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The Media

Tech News Site 'The INQUIRER' Is Shutting Down (theinquirer.net) 39

Posted by EditorDavid from the off-to-the-pub dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader pvjr writes that "The Inquirer is giving up the ghost and going dark in March, 2020."

An announcement on the site from the site's editor explains that the change is "due to a recent decline in digital advertising, along with a change of focus for the business..."

"We came, we Inquired, we're off to the pub." The site will remain live until the end of March, but Thursday [was] the final day that we will be publishing new content...

Before joining, I was a long-time admirer of the site, which since its debut in 2001 has energised tech journalism with its fearless attitude, snarky reporting, world-reaching exclusives and its ability to have an, er, bit fun now and again. This is all, of course, because of the fantastic team of journalists behind it...

And that brings me to the most important point of all. Thank you -- yes, you! -- dear reader. Over the past two decades, you have been the lifeblood of this website. Without you, The INQUIRER would have been a short-lived experiment, but your inquisitiveness, support and, er, often honest feedback made The INQUIRER the success that it was.

We'll see you down the pub...
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Tech News Site 'The INQUIRER' Is Shutting Down More

Tech News Site 'The INQUIRER' Is Shutting Down

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  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday December 22, 2019 @04:16PM (#59548120)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • You'll be remembered (at least by some people) (Score:5, Interesting)

    by javipas ( 1086007 ) on Sunday December 22, 2019 @04:22PM (#59548134)
    I was Chief Editor of The Inquirer ES, the Spanish adaptation of the original site, which started in June'06. It was my first job as an editor for an online, digital-only media source, as all my career was centered on printed magazines before that. Didn't know the publication that well until I started the job, but it grew on me personal and profesionally. It had a different way to tell the tech news. Somewhat irreverent, somehwat funny, most of the times brief and not quite detailed (at least during my time leading the Spanish site). We could not compete with the Engadgets, Gizmodos, AnandTechs, TomsHardwares or ArsTechnicas of the world, I guess, so the goal was quite different. I liked to see it as a really quick and easy way to take a look at what was happening on a daily basis on the tech world. And doing it in a fun and entertaining way, I guess. So for me The Inquirer was quite far from the best source to look for deep reviews or opinionated pieces. There were other sites to read those kind of pieces. The Inq and its particular language was, I'd say, an 'extended', funny Twitter prequel to follow what was happening at that time. I was there for 4 years, but the site died in Spain a few years later and dissapeared from the publisher, NetMediaEurope. My 8.407 posts there during that time [silicon.es] are now part of the Silicon.es archive, so at least they (still) haven't vanished. Hopefully The Inquirer archive will be available somehow, maybe through archive.org. Goodbye, The Inq, and goodbye to the team too. You did well. Thanks for the ride.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fred911 ( 83970 )

      Strange thing that I've never encountered them as a resource, and that's a shame because from your description I'd have most likely found it a useful resource. Possibly the most promotion I've ever heard is the shutting down notice, could be a reason.. I dunno.

        'so at least they (still) haven't vanished.' ---Yet. Surely the standard web archives will also loose them one unless someone seeds a swarm, or buys server space to host it. USENET is a perfect example.

      • Well, there was a clear battle between them and The Register. Both have been kind of two sides of the same coin, but I guess The Reg was the popular one. In fact the founder was Mike Magee, who was (I think) cofounder of The Reg, so the analogy is clear. There's no special reason for promotion, just wanted to share my personal story with the site, which was beyond the normal reader one. That makes the site a little special for me. Not necessarily better or worse than others. Just special, that's all.

  • So The Register won?

    • So The Register won?

      Was there even a battle?

      I’m only one guy, and an American at that, but - while I read the Register regularly, I’ve never even heard of this particular Inquirer.

      • The way I recall, the guy behind the Inquirer was first at the register, where he coined the term Itanic, amongst other things.

        • Re: The War is over..... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by postbigbang ( 761081 ) on Sunday December 22, 2019 @10:54PM (#59548890)

          Veteran journalist Mike Magee, now retired and found in pubs here and there, started both. The Inq and El Reg were then sold. He still writes now and then. His staff were crack (not on it) journos who broke many stories and scoffed at the tech titans and could laugh at themselves and the rest of this insane industry. May the Inq RIP.

      • Both were very popular.
        I still enjoy The Register and enjoy it's witty tone.
        Ignore Anonymous Coward. It's still good and full of IT guys giving us the low down on IT disasters.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Mashiki ( 184564 )

        Was there even a battle?

        Only for a little bit. Once it saw that it could draw more people in by clickbait and outrage bait, it's time was over. The last few years shifting from digital to a gossip rag(like there's a shortage), was them nailing their own coffin shut.

  • Did they have a marketing dept.? (Score:3)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Sunday December 22, 2019 @04:35PM (#59548158)
    I can't say I've ever heard of them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ffkom ( 3519199 )
      Same here. Despite having read and heard of many many tech-magazines, this "Inquirer" never turned up on my radar.

    • I think I remember a Slashdot story back in the day where the founding journalist left the Register to start this one.

      I mean, the Register already felt like the Daily Mail of IT back then, the Inquirer seemed even worse.

    • Maybe you should have RTFA occasionally on Slashdot. Many of their stories made it here.

  • Who started back before there was an internet -- at least available to the public -- with dial-up and BBSs, I never even heard of it.

  • But then I saw that it wasn't the National Enquirer that folds and I was sad.

  • If only this were true. The real reason is, at least for me, who were they?

  • I thought this was Charlie Demerjian's site (Semi-Accurate) - he used to work at a rag like the Inquirer I thought.

    Be nice to see Charlie not posting on the internet anymore, I don't think there can be much more bias in articles against Intel and for AMD.
    (I get supporting the underdog but this guy is ridiculous)

  • and not the celebrity gossip the red-tops usually do, make for an interesting read.

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