The Media World Reacts To Andrew Sullivan’s Departure From Blogging

The news that Andrew Sullivan would be pulling the plug on his pioneering blog made no small splash in the media world on Wednesday.

Many took to Twitter to lament the end of an era:

Andrew Sullivan (pictured) is retiring from blogging. http://t.co/M919JbZyYj pic.twitter.com/ouijlGAGRt

— Gawker (@Gawker) January 28, 2015

Whoa. A deeply sad day for fans of the classic blogosphere. http://t.co/NFCU576xWa

— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 28, 2015

I’m really gonna miss reading @sullydish every day.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 28, 2015

I have disagreed w/ @sullydish many, many times. But he also linked & engaged even with ideas & people out of line with his own views.

— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) January 28, 2015

Time to re-up my case for Andrew Sullivan as the most influential political writer of his generation: http://t.co/nhAManQtIk

— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) January 28, 2015

I do think Andrew Sullivan’s absence from daily blogging will be felt once 2016 picks up. He kept things fun… http://t.co/cP98Qq0lW3

— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) January 28, 2015

My substantial political and philosophical disagreements with @sullydish notwithstanding, I owe him a debt. He linked my very first post.

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 28, 2015

Others wondered whether the announcement would even stick:

Taking bets for how long this will last. http://t.co/fbekB5JD6N

— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) January 28, 2015

has it really only been ten years since the last time Andrew Sullivan said he would stop blogging http://t.co/tOrzUvVYDc

— alex pareene (@pareene) January 28, 2015

Maybe this Andrew Sullivan thing will work out. I remember when Phil Collins did his “farewell tour.” He came back! Because he loved us.

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 28, 2015

But not everyone was shedding a tear:

With Sullivan’s departure, The Internet loses yet another crucial grumpy and confused white male voice. Goodnight sweet prince.

— Erin Gloria Ryan (@morninggloria) January 28, 2015

area man quits blogging due to creeping misandry

— Jessica Roy (@JessicaKRoy) January 28, 2015

Meanwhile, Politico’s media reporter Dylan Byers wrote that “Sullivan was able to keep blogging alive (and lucrative) long after the era of blogs had come to an end”:

It’s also true that Sullivan’s influence has waned of late. While there is still some demand for Sullivan’s outspokenness — he’s at his best when he’s arguing, aggressively — there is far less demand for unspecialized aggregation. … Sullivan deserves immense credit for keeping his project alive, but its days were numbered.

Or as “The Daily Show” staff writer Daniel Radosh put it:

Andrew Sullivan started in the days when old people would ask, “What’s a blog?” and ends in the days when young people ask, “What’s a blog?”

— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) January 28, 2015

Ed. note: The writer of this post, Tracy Walsh, previously worked for Sullivan at The Dish.

Photo by Geoff Livingston.