"Then pay your staff," I said.

"I pay them."

"A living wage?"

He never complained about that again, at least not when I was around.