The devolution of Boston.com continues

[soxhop411]

 
 
Boston.com social media and sports producer Steve Silva, the creator of the legendary Boston Dirt Dogs blog on the Red Sox, was one of the major cuts in the bloodletting on Morrissey Boulevard. In 2013, Silva was filming runners at the Boston Marathon finish line when the bombs went off. Silva was the most senior member let go in the layoffs.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2015/09/15/boston-dot-com-layoffs/
 

 
We have spent much of the past few months rethinking an operational vision for Boston.com that both maintains our autonomy as a standalone business and reinforces our partnership with the Globe. Today, we announced a restructuring of Boston.com’s newsroom and the reduction of 12 full-time staff positions. This realignment includes changes to our leadership – Tim Molloy has chosen to step down and Kaitlyn Johnston, Boston.com’s current deputy editor, has been appointed as our site’s new editor.
 This is a business decision that is part of a larger effort at Boston Globe Media Partners designed to put Boston.com in a stronger and more sustainable position for growth. That said, we would be remiss to overlook the fact that this was also a people decision, one that affects the lives of many who have worked tirelessly to support our operation. We are deeply grateful for that work.

 

 

[TFP]

I think the bigger story here isn't Silva getting laid off, it's the complete decimation of Boston.com by the Globe. With all apologies to Mr. Finn, I haven't visited Boston.com once in years if it wasn't because I was directly linked to one of his columns.

What happened here? Was it avoidable? Is the Globe doing the right thing or are they out of their mind?

 

[Dirty Sanchez Forever]

Does a pink slip taste like vanilla ice cream?
 
Full of slander?  Yes.  Racist?  Always borderline.  The best that someone could put together with MS Frontpage?  Not even close.  But legendary is a stretch. Poor Dirt Dog.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

I think the bigger story here isn't Silva getting laid off, it's the complete decimation of Boston.com by the Globe.

 
I'd say it's much bigger than a decimation. It seems like they're completely tearing it down.

 

[Manramsclan]

I think the bigger story here isn't Silva getting laid off, it's the complete decimation of Boston.com by the Globe. With all apologies to Mr. Finn, I haven't visited Boston.com once in years if it wasn't because I was directly linked to one of his columns.
What happened here? Was it avoidable? Is the Globe doing the right thing or are they out of their mind?

 
 
I think the Globe is doing the right thing from a business perspective. Boston.com used to be the Globe for free. Now it's clickbait for breaking news and slideshows to sell advertising. Now, if you want the Globe online you have to pay. If they don't do it, the paper is dead. 
 
This was inevitable in my opinion and began to happen a long time ago.

 

[PseuFighter]

i bet the domain is worth a good amount if they wanted to give it up completely.

 

[thebestwas33tom]

 
 
I think the Globe is doing the right thing from a business perspective. Boston.com used to be the Globe for free. Now it's clickbait for breaking news and slideshows to sell advertising. Now, if you want the Globe online you have to pay. If they don't do it, the paper is dead. 
 
This was inevitable in my opinion and began to happen a long time ago.

I'm pretty sure that any technical SOSH member just edits their browser cookie or deletes it and resets the free artcile count. The Globe is free until they fix that little problem.  Not that I want to read Carfardo or Shank. Finn is another story.

 

[nattysez]

If they still employ Eric Wilbur they haven't made enough cuts.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

I'm pretty sure that any technical SOSH member just edits their browser cookie or deletes it and resets the free artcile count. The Globe is free until they fix that little problem.

Saying "The Globe is free until they fix that problem" is the same thing as saying "stealing is fine unless you get caught."

Don't mean to call out bestwas33tom as he's describing a not uncommon sentiment, but every time I see carefree encouragement of this kind of stealing (notably including "who's got a stream?") questions during game threads, it pisses me off. I wish we could adopt a board-wide policy of not encouraging intellectual theft.

/rant off

 

[thebestwas33tom]

Saying "The Globe is free until they fix that problem" is the same thing as saying "stealing is fine unless you get caught."

Don't mean to call out bestwas33tom as he's describing a not uncommon sentiment, but every time I see carefree encouragement of this kind of stealing (notably including "who's got a stream?") questions during game threads, it pisses me off. I wish we could adopt a board-wide policy of not encouraging intellectual theft.

/rant offI

I have no respone as a newbee MJ, you are not wrong sir. I thought I was just pointing an obvious flaw and a pattern of behavior of technical savy people.

 

[riboflav]

After moving to the DC area in 2009 and being quite homesick, I visited Boston.com a lot - more than it was actually worth. But, I haven't been back in over two years as it really deteriorated badly. Nice to see it might have, at least, been part of a plan.

 

[Reverend]

Saying "The Globe is free until they fix that problem" is the same thing as saying "stealing is fine unless you get caught."

Don't mean to call out bestwas33tom as he's describing a not uncommon sentiment, but every time I see carefree encouragement of this kind of stealing (notably including "who's got a stream?") questions during game threads, it pisses me off. I wish we could adopt a board-wide policy of not encouraging intellectual theft.

/rant off

 
It may be unethical, but is it a crime?

I'm not trying to be flip so much as be precise. Because I'm not sure I want to live in an America where clearing your cache is a crime, and the fact that online content providers have not yet found a workable model that makes them as profitable as they would like should not make it so.

 

[leetinsley38]

With all apologies to Mr. Finn, I haven't visited Boston.com once in years if it wasn't because I was directly linked to one of his columns.
 

I used to have "Touching All the Bases" bookmarked, not Boston.com/sports.  Then they closed that loophole by not aggregating Chad's content on one page. I then wander over to Boston.com on mobile a few times, and try to guess Chad's stories by the headlines (doesn't show the author).  Accidentally clicked on a few too many Eric Wilbur stories so I don't risk that anymore either.  The internet can be a scary place sometimes...

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

i bet the domain is worth a good amount if they wanted to give it up completely.

 
Maybe to another media company, but I'm not sure how they could monetize it any better than the Globe has done.

 

[Chad Finn]

I used to have "Touching All the Bases" bookmarked, not Boston.com/sports.  Then they closed that loophole by not aggregating Chad's content on one page. I then wander over to Boston.com on mobile a few times, and try to guess Chad's stories by the headlines (doesn't show the author).  Accidentally clicked on a few too many Eric Wilbur stories so I don't risk that anymore either.  The internet can be a scary place sometimes...

 
Here's where you can find everything I write for Boston.com. Facebook likes (everything, including the Globe media stuff, goes here) are also greatly appreciated. 

 

[Billy Jo Robidoux]

I've been clearing my browser cache for years in order to read the Globe for free.  I don't feel the least bit bad about it, since it would be simple for them to make their site secure.  Yet they haven't done so, which makes them suckers.
 
And as Canada Bill Jones once said, "It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."