I am sure I'll burn a bridge here, but Valnet-owned websites are bad for the future of pop culture writers. The pay is way below minimum wage if you consider the amount of time that has to go into a piece. There is the writing, which, if you want something that is researched, thoughtful, and entertaining, takes some time. But from my experience, most of the sites also expect you to find photos, format them to meet their requirements, add several links, and set up many of the widgets and formatting. Then the editors tend to be quite particular and precise in how they want a piece written, which almost always means some slight tweaks or rewrites in a best-case scenario. It almost always means you're getting way below minimum wage when it is all over.
Also, it does not encourage creativity and a unique voice. They have a very specific style they align to, and do not encourage even slight deviations. It is also essentially click-bait factories, which means they are very limited in what they want covered, and they hope desperately your personality is kept to a minimum.
It not only means it blocks many pop culture writers from making a living, but it makes the form very derivative and generic. It feels like something tailor-made to sites that will soon be entirely composed by AI. I wouldn't be surprised if half the articles are already done this way to save a buck or two.
There are still some wonderful independent pop culture voices out there, but Valnet's far-reach is not a positive for that form of writing or even the entire industry.
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