When Salon announced on Thursday that it is closing its doors after 31 years, my first reaction was shock — I was shocked they were even still around in the first place. Apparently they were, and now they’re not.

The left-wing digital outlet, which launched in 1995, broke the news in a post titled "Goodbye from Salon." The sudden decision caught pundits and journalists off guard. "Today, after 31 years, we are saddened to announce that Salon is ceasing publication," the outlet wrote.

I first stumbled across Salon in 2004, back when I was blogging the presidential election and running a site called Blogs for Bush. I can't say I ever read it, exactly, but Salon carried real weight online in those days, and I know we quoted it and rebutted it plenty of times. It was one of the go-to sources for whatever the left was thinking that week, which made it a handy punching bag.

But honestly, I haven't thought about the site in years. If you had asked me about it before Thursday, I would have guessed it folded ages ago.

Apparently not.

Recommended
BREAKING: Susie Wiles Out as Chief of Staff, Trump Names Replacement Matt Margolis West Coast, Messed Coast™ — California Failin' Victoria Taft

According to the farewell post, money drove the decision, and nothing else. "The business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years," Salon said. "After careful consideration, we have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable."

Let's be honest, here. Plenty of independent outlets on both the right and the left have built loyal audiences in that same rough business environment, so you'll forgive me if I don't buy the idea that the industry simply changed around them.

ICYMI: Maybe Clarence Thomas Is Conservatives' Only Hope Now

To be fair, Salon helped launch some familiar careers. CNN's Jake Tapper served as the site's White House correspondent from 1999 to 2003. Glenn Greenwald and New York Magazine's Rebecca Traister both spent big chunks of their careers there. Former editors-in-chief David Talbot and Joan Walsh each became prominent figures on the left while running the place.

The goodbye message leaned hard on nostalgia. It recalled how a small group of journalists started the site in November 1995, when the internet was "a largely unexplored frontier," hoping to create a publication with a strong voice that would connect journalism and readers in fresh ways.

The farewell also patted itself on the back for its work over the years. "Our journalism examined power and politics, questioned assumptions, surfaced stories that deserved attention and made room for perspectives that were too often overlooked," Salon wrote.

Well, that's subjective.

Over on X, people wasted no time digging up examples of what Salon considered worthy of publication. And it's bad. 

Gee, I wonder why it didn't work out.

To me, the most telling part of this whole story is how little I even noticed Salon was still around until it announced it was leaving. I’m sure I’m not alone. An outlet that once was an online force for the left faded so quietly that its own obituary doubled as a reminder it still existed.