A little breaking news today in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/business/media/deadspin-staffers-start-defector.html
Yeah, that’s right, they’re back, BAYBEE! A number of former Deadspinners are starting their own site, called Defector Media.
The site launches in September, but its first podcast — featuring mayo connoisseur Drew Magary and Trump tapioca brain whisperer David Roth — will drop on Aug. 13.
They’re following a path that some of their ex-Splinter colleagues are already trying to hack, with some success: https://discourseblog.substack.com/
It’s obviously too early right now to know how this will all turn out, but I’m just so damn excited to see a bunch of good writers and good people doing the damn thing for themselves, and I will be subscribing the moment I am able to do so.
Anyway, who’s gonna be the first among us to get out of the grays on the new site?!
*required.
I’m psyched. I heard an interview with Magary not too long ago where he was asked about the chance of a new Deadspin rising from the ashes, and he said he wanted to go a different way, but maybe he was just trying not to jinx it.
Definitely excited by the news!
It’s subscription-based, which I’m fine with. But if I’m paying, I don’t expect to have to fight my way out of the grays. We’ll see.
I for one could never get permanently out of the grays on any of those sites except the Takeout. Only reason I did there was because of Kate Bernot and my beer knowledge. Keitel & Luv were the only reason I ever got out of the grays on DUAN! I love those writers, just hope it doesn’t become the Troll board that Splinter became #holdthetomato
A good way to get out of the grays is when someone is leaving and they just go on an ungraying spree.
I think it is unlikely they would charge extra for commenting rights and put you in the grays. And I think the annual fee is high enough that commentors will be good about self policing and also embarassing trolls.
This feels like an open thread we should do haha.
I got ungreyed at Gawker really late in the game (sadly). Got followed by Splinter early on (their weekend guy; wish I could remember who it was) and then shortly thereafter got followed by Deadspin (I think it was Burneko, because he commented to laugh at one of my comments and then I got followed the next morning and was SO EXCITED)
I got followed early by the Splinter weekend guy too, I think his name was David Boddinger. I rarely commented on Deadspin but got followed because I made some cracks about Rick Pitino and Louisville basketball team that somebody enjoyed, can’t remember who it was. But it was before the big strippers/recruiting scandal so they stood out more than they would have later. It was just lucky timing.
Yes! That was the guy!
I didn’t comment a ton on Deadspin either but I did jump early on the Bob Kraft massage story and got like 600 stars on a comment, which was (sadly) a highlight for me.
And they say prayer doesn’t work.
So, who’s missing?