An Earnest Plea

Committing the cardinal sin of being emotionally vulnerable on the internet

TLDR: Please share IBT. You will be rewarded!

At the end of February, the legendary sportswriter Peter King announced his retirement. I grew up reading King’s masterful long-form articles in Sports Illustrated, and his unique blend of narrative story telling and genuinely insightful coverage of the behemoth that is the National Football League inspired me and countless others to push the boundaries of what is possible with the written word.

While King is leaving the industry on his own terms, thousands of other writers have not been so lucky. Media, especially journalistic media, has been in crisis mode for at least a decade. In the last six months alone, outlets ranging from Vox to Highsnobiety to the Los Angeles Times have had layoffs, while famous publications like Vice and even Sports Illustrated appear to have shut down entirely. 

Much of the blame for the slow death of media can be laid at the feet of Silicon Valley, especially Meta and Alphabet. An estimated $300 billion in ad buy…