You Are Well-Positioned

Congrats, readers and listeners

Trophies for all

As a small businessman, I’m touting every award that comes this way. So thank you to The Big Lead for bestowing this year’s Independent Media Award, something I’m spinning into the Substack version of getting 3 Michelin stars. What most stuck out to me about the award writeup was the description of you, the audience.

Independent Media Award — Ethan Strauss

It takes courage to take aim at sacred cows and to lift up the hood on issues while asking the audience to confront some hard truths. Or perhaps more complicated truths. Strauss, a former ESPN writer, has made a splash with his SubStack, which boasts an eclectic and well-positioned audience. You may not agree with his conclusions, but few people are doing the work of asking tough questions. Importantly, he's proven that there is a market for dynamic commentary that straddles both ends of the political spectrum from someone unafraid to punch in each direction.

Strauss has found a market because there are precious few people in the industry willing to continually hold those in power accountable. He augments his written pieces with narrated articles, produces thought-provoking podcast and, honestly, is a pest in the most admirable way.

My interpretation of that “well-positioned” line is that many readers of this site work in sports or sports media. So, if I write something here, even if it’s behind a paywall, it can enter the industry bloodstream pretty easily. That’s the idea anyway, I think.

Of course, many of you are too sane to work in these fields and congratulations. By this standard, my audience is either well-positioned because of deep industry ties, or well-positioned because they’ve wisely chosen a vocation other than sports.

Anyway, happy holidays to all of you, and thank you for supporting this site. It’s massively appreciated.