1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Sports Illustrated layoffs

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by silvercharm, Oct 3, 2019.

  1. Fran Curci

    Fran Curci Well-Known Member

    That's the guy. Very checkered past.
     
  2. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

  3. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    Who's the mole?

    Sources within the company are telling Deadspin that both of the meetings were canceled just minutes before they were supposed to start, and nobody seems to have any idea what’s going on.
     
  4. CD Boogie

    CD Boogie Well-Known Member

    Field trip?
     
  5. jr/shotglass

    jr/shotglass Well-Known Member

    We got the word that we were going 7-day to 3-day in one of those meetings.

    I blew it off and got the obligatory phone call from the editor's secretary, who was obviously reading off a script.

    That was pleasant.
     
  6. DanOregon

    DanOregon Well-Known Member

    Ross Levinsohn's resume is a list of formerly great brands you wonder "yeah whatever happened to them"...Alta Vista, Yahoo, the LA Times/tronc/Tribune, add SI to the list. He seems to specialize in joining outfits on their way down.
     
  7. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    lol I used to have an Alta Vista email. Excite too.
     
  8. Marvin

    Marvin Active Member

    Ok, maybe not. The thing is I don't know.

    I hate to hear anyone getting laid off in the industry, it sucks. But at least I want to hear what the plan is and the reasons for making changes before I blast away. 40 people being let go doesn't mean a lot to me without some context, especially when just about every other media organization in the nation has already been through a lot more.

    How was SI doing before this? I'm guessing not great. The website has been pretty outdated for a long time, it desperately needed an upgrade and do something about the avalanche of ads in every story. It seems to me it's been pretty directionless for a while just trying to stay afloat until it found a permanent home. Considering all the publications that have already folded, etc., I'm glad it's sticking around.

    The real question for me is what's next for SI? How is it going to stay relevant?
     
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    SI was bought by a licensing firm, which then turned around and licensed the name to a group media network that has started a gazillion sites that are filled with crap produced by contractors. I believe the guy behind that company previously did a now-bankrupt company that tried to do sports video sites.

    Whatever is next for SI, it is likely not going to be a good thing if you have any nostalgia for what it once was. It's a name that still has recognition, and therefore has some value. It is going to be bludgeoned now by people trying to squeeze whatever they can out of it.
     
    HanSenSE and cake in the rain like this.
  10. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    Wondering how any magazine stays relevant nowadays, without a strong web presence. Can anyone remember the last time they physically saw a copy of SI, Time, ect. outside of a doctor's office? The magazine racks at the store seem stuffed with special editions of some magazines, devoted this season to The Beatles, Robin Williams retrospectives, Apollo 11 commemorative issues and the Dowton Abbey movie.

    Of course, some spreadsheet guy probably suggested consolidating things by putting out a "Dowton Abbey Road" issue.
     
    TigerVols likes this.
  11. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Has SI's website has ever not been terrible? And making the Vault free was such a bad decision; if they had put a little money into digitizing the old mags in a really cool way, they could have charged sports junkies a nickel per read/download or made some kind of subscription service and have scratched out a nice little income stream. That's been a pet peeve of mine for years.
     
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page