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Sports on Earth writers and editors laid off

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by DrewJo, Aug 5, 2014.

  1. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I can't imagine that it doesn't. Friends who have worked there said the MMQB column would routinely get more clicks in a week than Nos. 2-10 on the site in a normal week. Not sure if that's still the case now, but that was the case a few years ago and I think MMQB has gotten even more popular since then. It's also not like MMQB has a Grantland-sized stable of writers.
     
  2. GAPrintDino

    GAPrintDino New Member

    Not only that, but how expensive could MMQB's writers really be? Obviously King commands a lot of $ I'm sure, but that's absolute market price and he's the face/chief/brains/brawn/everything. I'm sure Bedard isn't cheap. But meaning no disrespect to their talent, because they are very talented and deserve to be compensated for it, I don't think anyone else is really breaking the bank there.

    Could be completely wrong, and maybe they're just well-compensated out of principle. But given some of their publishing schedules - believe some only publish 1 or 2 columns per week at most - I have to think some are freelancers and MMQB isn't exactly sinking a full-time salary into them.
     
  3. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    I think the staff is just King, Bedard, Vrentas and Klemko. I'm don't think anyone else writes only for the site unless it's on a freelance basis.

    I'm not sure if Bedard, Vrentas or Klemko write regularly for the magazine. I think Bedard has had a couple things in the magazine, but I don't read it as often as I used to.
     
  4. GAPrintDino

    GAPrintDino New Member

    Is Benoit still writing for them? Maybe unrelated to the exact question at hand, just curious.

    But yeah that's still a small core contingent, and I still don't know that Klemko is a major name - not a knock on him or his ability, just still relatively new to the scene - so I expect that operation is fairly cost-efficient. Probably pays for itself with the actual MMQB column itself. Anything else is just icing on top.

    Good for them, now that I think about it. That's the way to do it.
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I hope that Starbucks gives MMQB a small stipend for all the publicity
    that King gives them.
     
  6. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    He does, but he's not listed on the side the way the other four are. I know Staples writes regularly for the site, but he's not on their staff either.

    I would love to compare clicks and payroll of MMQB to Grantland.

    I love both sites, but I typically spend more time on MMQB than I do on Grantland.
     
  7. silent_h

    silent_h Member

    All,

    Very interesting thread. Both on SoE and the economics and state of our profession in general. Thanks for the kind personal words, and thanks for reading and caring about SoE. I can't offer any meaningful information or insight regarding the site's inner workings or top-level corporate management/politics, but I can say that content and audience-building-wise, the challenges facing SoE were remarkably similar to the ones facing the business as a whole. It seems like many of you recognize that.

    Anyway, carry on.
     
  8. RecoveringJournalist

    RecoveringJournalist Well-Known Member

    What lasted longer, SOE or FanHouse?
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I think that there will still be sports writing in 5, 10, or 20 years, even deeply reported, longer pieces, and incisive analysis.

    I suspect, however, that paid work will mostly be handled by an army of talented freelance hobbyists, rather than full-time employees at sites like Grantland, SOE, SB Nation, etc., etc.
     
  10. 3_Octave_Fart

    3_Octave_Fart Well-Known Member

    I'm just wondering what happens to Grantland when these writers age and/or mature.
    Is there a new harvest of people committed to writing about esoterica and cultural flotsam?
    It's like the guy in The Wedding Singer who correctly notes that nobody wants to watch a 50-year-old guy hitting on chicks.
     
  11. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Yeah, they'll hire a new crop. I've made the argument before that Bill Barnwell moved to Vegas that first year essentially because Simmons wanted to live vicariously through a younger guy who didn't have a wife and kids to keep him from doing the same.
     
  12. GAPrintDino

    GAPrintDino New Member

    I don't think SB Nation deals primarily with full-timers, at least for their longform work. Can almost guarantee that is all freelanced worked. Really good freelance work, granted.
     
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