Deadspin changed sports journalism(globalsportmatters.com)
globalsportmatters.com
Deadspin changed sports journalism
https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2022/07/13/how-deadspin-changed-sports-journalism/
43 comments
Spanfeller is the biggest fucking herb around.
Deadspin and Gawker were staffed by a bunch of scumbags. I wonder if they’re still pathologically obsessed with bringing down the sexists at Barstool.
Several groups of people even throughout the story, really. Leitch left in 2008. Daulerio left a few years later, the Craggs, etc. Honestly, I think the Defector's version tells the history in a more complete way than this article since there were several eras: https://defector.com/how-we-got-here/ - a lot of prominent quotes from names in originally linked article that were out of the picture relatively early in terms of the Deadspin/Defector "changing sports journalism" story vs more of just a "controversial posts" story.
Quote from link:
Lately I’ve been thinking of Deadspin as a strange machine. For more than a decade, the people charged with the maintenance of that machine were allowed to tinker with it according to their whims and idiosyncratic tastes. The result of all that tinkering was a machine which, for all its apparent wonkiness, worked brilliantly.
The problem with a machine like that is that it’s difficult for anyone who didn’t build it, or doesn’t respect those who did, to understand exactly how or why it works. When Deadspin’s staffers and readers looked at the machine, they saw a wonderful and whirring contraption, but all Spanfeller and Great Hill saw was an odd collection of valves and pistons. They saw parts, but not the whole.
Spanfeller’s disdain for his own newsroom, the “stick to sports” memo, Petchesky being fired, and the cascade of oppressive ads—they were all signaling the same thing: Spanfeller and Great Hill weren’t really interested in preserving what we had spent the last decade building. Maybe a few components would remain to keep up appearances, but Deadspin’s demolition was coming, and we couldn’t stop it. What we could do was refuse to participate in its destruction.Absolutely!
Deadspin went through various eras and changes of leadership.
I think it's inarguable, though, that the lineage definitively ended in 2019 when the staff walked out en masse.
The thing currently called "Deadspin" has no connection to any previous era of Deadspin other than the name.
Deadspin went through various eras and changes of leadership.
I think it's inarguable, though, that the lineage definitively ended in 2019 when the staff walked out en masse.
The thing currently called "Deadspin" has no connection to any previous era of Deadspin other than the name.
I read a lot of sports news (and pay for some of it) and I've never heard of Deadspin. After reading the article I'm also struggling to figure out what they changed. Is anyone more familiar able to explain more clearly?
You know how when you're watching a sporting event and some deranged fan runs out onto the field, the broadcaster, knowing that the team and league wants to discourage such behavior, switches to a distant aerial view while the commentators tut tut about it?
Deadspin would instead gleefully post videos of the madness.
Deadspin would instead gleefully post videos of the madness.
Deadspin's motto was "Sports news without access, favor or discretion". Unlike traditional media that essentially acts as mouthpieces for the teams that they cover (think of any press conference and the kinds of questions being asked, and the types of response they're designed to elicit), they used their status as outsiders to look at sports with a critical lens, and hold people in power in sports to account.
This didn't mean they hated sports though - you could tell from most of their reporting, especially by the OGs(Will Leitch, Drew Magary, Tim Burke etc), that they LOVED sports and wanted the people and teams involved to just be better. They also broke a lot of bonkers stories like the Manti Te'o scandal (highly recommend reading their report on it)[1] that no one in traditional media did a good job of interrograting or digging into.
The site still exists, but if you read it now you won't see this kind of reporting. It all changed about two years when they were bought by private equity (G/O I wanna say) who attempted to exercise control over their editorial, resulting in a mass resignation. Many of the old writers started Defector (https://defector.com/), which writes in the same spirit.
[1] https://deadspin.com/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-hea...
This didn't mean they hated sports though - you could tell from most of their reporting, especially by the OGs(Will Leitch, Drew Magary, Tim Burke etc), that they LOVED sports and wanted the people and teams involved to just be better. They also broke a lot of bonkers stories like the Manti Te'o scandal (highly recommend reading their report on it)[1] that no one in traditional media did a good job of interrograting or digging into.
The site still exists, but if you read it now you won't see this kind of reporting. It all changed about two years when they were bought by private equity (G/O I wanna say) who attempted to exercise control over their editorial, resulting in a mass resignation. Many of the old writers started Defector (https://defector.com/), which writes in the same spirit.
[1] https://deadspin.com/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-hea...
> It all changed about two years when they were bought by private equity (G/O I wanna say) who attempted to exercise control over their editorial, resulting in a mass resignation. Many of the old writers started Defector (https://defector.com/), which writes in the same spirit.
This really was one of the most fascinating journalism stories in recent years. There was this well respected and financially successful media company, in an industry in which most outlets are struggling. But management had no idea what made that company successful and was seemingly on a mission to kill what made it unique. Eventually management got so bad that the entire staff resigned over the course of a few days. Dozens of people quit their job in a shrinking industry in which any journalism job can be your last. Then after a year of many of the journalists bouncing between freelancing gigs, most of that staff is able to band together to create a new company. This time it is a workers collective in which the journalists are not just employees, but also owners. The new company is almost immediately a success, continues to grow in size, and build on the legacy of the original site. I have never seen anything like that before.
This really was one of the most fascinating journalism stories in recent years. There was this well respected and financially successful media company, in an industry in which most outlets are struggling. But management had no idea what made that company successful and was seemingly on a mission to kill what made it unique. Eventually management got so bad that the entire staff resigned over the course of a few days. Dozens of people quit their job in a shrinking industry in which any journalism job can be your last. Then after a year of many of the journalists bouncing between freelancing gigs, most of that staff is able to band together to create a new company. This time it is a workers collective in which the journalists are not just employees, but also owners. The new company is almost immediately a success, continues to grow in size, and build on the legacy of the original site. I have never seen anything like that before.
A similar story played out in Jalopnik, an automotive blog with a similar irreverent outsider ethos under the same Gawker Media Group umbrella as Deadspin. Many writers came and went, including a group that started The Autopian (https://www.theautopian.com/) which reminds me of a Jalopnik before the buyout.
I mostly appreciate deadspin for its snark [1], it’s usually more entertainment than reporting (or even much about the actual games for that matter).
[1] https://deadspin.com/thankfully-the-internet-captured-klay-t...
[1] https://deadspin.com/thankfully-the-internet-captured-klay-t...
Snark was what attracted me to Gawker (the sister site to Deadspin). The general tone was something like "these elites and celebrities aren't as great as they think they are" which made it a guilty pleasure read. Reading it (and I assume Deadspin is similar) was like hanging out with a cool friend who was aware of everything hip going on and had all the right quips.
If I struggle to remember what sports journalism was like before Deadspin, I can just look at ESPN or Sports Illustrated, and it all comes nauseatingly back to me.
In print, the WSJ has some surprisingly good sports coverage, although not very much of it. And then they have Jason Gay, who seems to only glom onto meta-sports issues and niche sports like bike racing. But their other writers write about the actual games.
In print, the WSJ has some surprisingly good sports coverage, although not very much of it. And then they have Jason Gay, who seems to only glom onto meta-sports issues and niche sports like bike racing. But their other writers write about the actual games.
Bike racing is niche in the US, but for example in France it is huge, viewership rivals soccer
I think the cycle repeats, as Jomboy Media seems to be the current "different" sports journalism outlet.
Just through their breakdown videos, you see how much more entertaining sports can be (even some harder to understand sports) without the pomp and circumstance of the "official" (boring) commentators and league-affiliated highlight reels.
I don't follow sports enough to care about their other ventures, but it seems having an outsider's view can lead to more honesty in reporting, and more interesting content.
Just through their breakdown videos, you see how much more entertaining sports can be (even some harder to understand sports) without the pomp and circumstance of the "official" (boring) commentators and league-affiliated highlight reels.
I don't follow sports enough to care about their other ventures, but it seems having an outsider's view can lead to more honesty in reporting, and more interesting content.
Even though it was kind of a harbinger for a lot of the garbage in contemporary sports media, I miss Deadspin.
Great Hill, and specifically, Paul Maidment ruined Deadspin forever. His name should not be forgotten.
That scumbag hypocrite Peter Thiel, for as loathsome and vampiric as he is, is only half guilty.
That scumbag hypocrite Peter Thiel, for as loathsome and vampiric as he is, is only half guilty.
Thiel being the bad guy in the Gawker v. Thiel situation requires a hell of a lot of contortionist thinking or just blind hatred for rich people.
Of course he is. He's a thin-skinned, self-hating hypocrite who uses his power inappropriately.
This is the same Thiel who pals around with people who tell gay professors to "go die of AIDS".
This is the same Thiel who fights tooth and nail for free speech on social media platforms, but bankrolls an entire lawsuit -- in shadow, of course, because he's afraid of being obviously called on the hypocrisy -- against Gawker because his previous fee-fees got hurt.
This is the same Thiel who believes, almost unilaterally, that corporations should be able to do what they want without interference.
The same one who backs disingenuous, sociopathic goons like Blake Masters and J.D. Vance, and continues to back Trump despite all of his moral cowardice and treason.
I'm suddenly supposed to believe that he's some altruistic, moral figure? Why? Because some people didn't like Gawker's tone?
Fuck that. Thiel is slime.
This is the same Thiel who pals around with people who tell gay professors to "go die of AIDS".
This is the same Thiel who fights tooth and nail for free speech on social media platforms, but bankrolls an entire lawsuit -- in shadow, of course, because he's afraid of being obviously called on the hypocrisy -- against Gawker because his previous fee-fees got hurt.
This is the same Thiel who believes, almost unilaterally, that corporations should be able to do what they want without interference.
The same one who backs disingenuous, sociopathic goons like Blake Masters and J.D. Vance, and continues to back Trump despite all of his moral cowardice and treason.
I'm suddenly supposed to believe that he's some altruistic, moral figure? Why? Because some people didn't like Gawker's tone?
Fuck that. Thiel is slime.
Killing Gawker was Thiel’s only good act. They started out that trial by saying they’d publish a sex tape of a four-year-old in their deposition.
I must agree here. This article suggests that injecting some snark into sports journalism was somehow revolutionary. It isn't. It's easy to be snarky and negative. It's harder to be generous, balanced and thoughtful. Gawker and Deadspin were all about snark and, in retrospect, no one really misses them.
Agree. I think the praise here is coming from the fringe "very online" demographic that are wrecking the media and entertainment environment.
Few people read Deadspin. Few people read Defector. Few people watch SportCenter anymore because they try to emulate Deadspin. Professional sports broadly have lost significant viewership because they listened to the media noise around them.
It seems like these things are only successes if your goal of success is reclaiming sport as a pass-time of the idle-handed elite. Because commercially this turn has been a profound failure.
Few people read Deadspin. Few people read Defector. Few people watch SportCenter anymore because they try to emulate Deadspin. Professional sports broadly have lost significant viewership because they listened to the media noise around them.
It seems like these things are only successes if your goal of success is reclaiming sport as a pass-time of the idle-handed elite. Because commercially this turn has been a profound failure.
Yes, SportsCenter's ratings are down because they try to emulate Deadspin. No other colluding factors in there, no, not at all! It's because they're all social justice-y and trying to tell me I can't shoot me guns!
Was Deadspin mainly about snark? I didn’t really read it but got the impression it was mostly the same very online journalists as every other blog, writing the same things as every other blog, ie anxiety pieces about things young people in cities think is important.
That’s a good business if it gets other online people to form parasocial relationships with your writers, but it’s bad if every piece starts and ends with “but what’s really important is this political issue I just saw a tweet about”.
That’s a good business if it gets other online people to form parasocial relationships with your writers, but it’s bad if every piece starts and ends with “but what’s really important is this political issue I just saw a tweet about”.
The fact that you think Deadspin in particular was all about snark basically certifies to me that you have no idea what you're talking about.
I miss the OG Deadspin while simultaneously denouncing what they did to Thiel. That crossed the rubicon.
> WHY THIS MATTERS
Deadspin blew up the tropes and traditions of old-school sports media, changing the industry by challenging the accepted narrative and aggressively pursuing stories that gave readers a peak behind the curtain at the sports elite.
Eh, agree that most of sports "journalism" is closer to PR than news, but my recollection of deadspin was that it was basically a gossip rag written by bro-y edgelords with a mean/vindictive streak.
Speaking of journalism, kinda hard to trust a news site that doesn't know the difference between "peak" and "peek"...
Eh, agree that most of sports "journalism" is closer to PR than news, but my recollection of deadspin was that it was basically a gossip rag written by bro-y edgelords with a mean/vindictive streak.
Speaking of journalism, kinda hard to trust a news site that doesn't know the difference between "peak" and "peek"...
> Speaking of journalism, kinda hard to trust a news site that doesn't know the difference between "peak" and "peek"...
GSM is not a real news site; it's the PR arm of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University.
GSM is not a real news site; it's the PR arm of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University.
I love that this article treats the current zombie Deadspin site as dead, which it very much is.
As explained, Deadspin got killed effectively by the Hulk Hogan sex tape civil trial, a chilling and horrible verdict, but I have seen some reprehensible behavior by Deadspin and gawker style sites.
As a good example, Markelle Fultz was a first overall pick but suffered what appears to be some sort of pinched nerve issue that greatly affected his ability to shoot. He finally is an effective NBA player for the Orlando Magic, but Deadspin was brutal and unrelenting in mocking his difficulties rehabbing and regaining form.
This is not some attention-starved social media blusterer, it was just a garden variety lottery pick trying to make his way in the pro leagues.
Basically, his "sin" was that video surfaced of him awkwardly trying to shoot free throws, and then the great bully brigade of the internet got going.
One of the desperations of the gawker sites was that once a term or topic soared in "clickability", they would hammer that term over and over.
Some people like Trump and Musk love this, any publicity is good publicity. But Fultz was always quiet.
It also gets a bit hairy with players like Ben Simmons, who get publicly mocked and derided by armies of online sociopath/fans. Sure he's paid millions to "take it" to some degree, but there are clearly lines and gawker style sites push and cross them in desperation to gain relevancy (in an era when the relevancy of the old stalwarts like Sports Illustrated and local newspapers have evaporated).
A couple of those discomfort points were counterbalanced by just heaploads of great funny stories. Deadspin was the only site I checked multiple times a day, alas defector hasn't risen to that yet.
As explained, Deadspin got killed effectively by the Hulk Hogan sex tape civil trial, a chilling and horrible verdict, but I have seen some reprehensible behavior by Deadspin and gawker style sites.
As a good example, Markelle Fultz was a first overall pick but suffered what appears to be some sort of pinched nerve issue that greatly affected his ability to shoot. He finally is an effective NBA player for the Orlando Magic, but Deadspin was brutal and unrelenting in mocking his difficulties rehabbing and regaining form.
This is not some attention-starved social media blusterer, it was just a garden variety lottery pick trying to make his way in the pro leagues.
Basically, his "sin" was that video surfaced of him awkwardly trying to shoot free throws, and then the great bully brigade of the internet got going.
One of the desperations of the gawker sites was that once a term or topic soared in "clickability", they would hammer that term over and over.
Some people like Trump and Musk love this, any publicity is good publicity. But Fultz was always quiet.
It also gets a bit hairy with players like Ben Simmons, who get publicly mocked and derided by armies of online sociopath/fans. Sure he's paid millions to "take it" to some degree, but there are clearly lines and gawker style sites push and cross them in desperation to gain relevancy (in an era when the relevancy of the old stalwarts like Sports Illustrated and local newspapers have evaporated).
A couple of those discomfort points were counterbalanced by just heaploads of great funny stories. Deadspin was the only site I checked multiple times a day, alas defector hasn't risen to that yet.
> Deadspin was the only site I checked multiple times a day, alas defector hasn't risen to that yet.
Why do you think that is? Does Defector have a smaller staff than Deadspin did at its peak?
Prime Deadspin was hit or miss for me. I didn't really care for the social-justice and "culture" content, with an increasing number of non-sports articles that felt like a college newspaper. When the PE came in and had the stick-to-sports decree, in theory I agreed, but obviously they executed that poorly, which accelerated all the departures.
Why do you think that is? Does Defector have a smaller staff than Deadspin did at its peak?
Prime Deadspin was hit or miss for me. I didn't really care for the social-justice and "culture" content, with an increasing number of non-sports articles that felt like a college newspaper. When the PE came in and had the stick-to-sports decree, in theory I agreed, but obviously they executed that poorly, which accelerated all the departures.
Ironic (in the business sense) because the post-mass-quit Zombie Deadspin is so over the top with the identity politics takes on sports that it is eye rolling at times, almost an experiment in absurdism. And that happened ... right-o ... as soon as Defector launched, it was such a transparent revenge move by the private equity ghouls/goons.
I welcome left-wing and anti-establishment takes on sports. Mainstream sports are hyper conservative (flags! anthem! flags! jet flyovers! flags! honor the military! flags! honor more military! uniforms! borderline eugenics!) with THE MOST RIDICULOUS corporate welfare with publicly financed stadiums, publicly financed training areas, massive tax breaks and favorable tax law, and a fawning bootlicker media/PR division.
Left wing takes on sports are extremely important because there are many societal themes at play with sports. The manipulations by the right to fleece the taxpayers. The last functioning unions and debates about fair pay and revenue sharing. Health care and pensions. Race and discrimination. Homosexuality discrimination. Blind loyalty and jingoism vs loyalty to higher ideals and sportsmanship. So much sausage making that is too boring for regular enterprises to get attention becomes front page news in sports.
Of course there's the corruption. Soooo much corruption, favorable non-prosecution, getting let off by the cops, fake "investigations", repugnant work conditions.
And the comments on deadspin were pretty good. Any site with "pretty good" comments is a gem in the cesspool. The usernames were fantastic. HN users have disappointingly lame usernames by comparison.
I welcome left-wing and anti-establishment takes on sports. Mainstream sports are hyper conservative (flags! anthem! flags! jet flyovers! flags! honor the military! flags! honor more military! uniforms! borderline eugenics!) with THE MOST RIDICULOUS corporate welfare with publicly financed stadiums, publicly financed training areas, massive tax breaks and favorable tax law, and a fawning bootlicker media/PR division.
Left wing takes on sports are extremely important because there are many societal themes at play with sports. The manipulations by the right to fleece the taxpayers. The last functioning unions and debates about fair pay and revenue sharing. Health care and pensions. Race and discrimination. Homosexuality discrimination. Blind loyalty and jingoism vs loyalty to higher ideals and sportsmanship. So much sausage making that is too boring for regular enterprises to get attention becomes front page news in sports.
Of course there's the corruption. Soooo much corruption, favorable non-prosecution, getting let off by the cops, fake "investigations", repugnant work conditions.
And the comments on deadspin were pretty good. Any site with "pretty good" comments is a gem in the cesspool. The usernames were fantastic. HN users have disappointingly lame usernames by comparison.
What Deadspin really hated was The Process, Fultz was just a huge symbol of that thing. I strongly agreed with then but thought the guy had no fault for being picked no.1 and thus was unfairly targeted. But seeing the whole stuff going bad gave me great joy.
> , a chilling and horrible verdict,
Gawker executive testimonies did not help their case.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/mar/09/gawker-media-t...
Gawker executive testimonies did not help their case.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/mar/09/gawker-media-t...
> Deadspin got killed effectively by the Hulk Hogan sex tape civil trial
That was Gawker, the gossip site. Deadspin is still around.
That was Gawker, the gossip site. Deadspin is still around.
A couple of years ago the Deadspin writers quit en masse and have since founded:
https://defector.com/
It's great! Costs a few bucks per month, which is awesome, because that lets them stay editorially independent and not rely on appeasing anybody but themselves.