How’s everyone’s weekend going?
Thanks for spending a portion of Hibernation January with the Six.
Let’s get right to it.
THE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ROT OF TWO MEDIA BRANDS
The first magazine I ever truly read as a kid was Sports Illustrated.
My heroes were sports writers: Frank Deford, Curry Kirkpatrick, Dan Jenkins (whom I had the fortunate chance to meet later in life). They would travel to major cities, college towns and rural outposts and write about the people they met. Through their brilliant storytelling, they made those places and people colorful and fascinating. The pre-adolescent in me, then teenager, was enthralled.
But that romantic era of Sports Illustrated died a long time ago. The business model of publishing changed from analog to digital and much like Kodak or Blockbuster, SI failed to adapt. This past week, the company announced it was laying off almost its entire staff. While surprising in the moment as such news would be for any legacy brand like SI, postmortem, there’s an almost detached expectancy, sort of like overbought turkey from the deli.
When something is mismanaged long enough, it tends to rot.
Negligence towards the internet economy and the failure to monetize content explains SI’s downfall.
The situation with the Los Angeles Times is different.
Just a few days after SI’s announced purge, the Los Angeles Times eliminated 20-25% of its work force, or around 115 staffers. It’s believed to be one of the largest staff reductions in the paper’s 142-year history. The owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, said the cuts were necessary “because the paper could no longer lose $30 million to $40 million a year without making progress toward building higher readership that would bring in advertising and subscriptions to sustain the organization.”
Forget about the predictable race hustle response from the unions. Or the idea that rich men like Soon-Shiong can just withstand losses year after year because what’s a few tens of millions of dollars to a billionaire. I mean, serving the “public interest” should offset any financial setbacks, right? Isn’t that what the Washington Post slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is all about? (owned by gazillionaire and yacht hopper Jeff Bezos).
Wrong. Soon-Shiong got tired of losing money with no end in sight. But the rot inside the LA Times is more a cultural one than economic.
Columnists openly mocked vaccine rejectors who died of Covid-related symptoms. The editorial board referred to a conservative gubernatorial candidate as the “black face of white supremacy” (the absurdity of the headline ignores the fact the candidate, Larry Elder, grew up in that right wing hotbed of South Central Los Angeles). That same board has consistently endorsed progressive candidates in local and state legislative races. Those endorsements matter as most residents are disinterested voters and view an LA Times endorsement as an affirmation of legitimacy.
And how has all of this worked out for Californians? Much like Illinois, residents are fleeing a state where the average January temperature is 55 degrees.
If Soon-Shiong wants to know why he’s losing so much money, he may want to look inside his own house first.
The question we are left with: how are we supposed to feel about the collapses of both SI and the LA Times?
For Sports Illustrated, I feel wistful nostalgia. I haven’t subscribed to the magazine in well over a decade. The adults in the room should have known better but didn’t. Any mourning over its demise took place a long time ago, like all night Madden ‘93 video games with my college roommates.
For the LA Times, I don’t typically celebrate when journalists lose their job (I’ve been there). And there are reporters at the Times not aligned with the ideological whims of ownership and race-baiting union leadership. But I can’t help but feel a hardened comeuppance. You get what you give.
Billionaires are rich because they are good at spotting winners. Legacy-turned-corporate media brands like Sports Illustrated and Los Angeles Times, once proud thought leaders in this country, are now rotting losers.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Gen Z Republicans To The GOP: Hello???
We enter a slight non-voting stretch of the ‘24 election primary season, with Feb. 3 being the next one in South Carolina. Plenty of space for news holes to be filled. Politico with a trends-y piece on younger faces showing up at GOP conferences this election cycle. But there appears to be a disconnect between enthusiasm for the party by Gen Zers and GOP leaders: “Despite generational trends in party affiliation, there are conservative voices and organizations that have clout with young Americans. But some young Republicans argue that the party’s national committee isn’t collaborating with them effectively.”
2. An American Girl In The Ozempic Era.
A classic coming of age story with a 2020s twist. The author of article via The Cut gets incredible access to a teenaged Missouri and her family as the girl is one of the first children given a new class of drug to control their weight. A fascinating read of contemporary narrative non-fiction and the result nears modern mythology.
3. The Last Score From A Dying Thief.
Here at the Six we condemn burglary and other forms of criminal acts. But there are times when it’s not entirely inappropriate to show a grudging respect for a job well done, even if that job happens to be professional thievery. The BBC with an article on a 76-year-old man accused of carrying out a smash-and-grab heist in 2005 of one of four existing original copies of the ruby slippers worn in The Wizard of Oz. The man claims that after a life of crime, he had finally gotten out of the game for 10 years, at which point the thought of one final score became irresistible. He got busted and with six months to live is pleading clemency.
4. How To Buy A Sports Team In 2024.
Last summer, the sale of the NFL Washington Commanders football team was finalized. The new owner paid just over $6 billion for the franchise. It’s the highest sale price to date for any sports franchise in the United States. The leading partner of the transaction, Josh Harris, did not write the 10-figure check himself. He had a series of investors who all kicked in a portion of the sale price. Most of those contributors are unknown. According to this story from GQ, there is more demand than ever for a piece of professional soccer, basketball or football teams and scarcity––there’s just 165 units total––drives prices up, up and away.
Pretty much everything. Sharks live in all of the world’s oceans and will consume anything they find. Fish, crustaceans and other aquatic life might be what we would expect as their core diet, but there are shark species that eat sea birds, reptiles, and sea weed. Adult bull sharks will even eat each other, while tiger sharks, “the garbage bin of the ocean,” have been known to consume rubber boots, coal and human limbs. I always think of a scene in the movie “Jaws” when Quint cuts open a dead shark and finds a license plate, beer bottles and lamp shade.
6. One TikTok Video Ruined This Man’s Life.
We meet Leland Desmond Brown, Jr., a Philadelphia man just trying to get ahead in life. He’s saving up money to take care of his family and eventually, get a house. A piece of the American Dream, right? The plan was working until Brown decided to film his current living arrangement and post it on TikTok. It turns out, Brown and his girl are living rent free in a storage unit. The owners of the storage facility saw the video and kicked him out. A damn shame. We wish Brown the best in his pursuit of happiness but may we offer a piece of advice: more discretion when squatting.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.