Salon is shutting down after 31 years, the online publication said Nov. 5. The company said it is ceasing publication because its publishing model is “no longer sustainable,” while leaving readers with only a provisional answer about access to its past work.
In an unsigned farewell message, Salon said the business conditions facing independent digital journalism had changed substantially over time. It did not identify a specific event, financial figure, or other immediate trigger for the decision.
The announcement marks the end of new publishing by a site that began in November 1995 and became an early web outlet for politics, culture, criticism and ideas. Deadline reported that Salon debuted on Nov. 20, 1995, meaning the closure announcement arrived weeks before its 31st anniversary.
Will Salon’s archive remain online?
For now, yes. Salon chief content officer Erin Keane wrote on Bluesky that the editorial archive would stay live “for now,” according to The Verge. That is not a permanent preservation commitment, and Salon’s announcement and the supplied reporting do not specify a longer-term archive plan.
The distinction matters. Salon has said it is ending publication, but the reporting does not establish that every page will immediately disappear. Readers looking for older reporting can still find the archive at present, subject to that stated uncertainty.
What Salon said about the closure
Salon described the decision as difficult and thanked the journalists, editors, photographers, producers, designers, business teams and other colleagues who worked at the publication. It also thanked readers for supporting its reporting, essays, criticism and discussions over three decades.
The company’s explanation stopped at the condition of its publishing model. Salon did not provide details on finances, staffing effects, severance, or a schedule for changes to the website.
Who owned Salon?
Find.co acquired Salon.com in November 2023 from prior owners Drew Schoentrup and Chris Richmond, Deadline reported. The available reporting does not link that acquisition to the closure decision.
Salon’s own farewell framed its history around the people who made the publication and the work they produced. That history now sits in an archive that remains accessible for the moment, while the plan beyond that remains unspecified.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
