11 Comments

Jenna,

Thanks for the thoughtful piece. You are correct, SI and others have been in decline for years. SI just hastened it a bit for themselves with their wokeness. It would have eventually happened anyway!

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Thanks, Jim. Yes, they hastened their demise by leaning into the trend without thinking of what got them to the top in the first place. A sad state of affairs.

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I was born in 1942, and consider myself to be a member of the luckiest generation; some of my luck was described in this well written article.

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Thank you, Doug. I hope your luck never runs out.

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Really enjoyed this, Jenna, thank you. I grew up reading those back of the SI longform stories Frank Deford, Pete Dexter, even George Plimpton. You brought back memories.

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I appreciate that. Thank you for reading!

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I just now was able to go back and peruse the article by Henry Luce that linked to your article and found it to be fascinating. Realizing that this was written 83 years ago, and before we had actually entered the war, the final section of his article, "America's Vision of Our World," was most intriguing in light of what has actually happened in ensuing 83 years. He really had quite a clear vision, and for several decades it was beneficial to our country. But in the last 20 years or so, the rapid advancement of technology is now the problem. As Paul Harvey used to say so often, we're outdriving our headlights. Thanks for providing that link, it was fun just to go through the magazine and see what was being done in 1941.

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I love this kind of stuff. A window into the past, and archival print being one of the good things about the internet.

R.I.P Paul Harvey, wise beyond his (many) years.

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I often long for the days when reading a good magazine was well worth the time, and like you, for me S.I. was #1 on my list. I wrote and had several letters to the editor published, and I just loved knowing it was on its way. This technological "visual" age we live in now is fast-paced, stripping us of the joy of lingering over the various articles for several days. And of course, the woke movement continues to lead to the demise of many once good things. I wouldn't go to a Disney movie if you paid me, and I've grown to despise ESPN, but because it is the 500-pound gorilla of sports now, I often have little choice, but only for the sporting events themselves. Very well written article, thank you so much.

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I agree, Jeff. I turn on ESPN once in a while, and they're either always screaming at each other or manufacturing some controversy so they have something to talk about. It seems this mentality has bled into every corner of media, online or otherwise. Who knows, maybe some entrepreneurial soul will see an opening and take a chance doing "old school" reporting and long-form stories. They are missed. Thank you for reading and your feedback!

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I look forward to what you write, it feels like good old fashioned journalism.

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