Online magazine Salon, early staple of internet discourse, shuts down
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Salon → shut → discourse
Salon is shutting down after 31 years
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Salon → shut → years
Salon, one of the early internet's most influential websites that featured sharp voices and political and cultural journalism backed by a liberal sensibility, announced Thursday it would shut down after 31 years of publication.
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it → feature → publication
“It has been an extraordinary privilege,” the outlet said in a farewell note.
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outlet → say → note
The announcement, seen as a surprise, cited the fact that “the business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years.”
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realities → see → years
It did not immediately indicate what would become of its employees, though some reported they had lost their jobs.
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they → indicate → jobs
“Over three decades, Salon has brought together politics, culture, criticism and ideas in a way that was distinctly our own,” the unsigned farewell note said.
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note → bring → way
“Our journalism examined power and politics, questioned assumptions, surfaced stories that deserved attention and made room for perspectives that were too often overlooked.
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that → examine → perspectives
Our writers and editors helped shape conversations about the forces changing our lives.
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writers → shape → lives
Salon began its life in the mid-1990s, barely three years after the internet itself went mainstream and a time when the “World Wide Web” was still written out in that fashion.
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Web → begin → fashion
It launched a decade before the newspaper and print magazine markets imploded — and a decade, too, before the rise of social media fragmented the journalism world.
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rise → launch → world
As its name suggested, Salon was initially styled as an online magazine and meeting place, a site where more provocative opinions and stories that might not be at home in daily newspapers or even then-dominant newsweeklies like Time or Newsweek could surface and generate discussion.
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that → suggest → discussion
It quickly became a place where writers wanted their work to appear.
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work → become → ?
“The timing was right — readers were tired of bland, market-tested media products, and the internet allowed us to launch something original, something with a strong voice,” founder David Talbot said on the outlet’s five-year anniversary in 2000.
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Talbot → test → 2000
It drew a cadre of high-profile writers and people who would become famous, including Jake Tapper and Glenn Greenwald.
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who → draw → Tapper
Two of its editors-in-chief, Talbot and Joan Walsh, went on to become prominent progressive political voices as well.
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Two → go → chief
As the internet grew, so did Salon's competition.
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competition → grow → ?
Slate emerged the following year, and soon after, online magazines became the order of the day.
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magazines → emerge → day
Eventually, older print publications like The Atlantic began putting more content online and the marketplace of online ideas grew.
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marketplace → begin → ideas
Salon used Princess Diana's death in 1997 to go beyond its culture-and-criticism roots and wade into breaking-news coverage.
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Salon → use → coverage
Salon did not immediately say what would become of its immense online archives, which include three decades of stories from across the world and across topics and genres.
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which → say → topics
In the statement, Salon also made a point of thanking its readers.
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Salon → make → readers
“You came to Salon for the journalism, the dialogue, the essays, the criticism, the unexpected discoveries and the sense that there was a place on the internet where ideas mattered,” it said.
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it → come → internet
“You read, shared, challenged, subscribed, wrote to us and kept coming back.
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You → read → us
Your engagement made Salon a publication and a community, and it gave our work meaning.
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it → make → meaning
We are so grateful for the time you spent with us.”
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you → spend → us
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