Red Maryland Podcast, Site To Shut Down In Early June

From Maryland Matters: By Josh Kurtz

The founders of Red Maryland, a provocative and informative conservative website and accompanying podcast, announced Thursday evening that they will shutter the enterprise in early June.

In a statement, Brian Griffiths and Greg Kline acknowledged they are burned out after 13 years of operating Red Maryland.

“When Red Maryland started, we knew that Maryland needed coverage and discussion of state and local politics from a conservative perspective. It still does,” Griffiths and Kline said in a joint statement. “Despite nearly 13 years of effort on Red Maryland’s part, so much of conservative media these days is focused on national politics and ‘owning the libs’ as opposed to cogent thought and discussion of campaigns and issues. Combine that with voters and consumers of media on social media devoting 98% of their attention to President Trump and his decisions and ignoring important issues at the state level, it felt like we were in a vicious cycle where our efforts are becoming more and more unrewarding.”

Red Maryland will continue normal operations, including coverage of Maryland’s June 2 primary, through the June 4 episode of Red Maryland Radio, which will be the 1,803rd and final podcast produced by Red Maryland. The show will also be broadcast on Facebook Live.

Griffiths and Kline said they had originally planned to shutter the operation at the beginning of May, when the Maryland primary had been scheduled for April 28. It was later moved to early June after the outbreak of COVID-19.

Griffiths said he will be launching a new media venture called The Duckpin in June. He will also continuing writing a regular column with The Capital in Annapolis as well as posting content on his personal Twitter and Facebook pages.

Kline, a lawyer, plans to focus on his legal practice full-time.

Red Maryland released an “FAQ” regarding the forthcoming closure, which is available here.

jkurtz@marylandmatters.org