In what has been a difficult day for journalism both locally and nationally, ESPN announced the decision to shut down Grantland only a couple of months after not renewing former editor-in-chief Bill Simmons' contract. Here is what ESPN's press release said:
Effective immediately we are suspending the publication of Grantland. After careful consideration, we have decided to direct our time and energy going forward to projects that we believe will have a broader and more significant impact across our enterprise.
Grantland distinguished itself with quality writing, smart ideas, original thinking and fun. We are grateful to those who made it so. Bill Simmons was passionately committed to the site and proved to be an outstanding editor with a real eye for talent. Thanks to all the other writers, editors and staff who worked very hard to create content with an identifiable sensibility and consistent intelligence and quality. We also extend our thanks to Chris Connelly who stepped in to help us maintain the site these past five months as he returns to his prior role.
Despite this change, the legacy of smart long-form sports story-telling and innovative short form video content will continue, finding a home on many of our other ESPN platforms.
Simmons, now working for HBO, had this to say:
The sports cable giant has been making major cuts recently, laying off around 300 workers in the past few weeks. On a personal note, Grantland did some of the best long-form writing on the Internet and they did it very consistently. I'm sad to see it go but am at least relieved to hear the writers will still at least have a job in the near future:
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