The Lifeboat to Save Sports Journalism
A rapidly evolving — or rather, disintegrating — media landscape is driving writers to newsletters
“It’s mine. It’s entirely mine. So few things are entirely ours,” journalist Will Leitch told me of his weekly bulletin, called This Here Newsletter.
Leitch made his name in sports and culture writing: He was the founding editor of Deadspin and still churns out regular columns for the likes of New York magazine and mlb.com. But with This Here Newsletter, which is approaching its 200th issue, Leitch now has an outlet to write about anything he wants: sports commentary, politics, and personal essays about his family. The only constant is Leitch’s autonomy.
A rapidly evolving — or rather, disintegrating — media landscape has left many writers out of regular paying jobs. With new publications shuttering seemingly every other month (most recently was Leitch’s former home at Deadspin, but that will likely change by the time you’re reading this), both freelancers and staff writers are often left in the lurch.
With newsletters though, they can’t be shuttered unexpectedly. They can’t fire everyone when there are whispers of a union drive; it’s rare to see them be bought up by a hedge fund and then loaded with debt. And they might not always pay, but…
