In a significant blow to music journalism, more than two decades’ worth of content published on MTVNews.com has been taken down, rendering it inaccessible to the public. The parent company, Paramount Global, appears to have fully pulled down the site and its related content, a fate that has also befallen its sister site, CMT.com.
This abrupt disappearance of MTV News content follows the 2023 shutdown of the news division amid Paramount Global’s financial challenges. Visitors attempting to access MTV News articles on mtvnews.com or mtv.com/news are now redirected to the main MTV website, where the extensive archives once hosted are nowhere to be found.
The loss of this content is profound. MTV News’ archives included thousands of articles and interviews with major artists dating back to the site’s inception in 1996. Particularly notable is the erasure of its comprehensive hip-hop archives, including the “Mixtape Monday” column, which was a staple for nearly a decade in the 2000s and 2010s, featuring interviews, reviews, and more with artists and producers early in their careers.
So, https://t.co/ypQLdbaWk5 no longer exists. Eight years of my life are gone without a trace. All because it didn't fit some executives' bottom lines. Infuriating is too small a word
— Patrick Hosken (@patrickhosken) June 24, 2024
Former MTV News staffers expressed their dismay on social media regarding the site’s shutdown and the removal of its archives. Patrick Hosken, a former music editor for MTV News, lamented on X, “So, mtvnews.com no longer exists. Eight years of my life are gone without a trace. All because it didn’t fit some executives’ bottom lines. Infuriating is too small a word.”
sickening (derogatory) to see the entire @mtvnews archive wiped from the internet. decades of music history gone…including some very early k-pop stories.
— Crystal Bell (@crystalbell) June 24, 2024
Crystal Bell, culture editor at Mashable and a former entertainment director at MTV News, also voiced her frustration: “Sickening (derogatory) to see the entire @mtvnews archive wiped from the internet. Decades of music history gone…including some very early K-pop stories.
This is disgraceful. They've completely wiped the MTV News archive. Decades of pop culture history research material gone, and why? https://t.co/xJQRXrNERS
— Brian Hiatt (@hiattb) June 24, 2024
Brian Hiatt, a senior writer at Rolling Stone, criticized the move as well, stating, “This is disgraceful. They’ve completely wiped the MTV News archive. Decades of pop culture history research material gone, and why?”
The erasure of MTV News’ archives comes on the heels of similar actions by Paramount Global last week, which pulled down the archives of CMT.com. This site had been a repository of country-music journalism dating back several decades.
Some observers noted that MTV News articles might be accessible through internet archiving services like the Wayback Machine. However, according to Hiatt, older MTV News articles do not appear to be available through these services.
MTV News, which began in the late ’80s with “The Week in Rock” hosted by Kurt Loder, became a crucial part of music journalism. Despite severe downsizing in recent years, it continued to maintain an online archive that served as a rich historical resource. The decision to pull down this archive entirely marks the end of an era.
In May 2023, Paramount Global announced a 25% reduction in workforce across the Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks groups in the U.S., under the leadership of president-CEO Chris McCarthy. This move included the complete shutdown of MTV News, which had already been significantly downsized by previous layoffs.
The removal of MTV News’ archives signifies a substantial loss for music journalism and pop culture history. The decision by Paramount Global to wipe out these decades of content not only impacts former staff but also deprives the public of a rich cultural resource. The legacy of MTV News, once a beacon of music journalism, now faces the risk of being forgotten entirely.
As the industry continues to evolve, the importance of preserving journalistic archives becomes ever more critical. The void left by MTV News’ absence underscores the need for sustainable models that can protect and maintain the cultural heritage embedded in digital journalism.
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