Jay Mariotti, who resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times late last night, said in a local radio interview that the primary reason for his departure is that he thinks the future of sports writing is on the Internet, and that the Sun-Times web site is "a rickety one.""I think newspapers that aren't competing on the Internet are dead in the water," Mariotti said, making clear that he thinks the Sun-Times is well behind the curve on the web. "If we can't compete on the net we're dead."
Mariotti said he will still be a sports writer, just not for the Sun-Times. When asked why he wouldn't want to chime in on the start of the Bears season and the Cubs and White Sox pennant races, Mariotti said, "Who's saying I won't be chiming in on it? I won't be chiming in on it for the Sun-Times. That's all it is."
Overall, however, Mariotti doesn't think newspapers in general -- and especially the Sun-Times -- have a strong future.
"It's a byproduct of, I think, a paper that's dying," Mariotti said. "I just cannot give my heart and soul to a newspaper when they all seem to be dying."
More at The Big Lead.
