Mass Layoffs, Chaos At 'Sports Illustrated'

[RPM 26315]

The revered 65-year-old Sports Illustrated magazine is in a state of bedlam.

In meetings Thursday afternoon, managers told staff members that about half the newsroom would be laid off, according to two people present at the meetings.

NPR obtained a petition signed by approximately three-quarters of Sports Illustrated's journalists asking its new owners not to deliver control of the publication to a digital publisher named TheMaven network.

"TheMaven wants to replace top journalists in the industry with a network of Maven freelancers and bloggers, while reducing or eliminating departments that have ensured that the stories we publish and produce meet the highest standards," the petition reads. "These plans significantly undermine our journalistic integrity, damage the reputation of this long-standing brand and negatively [affect] the economic stability of the publication."

The new controlling executives include Ross Levinsohn, the controversial former Los Angeles Times CEO. The plan as described in the journalists' petition appears to echo an earlier strategy by Levinsohn, who was appointed by Maven. As publisher of the Los Angeles Times and an investor in a digital outfit called True/Slant, Levinsohn embraced a strategy he termed "gravitas with scale" — a model that was based in part on unpaid contributors and meant job losses for the traditional newsroom journalists in the Tribune publishing chain.

The uncertainty surrounding the magazine's status had caused chaos for the newsroom over the previous 24 hours. Meetings that had been scheduled for midday Thursday were called off minutes before they were due to begin. 

Until the meeting with Maven executives, the question of who controls the magazine had not been clear, as it has been subject to a series of major transactions in a short period of time: Meredith Corp. bought SI last year along with other Time Inc. titles and then sold the magazine in late May 2019 to a brand and marketing firm called Authentic Brands Group. Meredith, a major magazine publisher, was set to operate Sports Illustrated for two years. Several weeks later, in June, Authentic Brands struck a licensing deal cutting Meredith's involvement short and giving Maven the right to operate the publication for up to 100 years. But that deal was only finalized on Thursday.

Meredith confirmed to NPR that Authentic Brands finished the transfer of editorial control of Sports Illustrated to Maven from Meredith, its formal owner. According to Meredith, the layoffs it announced were conducted at Maven's behest.

"As the new licensor of ... Sports Illustrated, Maven made the Sports Illustrated personnel decisions that Meredith communicated to the SI employees today," Meredith said in a statement. "Going forward, the remaining SI employees will work at the direction and at the pleasure of Maven."

[Rougarou 594]

SI died when Life of Reilly was syndicated.

[Iceman 2690]

I haven't paid for SI in 20+ years.

if it’s on the table at the barber,I might glance at it.

Otherwise, they can fuck right off.

 

[Radical Larry 28539]

What will they do with all those football phones?

[swraith 345]

I know nothing about this Ross Levinson person. However the article says he is former head of LA Times. That newspaper has completely failed at its digital online strategy. If he was responsible for that failure...then I would image SI is in for some dark times.

[clapclapclap 9000]

SI often seemed like they were far more interested in politics than sports.  And it was always in one direction.  Great way to poison anything and everything.

[Deej 76751]

Who reads magazines, today? 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21870]

It died when they had fat swimsuit models

[Homercles 10205]

Yeah after all the hubbub, that was like 95% false, from that The Dirty Game ‘series’...I’ve been hoping they’d burn in Hell...especially Thayer Evans.  

[TwiceHorn 31435]

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.

It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

[Updawg 2266]

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.
It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

With you even though I rarely read it anymore. That's a good brand name that could be salvaged but I doubt it. I definitely don't want a bunch of free bloggers Twitter news but that's what is coming to.

Need to get a central payment system to where you pay and can read various subs you want instead of signing up for s shit ton.

[RollLeft 5040]

The swimsuit issue.  Is there another?

[Underdog 28544]

Could always count on SI to have great sports photos, last one I read/glanced at was at the dentist office. 

[Post Oak 20204]

As a kid I loved SI.  Haven't looked at it or visited their site in years.  It's a shame really.

It was once an fine to occasionally exemplary publication.  

It stopped being that a long time ago.

I glance at SBNation team sites daily as well as BP and have an Athletic subscription.  I don't have a problem paying for good writing.  I wish that's what SI still was but oh well.

[Skipper 6127]

15 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.

It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

Not "print" but The Athletic is fantastic sports content.  By far the best $5 or whatever I spend per month.     And yeah, I don't know what their plan is for a gutted SI but whatever it is I expect it to fail

Edited October 4, 2019 by Skipper

[Hanrahan 1306]

As a kid I loved SI.  Haven't looked at it or visited their site in years.  It's a shame really.
It was once an fine to occasionally exemplary publication.  
It stopped being that a long time ago.
I glance at SBNation team sites daily as well as BP and have an Athletic subscription.  I don't have a problem paying for good writing.  I wish that's what SI still was but oh well.

Did it? Or did we all just non-renew our mag subscriptions sometime between 2003 and 2010 and that was it? That’s how it worked for me.

[Underdog 28544]

<—— Bought a subscription to SI after UK won the ‘96 NCAAT Just for the commemorative book, mini ball and t-shirt IIRC.  May have done the same after ‘98 as well. 

[Victor Lazlo 1776]

Times sure have changed. 

I subscribed for roughly 20 years. From when I was in high school in the late ‘70’s. 

That was THE outlet for in depth coverage of the big sports stories. Of course, the coverage was a week after the fact, but that’s all we knew. Hard to comprehend for those that have grown up in the internet age. 

The writers were among the best - if not the best - sportswriters in the country. 

Sad to see SI go down the shitter, but when an old guy like me can find any sports news or opinion that I’d care to read with 2 clicks on my phone, who needs SI?

Especially if they are farming out the writing to freelancers. 

[Hank Scorpio 17729]

What will Rick Riley do?!

[futureman 22440]

1 hour ago, Rougarou said:

SI died when Life of Reilly was syndicated.

fuck rick reilly.  he was a hack who stole blackie sherrod’s column about billy miske.

[gecko 1104]

Get woke, go broke [no CR]

[old white guy 11]

Started subscribing in 67 and still have all of the 67-77 issues here. Stopped around 1980 or so. Still thumb through some of those old ones every now and then; there was some great writing and I read about sports I never would have otherwise, like horse racing, track and field. 

[Guest Lobo]

The actual prose was compelling, well researched, and well edited. But aside from swimsuit and college football issues, I had a hard time (even with the great writing) trying to feign paid-for interest in welterweight boxing and the French Open.  

[huge 3793]

Got a subscription in 6th grade. I think the first issue I received was WHICH WAY BO???

[Underdog 28544]

One of their great covers...

[conVINCEd 21469]

I haven’t had a subscription since the 90’s, but about a year ago I started randomly getting it in the mail, addressed to me.  Checked the bank account, and I didn’t accidently subscribe or anything.  I’ll flip through it when it comes, but it’s a shell of what it once was.  Some things outlive their usefulness and need to go ahead and die, SI is one of them.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 hours ago, Victor Lazlo said:

Times sure have changed. 

I subscribed for roughly 20 years. From when I was in high school in the late ‘70’s. 

That was THE outlet for in depth coverage of the big sports stories. Of course, the coverage was a week after the fact, but that’s all we knew. Hard to comprehend for those that have grown up in the internet age. 

The writers were among the best - if not the best - sportswriters in the country. 

Sad to see SI go down the shitter, but when an old guy like me can find any sports news or opinion that I’d care to read with 2 clicks on my phone, who needs SI?

Especially if they are farming out the writing to freelancers. 

Same here.    I was big sports junkie back then and used to get both SI and the Sporting News.   The football issues were always the best because you got the college edition one week and the next week, the pro edition.   I think I liked SI's baseball coverage a little more than football.

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.

It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

Some of the print media had become Twitter before there was even a Twitter. 

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.

It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

Solid point.   One thing I miss is being able to eat my breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings reading all the stories and box scores from the high school games on Friday night and colleges on Saturday.    You'd get an almost complete wrap up and because the newspaper publishers were actually interested in selling papers, they made sure they went to press as late as they could to get the coverage so it would not have to be in a late edition or the next day. It's not the same trying to read it on an iPad or phone hidden behind paywalls and if you do get around them, the coverage is just not there like it used to be.  No incentives to cover a whole distribution market.  

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

2 minutes ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Some of the print media had become Twitter before there was even a Twitter. 

Yep..  USA Today, aka McPaper. 

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

When I was gaining sports consciousness as a 10 year old in 1983 my folks got me a subscription. I have vivid memories reading it on the shitter. RIP

[0xdeadbeef 1645]

Are there really a bunch of people sitting around reading SI and listening to Jeff Ward on AM radio. 

 

[Captainant 27624]

12 minutes ago, 0xdeadbeef said:

listening to Jeff Ward on AM radio

Well, definitely not on FM anymore

[52-80 19142]

Stopped reading when they proclaimed Terrell Brandon the best PG in the NBA

[RPM 26315]

SI tried to evolve with the times when they partnered with CNN for CNNSI. It quickly flopped vs ESPN and they never tried it again. A shame really, they had the better talent.

Edited October 4, 2019 by RPM

[El Diablo 4232]

28 minutes ago, RPM said:

SI tried to evolve with the times when they partnered with CNN for CNNSI. It quickly flopped vs ESPN and they never tried it again. A shame really, they had the better talent.

SI.com was part of my routine up until I tried to visit the site and was redirected to cnnsi.com. I was wtf?? lol. Gradually stopped even doing that. 

Was mentioned above about the great photography, and they had some great staff photographers once upon a time but over the recent years have gone to free lance and I don't think those guys are as good as say David Bergman who took the shot of Drew Brees hoisting his kid over his head with confetti falling all around after winning the SB. The advances in digital photography also played a role in their demise. All of those great shots were on film. Film that had to be processed, printed, shipped by courier etc.. to get it into the magazine quickly from wherever the event being covered was. Even if it was a boxing match in Africa or Manila. They weren't sending those images by email!

[Grippe 310]

I think this is the only cover in SI history that doesn't have any words - didn't need it imo:

[Nice Guy Eddie 13507]

I wasn’t sure what SI even has been recently. Perhaps I may check out their website from time to time to get a different perspective than espn but I haven’t even seen the magazine in years. If you told me it was still published weekly or halted 5 years ago, I wouldn’t know what to guess.

[Dutch 4465]

I, too, was gifted a subscription, which also came with a football soap-on-a-rope and a deck of cards with every NFL team’s mascot and facts about each franchise, when I was 10 (1988), and I made a deal with my parents for them to keep paying for it (I did a ton of chores). Kept it through college and finally dropped in 2006, when the quality started to drop. The last issue I purchased was when the Mavs won the title in 2011. Still have at least 30 issues that I deemed “of significance” that I’ll thumb through occasionally. Still, the passing of something important to my childhood makes me a little sad. 

I wonder what will happen to The SI Vault; that’s a sports rabbit hole that will easily consume an afternoon. 

Edited October 4, 2019 by Dutch

[Steamboat1874 4048]

The last one I touched....

[Armybrat 40818]

11 hours ago, Deej said:

Who reads magazines, today? 

😎

[Beau Vine 54204]

11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Man, I don't like to see print media turning into Vaulter.

It's leaving news and information to fucking twitter.  Say all you want about convenience, something about print media made it better:  more ethical, more credible.

Easier to read on the shitter.

[LonghornJones 837]

I thought the Kathy Ireland issue was just quality journalism.

[Your Mom 4805]

12 hours ago, Updawg said:

With you even though I rarely read it anymore. That's a good brand name that could be salvaged but I doubt it. I definitely don't want a bunch of free bloggers Twitter news but that's what is coming to.

Need to get a central payment system to where you pay and can read various subs you want instead of signing up for s shit ton.

Apple News works like that. $10 a month gets you access to as many magazines and newspapers as you want. 

['stache 21790]

13 hours ago, Homercles said:

Yeah after all the hubbub, that was like 95% false, from that The Dirty Game ‘series’...I’ve been hoping they’d burn in Hell...especially Thayer Evans.  

This. They can shut down and go bankrupt but there will never be full justice until that fuckface is hit by a bus.

['stache 21790]

12 hours ago, gecko said:

Get woke, go broke [no CR]

Was told NIke would be going bankrupt any day now.

[Nueces River Rat 5537]

5 hours ago, RPM said:

SI tried to evolve with the times when they partnered with CNN for CNNSI. It quickly flopped vs ESPN and they never tried it again. A shame really, they had the better talent.

Man I might as well join the olds category with this.   I recall when CNN had "Sports Tonight" back in the day with Nick Charles and Fred Hickman.   They were really good at what they did and there was even some other good sports programming on CNN.  But then the Time Warner/ Turner merger and the CNNSI network came about and like you said it flopped and all that sports broadcasting talent scattered to never be heard from again.    Same goes with CNN and financial programming  and they tried the CNN/Money (or something like that)  channel and it flopped too.

[BabaYaga 15286]

Hey SI, take a seat.  Spent any time studying econ? 

No? 

Well, I'd like to introduce you to a topic you might be interested in:

• Creative destruction is a process through which something new brings about the demise of whatever existed before it. The term is used in a variety of areas including economics, corporate governance, product development, technology and marketing.

[Brisketexan 105049]

SI -- and SI ads on TV - and SI promo items, like the Muhammad Ali promo VHS - were a staple at the fraternity house circa late 80s-early 90s.  There were copies on the coffee table to thumb through, we memorized the Ali video word-for-word.  But then, there weren't many alternative outlets for sports coverage.

SI DOES need to get with the times - quick hit pieces on sports news of the day is a thing now.  But we also like good, in-depth writing (the Athletic may be filling that void).  SI has to find a way to meet that new market, or it'll die.

[Bateshorn 9927]