Why Did So Many Good Pop Culture Sites Die in 2015?

The day before Halloween, Grantland came crashing down.

The news wasn't entirely a surprise—the ESPN-owned pop culture and sports site had been hanging by a thread since editor Bill Simmons's exit—but it prompted a familiar cycle of breathless eulogizing and hand-wringing from afar. Well-liked media outlets fold and fold again, but Grantland, with its enviable stable of writers and large corporate backing, perhaps appeared invincible.