Not be a Debbie Downer, but the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could hasten the demise of video game and pop culture journalism as a viable career for many.
And if you’re a video game, comic book or some other kind of pop culture journalist… you might want to start building a life raft if you haven’t already.
Like, now.
Many startups and media companies such as Vox depended on SVB. And now many of those companies are struggling to find a way to even pay their employees this week.
I believe this will cause a ripple effect and a massive reevaluation of who gets VC going forward. Sites like Vice, Vox, BuzzFeed and so many others are now struggling to either stay afloat or find a buyer. Many of these companies have floated from one round of venture capital to another, never actually becoming profitable. In fact, their biggest investors often wound up getting burnt.
Disney lost $400 million on Vice during much better financial times. BuzzFeed tried — and failed — to go public. Vox is hanging on by its fingertips thanks to a cash injection from Penske Media.
And those are the big players. Niche sites about video games and pop culture have been decimated due in part to a slowdown in advertising. Frankly, they’re just not that important to the bottom line of their corporate owners. Lately, video game journos have been making just as many headlines for getting laid off than they have for screaming about Hogwarts Legacy.
According to The Information, the era of free money is officially over. If you’re going to survive as a media creator going forward, you will need to find an audience that’s willing to pay you for your hot takes and opinions.
Now, the key is to be so indispensable to readers (as opposed to just advertisers) that they’re willing to invest in your success through subscriptions.
And frankly, 95% of the journos in this space don’t have what it takes.
But for the rest of you? There’s hope. Get good. Stay out of unnecessary Twitter drama. And be approachable. Your livelihood might just depend on readers actually liking you.
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