I hate it, but it also makes me optimistic in a perverse way. If the big companies/bosses don't have any good ideas about how to serve the (many!) people who still want to read interesting stuff, and it seems like they don't, then those of us who actually care about all that can take it from here.

You can always start your own internet news site, but the wealthy will still control the means to send traffic to those sites and often the site itself. You still have to work in a world operated by Google, FB, X, substack, ect.

How often do these media VC takeovers actually deliver value for the investors? Sure feels like the majority of them end up failing.

I'm terrified though of the Sinclair creep buying the Baltimore Sun. Once they've sucked all the marrow from the bones, the VC vultures will just pass things off to the pure right-wing ideological freaks.

Oh man. Who shut down today?

Y’all are doing the lords work man, wish I could afford to pay more than I already do

Yes!! It's maybe pragmatically optimistic, but the market for scamming people out with content sludge machines feels like it's gonna bottom out at some point A lot of good people will lose their jobs before that point which very much sucks, but I'm holding out for Human Stuff to still be standing

who will pay you though

Absolutely agree. The seed capital is the hard nut to crack but I think there are a few ways there that don't involve begging "good" billionaires and the like.

but how do we take it from here with no money

Yes, I appreciate that we’re finally getting back to, “you make a product that I want so I buy it from you,” without needing anyone else involved