Andrew Losowsky

Saving Salon

24 February 2003. 3 comments. Inspired by .

OK so they fucked up. They spent EIGHTY-MILLION DOLLARS in no time flat, for chrissake. And it's not always the web's best read. But I'm still buying a subscription to Salon and so should you.

Why am I giving my money to a group of people who spent up their assets faster than you can say "I BARRISTER TO FORMER HEAD OF STATE OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA"? Simply put, because it's important.

Salon is a yardstick. It's one of a few that dared to claim that the internet craved unique content. This group said that, yes, people can create their own blogs/write their own content/put online what they REALLY think, but that doesn't mean that decent professional journalism can't survive too. They said that being independent and respected can make you a living. That there is indeed a place for such things, and such things done well, on the internet and it won't always make a loss.

Salon is one of the last of these (and certainly the most famous). It's far from perfect, but if it goes to the wall then venture capital will shy away from professional webzines in the future. It'll put 'online journalism' as a profession back five years, if not more. There won't be a better 'zine to rise from the ashes for a long time to come, because no business will believe that the web can sustain one.

A measure of this is, naturally, self-interest. I'm a journalist, after all, and Salon is left-leaning and values decent length features. But it's also born from a deep-seated belief in the web as a medium. If Salon had spent their $80m wisely then they would be safe for another 20 years or more (and would have better columnists). They didn't. Fine. But it needs to survive so that the new zines about to break through will have a fighting chance.

So I'm just about to hand over some of my hard-earned cash to add my name to those that believe that, as a writer's medium, the web matters. That decent content deserves reward. That if Salon goes down, it'll be a long time before any else gets the necessary resources to prove that independent, professional online journalism can be worthwhile - and that andrewsullivan.com and the egos of bloggers aren't the be-all and end-all.

I just hope they'll spend it with a little more care.