Salon, Pioneering Digital News Website, Shutters After 31 Years

Salon.com, the pioneering digital news website known for its political and cultural commentary, permanently shuttered on Thursday, sharing in an open letter that “we are saddened to announce that Salon is ceasing publication.”“It’s difficult to find the right words for the end of something that has meant so much to so many people,” the letter, titled “Goodbye From Salon,” read. “Salon was never just a website. It was an idea about what journalism could be, born at a moment when the internet was still a largely unexplored frontier.” The site was launch on Nov. 20, 1995. The publication’s outgoing editor-in-chief is Joseph Neese, who’s been with Salon since 2017. Founded by a small group of journalists on an aspirational idea of “what journalism could be,” the site touted a “strong voice, a curiosity about the world and a belief that the internet could bring journalism and readers together in new ways.” Its founding editors helped pioneer the internet news medium that came “to define an entirely new era of publishing,” the letter reads. The site’s shuttering came after years of downsizing in the Salon newsroom and amid widespread cuts in the entertainment and media sphere due to waves of consolidation, AI-driven change and cost-cutting efforts industry-wide. In 2025, entertainment and media layoffs were up 18% with over 17,000 jobs slashed. “The business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years. After careful consideration, we have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable,” Salon.com’s letter read announcing its shuttering. “We know this news will be deeply disappointing to many of you, and we share that sadness.” Read the Salon.com letter in full below: Today, after 31 years, we are saddened to announce that Salon is ceasing publication. It’s difficult to find the right words for the end of something that has meant so much to so many people. Salon was never just a website. It was an idea about what journalism could be, born at a moment when the internet was still a largely unexplored frontier. When Salon launched in November 1995, the web was a very different place. A small group of journalists set out to create something original: a publication with a strong voice, a curiosity about the world and a belief that the internet could bring journalism and readers together in new ways. They helped pioneer a form of journalism that would come to define an entirely new era of publishing. Over three decades, Salon has brought together politics, culture, criticism and ideas in a way that was distinctly our own. Our journalism examined power and politics, questioned assumptions, surfaced stories that deserved attention and made room for perspectives that were too often overlooked. Our writers and editors helped shape conversations about the forces changing our lives. The work was never simply about keeping up with the news. It was about making sense of it. The history of Salon is also the history of the people who made it. We are profoundly grateful to the journalists, editors, photographers, producers, designers, business teams and countless other colleagues who brought this publication to life across its many chapters. To the founders who imagined it, the staff members who built it, the contributors who gave it their voices and the alumni who carried its spirit into the world: Thank you. Salon’s legacy belongs to all of you. We also want to thank our readers. You came to Salon for the journalism, the dialogue, the essays, the criticism, the unexpected discoveries and the sense that there was a place on the internet where ideas mattered. You read, shared, challenged, subscribed, wrote to us and kept coming back. Your engagement made Salon a publication and a community, and it gave our work meaning. We are so grateful for the time you spent with us. The business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years. After careful consideration, we have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable. We know this news will be deeply disappointing to many of you, and we share that sadness. Thirty-one years is a remarkable run, but what matters most is what happened during those years: the journalism, the ideas, the voices, the conversations and the community that grew around them. Salon helped demonstrate what digital journalism could be and could become. We hope that legacy will continue to matter long after today. Thank you for being part of our story. It has been an extraordinary privilege. Salon