You Are Not a Unique Snowflake: An Open Letter to All of Bleacher Report

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This is an open letter to the Bleacher Report community, owners, and employees.

My name is Robert Domaine. I have been a member of Bleacher Report for just under six months. I am a former employee of CBS Sports and have worked in the entertainment industry for most of my adult life in one aspect or another.

Some of you know me personally and some of you have become my friends through our work here together on Bleacher Report.

What I loved most about B/R was the free and open forum members had to exchange thoughts and ideas about sports. Make no mistake—we are all here for the sports talk.

On Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009, I sent out private messages to well over 100 members explaining an issue I have with Bleacher Report.

Those of you (50-plus) who replied and exchanged personal e-mail addresses with me have been feeling what I have been feeling.

Something is wrong here at Bleacher Report. Things have changed for the worse, and it seems like nobody is listening to us. Well, I am listening to you, and I will be your voice here and now. 

First, my issue with Bleacher Report:

If you take a look at my homepage, you will see that I am a very active member of the community.

You will also see that I haven’t written much for the past month or so. I am a Senior Writer who has written 57 articles, or just about one story every 72 hours since joining the site.

You will see that I have 535 fans and over 1,500 comments. You will see that I have an article of the day (AOTD) and that I am a ranked Superstar with CBS Sports.

I have adhered to the core values preached by Bleacher Report and have encouraged countless writers to write from the heart and do their best.

I have been in contact with the B/R office for over three months requesting a syndication status.

I have called the office and talked to community coordinators such as Dave Morrison as well as having e-mail correspondence with Editor-in-Chief Joe Yanarella and Assignment Desk Editor Rory Brown.

I have saved every single e-mail with B/R since joining the site. I have been denied everything I have requested, including being a NY Giants Community Leader, Featured Columnist, and NFL Correspondent.

Now, I am a big boy, and I can take rejection. My skin has been made thick by all of the years in the entertainment industry working alongside teamsters, grips, set electricians, and—the most vicious of all—producers.

This isn’t some rant about how I deserve something or feel I am owed something. If I didn’t make the cut, then I didn’t make the cut; such is life.

What I do have a problem with is the fact that I have been denied syndication status here on Bleacher Report.

Let me explain, as some of you may not know what I have been told. If you do not have the syndication status, then your articles will not make the top rotation of your favorite team’s homepage here on B/R.

That means all of the friends/fans that I have made here on B/R will not get to see my work and would not even know I have written anything new, without visiting my homepage.

My purpose here is to write for Bleacher Report and not to gain exposure from outside sites. As I have said, I am already a ranked Superstar with CBS Sports and do not need them to do anything for me.

However, I most certainly have earned the right to have my work read on Bleacher Report. I was told that I do not write consistent quality articles and my syndication status has been denied. Denied no less than eight times from my count over the months.

I was told that my articles are not good enough to be placed on the NY Giants team homepage of Bleacher Report.

I was told that all of my networking, cultivation, and nurturing of my homepage and the community means nothing unless some “office guy” deems me worthy of his approval. 

Consistent quality articles—let’s take a look at that for a moment.

I don’t have to tell any of you about the dozens of members here on B/R who have written “one” article and enjoy that status.

Apparently, the first contradiction lies in the word consistent. There are members who have been here for less than a week who have the syndication status—again, another contradiction to the consistency issue.

Quality articles. I have an Article of the Day. I’d say that is the highest level of quality a story can have on B/R, based on popularity within the community. This site is about the community; if I am mistaken, please let me know.

We have all seen new members write about a team they have absolutely no knowledge about, and even they enjoy the status. It begs the question, how can a Senior Writer not have his work in rotation on the very same site?

My work is embraced by most within this family of writers, and if not for your feedback on my work, I would not even be writing this final article.

You see, the problem does not lie with me. The problem does not lie within any of you. The problem is the person making the choices of who is worthy and who is not.

That is the person responsible for the mass exodus that has been occurring. Let me be clear, I am writing this because I am not sure if the owners of Bleacher Report are aware of the state of their site under the management of these mid-level employees.

I have seen many talented writers leave this site due to mistreatment. I have found the employees completely unhelpful in my efforts to be heard.

Somebody is playing God, and they should be fired, because for every solid writer who leaves Bleacher Report, you have two new writers join who will write one article or comment and never return.

The heart and soul of B/R is leaving this site from within, and not by their own accord. They are being driven out by the lack of respect and courtesy they should have already earned.

I cannot tell you how many members have said they just don’t care about B/R anymore. So I implore the owners to look into what I am saying and check it out for themselves.

You are not a unique snowflake. Look for yourselves, B/R community members. Take a look at the archives of the NFL section or your favorite team.

Scroll down and look at the reads your work gets here on B/R. Go to any archive area and look at the fruits of your labor.

I think you will notice that only selected writers are getting their work into rotation and getting reads. The imbalance is appalling and shameful considering you are the backbone of this entire company.

We joined this site because they made it for the fans, but it has turned into something ugly that we cannot in good conscience ignore any longer.

Now they will talk of algorithms and an automatic story rotation, but it is a lie. Prove me wrong. The truth is the system isn’t flawed—it has failed.

I truly feel for all of you that have put your heart and soul into this site just as I have, only to be discarded and told you’re not good enough for the almighty Bleacher Report.

I will applaud your efforts if they won’t or cannot see that everyone here isn’t the same cookie-cutter writer. Thank God for that, and thank God for all of you with your own opinions and thoughts.

They will say that you are not a unique snowflake even though you are. You are NOT some robotic machine spewing out the same old rhetoric to please a man whose idea of a good story is “The 20 Hottest Sports Movie Babes.”

Don’t let them change who you are. Improvements in writing are always welcome, but don’t let them change you from the inside. There is nothing wrong with you.

I am sure this article will not last long on the site because there is too much truth in it. If they delete this heartfelt story, it is just another confirmation that they will do what they want, when they want, without regard to the community.

They may even delete my account altogether. You are all writing in a controlled matrix now and waiting for something to happen that they will not allow. People need to be fired over this.

We have enough trouble in this world with the horrible economy, two wars, a pandemic virus, and a complete collapse of morals and values without worrying about what some insignificant man thinks of our writing.

They have taken the one thing that we love and find peace in and turned it into a hostile popularity contest. So speak up and let your voice be heard without fear.

By the time you’re done reading this, you will be asking yourself, especially if you're one of those people getting 30 reads per article for your hard work, why am I still supporting these people who do not care about me or what I stand for?

It is a shame that nobody would listen to what I had to say. You know who you are within the company and you know what you did. I can only hope that the owners weren’t aware of these issues and they address those responsible, swiftly and harshly.

To the owners, I have well over 50 private e-mails I can forward to you from quality members who feel exactly like I do. Disrespected, insulted, and underappreciated. 

You can take this story as phase one of a non-violent, methodical plan, and we will call phase one diplomacy. I implore you to consider what I am saying before you lose your affiliates, investors, sponsors, and, worst of all, reputation.

This is your final opportunity to make good on what you preach in your core values and show the B/R community that you are man enough to accept a mistake and sit down at the table to discuss improvements.

I think you would be surprised to learn that the community knows more about what makes this site successful then you could imagine. After all, we are the ones who have made you rich. Do the right thing.

I will close by asking Joe Yanarella or Rory Brown—or whoever it is (since they chose to remain anonymous behind the “review board” title) that has taken it upon themselves to play God and ruin the heart and soul of this once-beloved site made for the fans by fans—one last question:

Is this a quality article?

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