The media world was in shock this afternoon when ESPN announced that it would no longer publish the longform sports and culture site Grantland. The network said in a statement that it had “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’s broad scope was a draw for many writers, who took to Twitter to mourn the demise of a site they loved writing for:
I loved everyone I worked with at G and loved what we built. Watching good/kind/talented people get treated so callously = simply appalling.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 30, 2015
Grantland, I loved working for you. I will always treasure my association with its writers and editors.
ESPN, you blew it.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) October 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/660158747843555328
https://twitter.com/KarinaLongworth/status/660169054452256768
Well that's the first time I've ever found out I was laid off via Twitter
— Michael Baumann (@MichaelBaumann) October 30, 2015
I'm just alternating between starting to cry and laughing at the thought that we even got to do it at all.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) October 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/TheM_L_G/status/660165540875542528
You're all very nice. Thanks. We miss Grantland too, and we'll all keep writing stuff somewhere else until the 40th anniversary reunion tour
— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) October 30, 2015
I prefer at times like these to be grateful rather than sad. Frankly, it's amazing that Grantland was able to exist at all.
— Steven Hyden (@Steven_Hyden) October 30, 2015
FiveThirtyEight, ESPN’s other umbrella website, is unaffected by the Grantland shutdown, according to editor in chief Nate Silver.
