OK...Well...This is a real buzzkill to write, but my run at boxingnews.co/latestboxingnews.com is over. The owner decided to shut things down. We just weren’t as commercially successful as we needed to be and they didn’t see much of a light at the end of the tunnel.
The bossman pointed to the harsh realities of today, where even major sites are hemorrhaging money and losing up to half of their traffic.
The common sense decision for some of these major sites would be to bring in a maverick who works outside the box, like me, to try something new to pique the interest of readers. I have the ideas and the ability and they have the platform/tech/reach/etc.
But we know why that would never happen, and it’s the same reason why my professional life will always be a struggle-- the boxing media is, literally, owned by the industry it covers. The major sites, some of the minor sites, all of the singular big shots in the business are fully funded by people in the boxing business with a vested interest in using the media as an extension of their public relations department.
When I was told of the decision to shut down boxingnews.co/latestboxingnews.com, my first instinct was to just, finally, hang ‘em up and move on to other writing endeavors. This is a business that, if you approach it honestly, will suck up your soul and grind it into mulch. There’s, almost literally, zero reward in trying to do things the right way.
It took less than a full day, however, before what was ultimately driving me from my profession inspired me to hang around a bit longer for one last stab at this.
This business is so devoid of independent voices that I feel a responsibility to at least have mine still out there (and to provide a platform for others with a voice worth hearing).
So…
I’ve turned the lights back on at my very first site, The Boxing Tribune, and I’ll be running things there for as long as humanly possible.
My former bossman, who was a fan first and became a friend second, has graciously offered me a space on his server to keep the work going and to protect my site from the persistent hacking attacks that forced me to close it down in the first place.
In its hey day, The Boxing Tribune made a lot of powerful enemies with a hardcore approach to the news that, as a result, made me the establishment persona non grata that I am today (lol). We also produced some quality work (hard-hitting, informative, and sometimes funny) over the years of its existence that, unfortunately, had to be deleted in the move over to the new server (although I will be re-posting some of it over the days/weeks/months to come).
I want to thank all of you who have read my work at boxingnews.co/latestboxingnews.com and have shared my articles. Whether you agree or disagree with what I say, please believe that everything comes from an honest/earnest place. I am not for sale or rent, nor will I ever be.
BTW, I will continue to work for Fight Hype, even as I rebuild The Boxing Tribune. Fight Hype has been so tremendously generous with me over the years and has always offered me 100% creative/editorial freedom-- a REAL rarity in this business. I’ll be Team FH forever (or for as long as they’ll keep having me, lol).
With this re-started Boxing Tribune, however, I will need your help.
Now, more than ever, I’ll need you to help me get the word out and help me grow our name. I will be working entirely without a safety net and money will be exceedingly tight. And, given that I will get zero shares and zero support from media colleagues, in a continued effort to freeze me out of the business, I need you, the people, more than ever. This rides or dies with your support.
I fully believe that fans are ready for independent media that acts like independent media. They are already abandoning the establishment websites in droves. We just need to get the word out and put the final nails into the coffin of news-as-promotion.
In short, these fuckers aren’t getting rid of me (or us) that easily.
As the Zapatistas once defiantly proclaimed in Mexico:
“They tried to bury us, but they didn't know we were seeds.”
Thanks for everything.
Paul Magno
P.S. Feel free to look around this site as it has many of my old pieces from various sites.
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