Last Wednesday I briefly talked about big departures happening in G/O Media. Then I realized belatedly that would have been a more interesting header than the rest of the crap I wrote. So I thought today I’d spend a little time talking about the decline of news media.

As mentioned last week, there have been two high profile departures from the G/O media sphere: Patricia Hernandez of Kotaku and Laura Bassett of Jezebel. While details of Hernandez’s firing are sketchy, Bassett was more vocal: “If I’m not allowed to replace my deputy editor, give any of my writers raises or promotions ever for the great work they do, or fill any of the half dozen open writer slots I’ve had for a year, it’s clear that any pathway for growth I had here has been deliberately cut off and that I’ve done all I can do to make this site what it could be given reasonable resources.” G/O has recently begun experimenting with AI-generated articles, which got off to a disastrous start when an AI-generated article purporting to list the Star Wars movies and shows in chronological order did not actually do so correctly. Yet G/O media remains committed to AI despite that. We’ve talked at length here at The Avocado about the decline of the AV Club, and it’s sad to see the network of sites further deteriorate with no upswing in sight.

G/O Media is just one in a long line of websites that are being driven by corporate cost-cutting and ad-chasing. Recently, disgruntled writers from comic book news site CBR took control of the site’s Twitter account in the wake of resignations and firings at the website to highlight what was happening behind the scenes. CBR is owned by the conglomerate Valnet, which owns similar sites such as ScreenRant, GameRant, and Collider, and has been pushing articles and listicles that will drive clicks rather than more rigorous news reporting, and writers being tasked with a quota of 7 articles per day. Although AI is still against their policy, some within the Valnet sphere have claimed that AI has been used across its various media properties.

All of this falls in line with what Cory Doctorow has called the “enshittification” of the internet. Websites rely on advertising dollars to stay afloat, and to get advertising dollars they need search engine optimization to try to hit the top of Google results. Of course, every other competing website is trying to do the same thing. And so search is breaking as Google gives increasingly useless results, and websites are churning out hyper optimized content that often says nothing at all – and because these websites are owned by corporations seeking profit above all else, why pay a writer when you can just get ChatGPT to churn out content for you?

We’re often critical of the media here in the PT, and for good reason. But I do think this highlights the importance of paying for quality journalism. If you’re able, consider subscribing to a publication whose reporting you believe in. Famously, writers from G/O Media’s Deadspin created a new website called Defector, supported by subscriptions (in large part from Deadspin’s dedicated community of commenters). Writers from Vice’s tech outlet Motherboard are following a similar path, launching 404 Media. These websites are less beholden to corporate shareholder interests and can focus on the type of reporting that matters to them. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but it is a path forward. However, that kind of content does rely on support from readers. The enshittification of the internet will likely get worse before it gets better, so I encourage you to support the journalists and outlets who you think do good work – because we need that now more than ever.

Be kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.