A week after Spanfeller insisted to Variety that he did "not plan to cut our way to growth," the CEO fired 25 employees, including in top positions, such as axing former Gizmodo Media Group. Gizmodo and The Onion's New Owner Lays Off 25, Including - TheWrap Spanfeller Media is working to redefine content for the digital era. Reverse Phone Search Tool And much more all for free! We could have video analytics today. A senior vice president who has worked for what is now G/O Media for four and a half years met with Spanfeller in the companys Chicago office shortly after he purchased the company in April. I can see why. The Onion Union, which represents AV Club staffers, told Insider in a statement that it hoped "this period of prosperity creates tangible benefits for all of our members especially those whose jobs are being moved to Los Angeles, one of the most expensive cities in the world.". A G/O Media spokesperson said the company plans to grow the 174-person editorial headcount to 200 by the end of the first quarter next year. Spanfeller, a man who is regularly and perhaps euphemistically referred to in press accounts as a digital media veteran, has so far hired a slew of his former colleagues at Forbes.comwhere he was CEO from 2001 to 2009and Playboywhere he was a senior vice president from 1989 to 1993. Traffic has fallen across G/O Media's portfolio over the past two years, which Spanfeller pinned on industry-wide struggles to generate audience plus the loss of Deadspin and Splinter. The two former staffers described Spanfeller as a micromanager who insists on approving minor budget items and sitting in on meetings far beneath his level, like editorial audience meetings with. Deadspin's entire editorial staff is gone - The Washington Post Spanfeller did offer to promote one female employee, former chief of staff for The Onion Katie Pontius, and make her the companys head of talent, but the position fell through after he demanded that she fire newsroom editorial director Susie Banikarimas her first management move, which Pontius refused, according to sources who spoke to Deadspin. While Carmichael was on a plane to Paris, I discovered that G/O had changed her accounts URL from emma.kinja.com to lajskhclsahkchkad.kinja.com, while going to emma.kinja.com now redirects to the new URL, at the time of the change, it simply showed a broken page. This sites credibility is not dependent on who and what it reports on, but on its ability to report forcefully and accurately. When people came in with good ideas they were rejected., A woman who was hired at The Daily Meal after responding to a Craigslist post said she was once asked to write a story about a companys earnings, which she felt she wasnt qualified to write and for which she didnt receive guidance from her editors. We have no credibility in writing about ourselves. That is clearly evident when you note the poor syntax and galling bias of the questions. Now that we are closer to stabilizing the company, there can be a more deliberate recruitment and hiring process. The VP had a call with McAvoy and Spanfeller to discuss the process, asking Spanfeller why he hadnt even reached out to her about the position. Never mind the recent exodus of company leadership under his tenure, including the editorial director, chief financial officer, and chief revenue officer. Having done it at Forbes, I simply knew it could be done quickly and with incremental value to the company.. We shall have a discussion on the policy at the next EiCs leads meeting. Political affiliation. 12-Year-Old Prankster Throws Dead Snake on Woman's Car and Gets Flattened by Husband 15,743. Jun 8, 2020, 7:03 AM. (Pontius declined to comment. [5], In 1984, Spanfeller was named publisher of Newsweek On Campus magazine. That the story has been submitted for legal review without the benefit of our responses leads me to the conclusion that the piece is already fully written and that our responses to questions are mere window dressing. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., 5. I first emailed Spanfeller on June 24, early in my reporting process, telling him that I was working on a story about the new hires hed brought to G/O Media in his first few months. Spanfeller said the goal was to find out what the key points of attraction are for our visitors.. [4] He soon switched to the business side of the paper, and later took a tour through Europe. The digital media and blogging network, which oversees websites like Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jezebel, A.V. 1. I told him I had a few questions Id like to ask him, and asked if he had any availability for a meeting the following day. Announcing Persauds hire on July 10, Spanfeller wrote this of the process: After a very fulsome search where we interviewed dozens of qualified candidates we identified two finalists. "I think that most media company CEOs probably are as involved as I am," Spanfeller said. But after the staff meeting, sources say, members of the tech team held a meeting with Knight to explain why the date was unrealistic. The CEO alleged. Top Women at the Company Expressed Interest in Filling Executive Roles and Were Promised Interview Opportunities Prior to Spanfeller Hiring His Friends, Two G/O Media employees Deadspin spoke to, who are women who have an experienced track record with the company, say Spanfeller promised to give them a chance to interview for upper-level roles. [2], In 2019, G/O Media's sports blog Deadspin received media attention when all of its writers and editors resigned after an edict given by upper management to "stick to sports". "There's been a lot of pain in this, but it's worth it to get properties that are as great as these properties are," Spanfeller said of G/O's 11 publications, which include Gizmodo, Jezebel, The Onion, Lifehacker, The Root, and Kotaku. Sean Flanagan, 55, who was hired to lead east coast sales, was also installed over a female senior sales employee, who had been at the company for four years before she left in July. Spanfeller, who became head of the digital media company when GMG was purchased by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, told staff that he expected the site's direct advertising to "take the. No one has been named interim editor, and there is no succession plan in place. G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN It wasnt collaborative.. One major conflict arose over whether the company should build a video player in-house or pay for a third-party platform. "We remain optimistic that our labor will be taken into consideration as this period of financial promise collides with a time that has been particularly rough on morale," the Onion Union statement said. It became clear that she was not a good fit for this position and we both agreed on this. As Spanfeller increasingly insisted on directing editorial coverage in what he believed to be more advertiser-friendly directions, clashes between him and the companys writers and editors have escalated. View details on more than 95 Million registered voters across the United States. Who doesnt like uncompromising commentary or sports stories you couldnt find anywhere else? I was unclear about what she did. His skin got bright red, she said. When she tried to edit the post, she was greeted by the following image: Attempts to create a new post were similarly thwarted. Most recently, after the latest edict that Deadspin stick to sports, its writers revolted, and Spanfeller retaliated by firing the top-ranking employee, Petchesky (Deadspins latest editor-in-chief, Megan Greenwell quit in August for many of the reasons described above). Two other major jobs Spanfeller gave to women include his new head of talent and deputy counsel, which were both outside hires; he did give a promotion to one woman, who he made deputy editorial director. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. In other words, G/O media had effectively broken the redirect at Deadspin2.com, so that the site now redirected to a dead link. "We have billions of dollars available to go out and buy and make this a bigger company, and that would really be our desire," Gaffney said. 4. What Spanfeller says is normal is, of course, a reflection of his own values, which evidently rank transparency, diversity, and inclusion as secondary concerns to financial success. What's happening at Deadspin is a travesty | The Outline It is ridiculous to launch a management survey questioning the editorial value of the site. G/O Media workers went on strike today in part to protect remote work. Six days after the SVPs exchange with McAvoy, Spanfeller sent an email to the entire staff announcing G/O Medias new company values. Its Extremely Revealing. "[17], "Great Hill Partners Agrees to Acquire Gizmodo Media Group", "Great Hill Partners Acquires Gizmodo Media Group", "President & CEO, Jim Spanfeller Named as IAB Chairman", "Alumni Album: Helping Us Connect to the Web", "Advertising; 4 Young Executives On Move at Newsweek", "Playboy Hires 2 New Execs; Title of Publisher Goes to 1", "New Gizmodo boss Jim Spanfeller is an old school digital media vet", "After Days Of Resignations, The Last Of The Deadspin Staff Has Quit", "Deadspin Is ZombifiedBut Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On", "The Media-Sensational Rise and Fall of "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb", "GMG Union votes no confidence in G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Spanfeller&oldid=1074755870, This page was last edited on 2 March 2022, at 00:52. Editorial director Paul Maidment, who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes and The Daily Meal. We have also learned the tech team has been asked to post the survey again. Fuck Jim Spanfeller and Paul Maidment. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. Jim Spanfeller, Shortly after Spanfellers email was made public, Deadspin editor-in-chief Megan Greenwell issued a statement in response to his accusations that the reporting process was unfair: We are in an ongoing reporting process and planning to publish the story when it is ready. The company is also on the hunt for acquisitions, according to Spanfeller. I thought she was going to be great, and it didnt work out by her own assessment., In response to follow-up questions, Spanfeller clarified that there was never a signed offer between Pontius and the company. [12][13], In 2011, Spanfeller launched The Daily Meal with an estimated $2 million investment. Nearly two dozen current G/O Media employees spoke to Deadspin for this story. Still, tensions between management and staff are high at the company as it prepares to enter negotiations with the G/O Media editorial union, one of the two unions representing editorial workers at the company. Never mind that employees called for his resignation last year. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Mike hired Steve, and Steve hired Lance after conducting a process around each hire. Great Hill Partners vice president Eric Ahlgren and managing partner Chris Gaffney did not respond to Deadspins emailed questions. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. Oberlander actually left last week. Dead and spun: a story in three meetings - Columbia Journalism Review ), The internal reaction to these hires has ranged from confusion to anger. So put this piece on ice. Shortly after the sale in April, she said, she met briefly with Spanfeller and explained to him her role and responsibilities in the company, which was primarily to work directly with clients to secure partnerships, instead of going through media ad agencies. This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge.. This is the same thing that has also happened to Deadspin. Spanfeller Media Group ( SMG ), a subsidiary of publishing company Tribune Publishing, is a digital media company based in New York City. Spanfellers pushed back against these internal criticisms of his questionably ethical hiring process and management style by blaming G/O Media for losing money too fast. Head of The Onion, Deadspin sued for sex discrimination - New York Post Jim Rich, the former top editor of the New York Daily News, will start as editor-in-chief of Deadspin on Monday. Whenever a publication shuts down, as has happened more and more over the last few years, it undergoes a public eulogizing by its employees, the friends of its employees, the people who wanted to work there, and most importantly the readers, whose tributes are . Unlike private equity investors who financially engineer acquisitions, burdening companies they buy with debt and massive . [We] had a phone conversation, kind of confronting Jim about it, and he told Mike, I thought we talked about this. It was throwing Mike under the bus, and Mike told Jim that they had not talked about it. It definitely feels like its the old boys club, a G/O Media employee told Deadspin. I think the general sentiment coming out of that meeting, at least for some of the senior sales people, was like, these guys are going to lead our sales team? The Daily Meal Founder G/O Media Chief Executive Officer Board and Advisor Roles Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 3 Number of Past Board & Advisor Roles 2 In one instance in which Spanfeller tried to promote a woman within the company, his offer came with strings attached. 3. The key journalistic properties descended from . Emma Carmichael is a friend of mine, and we both worked at Gawker Media and, as it was later named after being purchased by Univision, Gizmodo Media Group, or GMG. Great Hill Partners and current CEO Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes, bought these sites and the Onion from Univision Communications Inc. in April. Jim Spanfeller - Big Think (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? The sales employee (who is not an SVP) wasnt surprised to hear that Spanfeller didnt know what she did. In turn, Spanfeller hired a number of his old media friends and former colleagues from Forbes, Playboy, and other outlets to fill top roles at G/O Media, while also failing to make public job postings for many of these roles. In late July, more than a month after the womans conversation with Spanfeller (and after the Daily Beast and New York Post published stories about his rocky early days at the company and he became aware of the reporting process for this story about his hiring practices), that same VP was given what management called a promotion, which Spanfeller noted in his responses to Deadspin, saying that she has been promoted to VP Marketing under Bruce Rogers with wider responsibilities., I am at the same level and performing the same duties now as I was before I got this supposed promotion, the VP said. Its hard to imagine what one would not like on that list of items, Reibstein said of the third question. I think it makes him a bad role model for the rest of his team.. They include: (Spanfeller declined to be interviewed in person but answered emailed questions. I intend to continue supervising the reporting process, including legal review, and then publish a thorough and fair story, which of course would include responses from people we spoke to. "People are scared of him. pretty big scoop from me Jim Spanfeller is a herb https://t.co/gZDCs6mfhC. He also claimed to have hired four women for major roles though, one of these jobs has not been filled yet, as Spanfeller instead claims he plans to give it to a woman. (Spanfeller told Deadspin that he and Callahan had only been in a single meeting that I recall.). The post was so popular, in fact, that it apparently gained the attention and ire of Spanfeller himself (perhaps partially due to the fact that someone registered Deadspin2.com and set it to redirect to Carmichaels post). Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records. Jim Justice speaks during President Donald Trump's political rally inside the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington on Thursday. (Pontius left the company.) Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. At the same time, working with the EICs to set a general editorial direction is clearly in the purview of any owner.). All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Spanfeller said the company hopes to expand into areas like travel, music, business, and news. In the midst of the fallout, former Deadspin, Gawker, and Jezebel editor Emma Carmichael had a spirited discussion with [former Jezebel writer] Clio Chang on the overwhelming herbishness of Jim Spanfeller, she told me over the phone. At least have everybody well briefed on this is what were doing and this is what wed like to learn from it, Reibstein said. Three and a half hours later, Maidment sent an email to Greenwell and me with the subject line, Reporting on ourselves. The body of the message read: This is a tradition that makes no sense. When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. Justice announced he was switching his party affiliation . He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? Multiple people who worked for him at The Daily Meal (part of Spanfeller Media Group) told Deadspin that Spanfeller couldnt cede any control. The other is still in college., Four of nine major hires have been women, Spanfeller said. "From the outset, CEO Jim Spanfeller has worked to undermine a successful site by curtailing its most well-read coverage because it makes him personally uncomfortable," the Gizmodo Media Group . In an emailed statement to Deadspin, Spanfeller claimed that he did not make the hires, but admitted to making professional introductions for some of these new employees. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. The next day she refused to join me in communicating our plans to Susie. Over the last few weeks, during their attempts to hinder or prevent the publication of this story, Maidment and Spanfeller invoked concerns about Deadspins credibility in covering G/O Media. Or as Carmichael explained, If you dont know what a herb is, youre probably a herb.. Deadspin cited an account from a former writer at The Daily Meal, a food and beverage site that Spanfeller founded in 2015, who claims her former boss once started screaming at her because she voiced concerns about writing a story on the websites earning figures, which she felt she was not qualified for. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records Deadspin Is ZombifiedBut Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On Great Hill Partners is a growth equity company committed to building businesses. Spanfeller accused writers and editors of acting in bad faith based on a list of questions submitted to him before publication and the fact that a draft of the article had been sent for legal. The mess at G/O Media - Columbia Journalism Review UPDATE: This article has been updated to remove an incorrect reference to former G/O Media Lynn Oberlander leaving her job shortly after the companys latest round of layoffs. Katie then refused to assume the HR lead role around other wider layoffs at the company. Ive reached out to Spanfeller for comment multiple times over the past few days and have yet to hear back. Amid the chaos, someone edited Spanfeller's Wikipedia entry to read, "Jim Spanfeller is a fart-faced fascist best known for running Forbes.com from 2001-2009." (That language has since . Everything theyve done in reaction to it is the herbiest shit I could possibly imagine. One of the former staffers said that as companies sought to double down on diversity and inclusion during the summer of 2020, the branded content team received incoming requests from companies hoping to fund content for The Root, G/O Media's Black news publication. Back to the Office, But Only to Picket - Curbed [1] Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. A voter's representatives in government. She said Spanfeller didnt have many questions for her, describing him as apathetic. Spanfeller seemed not to recall this interaction, telling Deadspin that the sales team was not covering direct clients.. Who even told you you were allowed to think about audience? the woman alleged. As you know, one reason that I dont believe that publications should write about themselves is because I fear it damages perceived external credibility in editorial independence, which, if anything, makes keeping advertisers at bay harder, not easier. "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb": The rise and fall of a blog post. Spanfeller Has an Alleged History of Screaming at Women Employees. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. The JW Player was an interim step, Spanfeller said. Vice president for west coast sales Steve Thompson, who worked with Spanfeller at, Vice president for east coast sales Sean Flanagan, who worked with Spanfeller at. In an email, Flanagan disagreed with those assessments: Simply not true. Jim Spanfeller . According to Great Hill Partners' website, Spanfeller "has led comparable media platforms and positioned them for successful strategic exit," which probably means something to someone, somewhere,. You wrote a 'story,'" Spanfeller recalled telling staff. G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN Made up mostly of the former Gawker Media sites, G/O Media has been in a near constant state of turmoil for the past few years. I was going on the input I had been given by Mike McAvoy that he had discussed the position with her and laid out why she was not ready for the larger role. He sent a message back about the importance of diversity and inclusion and a full hiring process. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. That said, I and the management team received a list of questions from the reporter working this story for Deadspin and those questions left me greatly concerned about the objectivity and core intentions of this piece. All rights reserved. Cramer finally reveals whether he is pro-Trump or anti-Trump - CNBC We had to move fast because the company was losing money at a rapid pace, Spanfeller wrote in a statement. It laid off 14 staffers in the summer of 2020. "We were a leftist site, not a liberal one, which gives you a sense of how closely Spanfeller followed our work," he said. While we were given a 3pm deadline today to respond to dozens of questions, I understand that the folks at Deadspin have already submitted their story for legal review and plan to publish it on Wednesday all without ever seeing any of the responses to the questions that they asked. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. Details may include related records, political party, location, and more. Spanfeller said he did not recall the specific request. It wasn't Great Hill's first foray into the media business it had previously invested in IGN and sold Ziff Davis but the G/O deal was a tiny one for a firm that describes itself as "targeting investments of $25 million to $500 million.". Once it became clear that the sales department was being restructured in Kurt Muellers absence, another female vice president, who had been at the company for four years, asked McAvoy in early June for the opportunity to be considered for an expanded sales role, providing examples to show her success at the company. According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, in April Spanfeller offered the job of head of talent to Katie Pontius, who until recently was the chief of staff for The Onion, Inc. I have communicated our timeline concerns to Jim and he understands that development is not an exact science and that goals may not be hit, Knight told Deadspin. My management style has been widely reported on over the years and the picture you are painting does not comport with that. When Jim Spanfeller and a private equity firm called Great Hill Partners took over G/O Mediaformerly Gizmodo Media Groupin April, their stated goal was to make the company profitable. That union also opposes G/O Media's recent requirement to return to in-person work. For the last two questions, the options were the same: Uncompromising commentary, sports stories I cant find anywhere else, knowledgeable writers, broad scope of coverage, political coverage and strong political point of view, and criticism and coverage of other media companies.. One theory was that Spanfeller thought implementing analytics would take developer resources away from building the new video platform and player, though employees said implementing analytics is a relatively easy fix. As for why that move was never announced, Spanfeller told Deadspin he believed Mike McAvoy would announce Rogers arrival, even though Spanfeller hired Rogers and he has announced other hires across the company since taking over. Hes trying to micromanage, the tech employee said last week. "We want to do it in a way that's a little more buttoned up," he said. Additionally, Jim Spanfeller has had 6 past jobs including CEO at Forbes. The VP, who said she now reports to Thompson, said all of her previous reviews from her managers have exceeded expectations, and that she was able to more than double revenue for my region in less than a year. This has led to some protest among employees, as one staffer told Deadspin, It definitely feels like its the old boys club. A second employee told the site, This guy just seems like he doesnt like women.. Who even told you you were allowed to think about audience?, My management was straight-up scared of him, said a staffer who worked at the site for two years and had responsibilities on both the editorial and marketing sides of the company. They are parti pris, which is why the overwhelming majority do not do so and many will not even report on rivals for the same reason. This former staffer said the team wished to add Black creatives to help create more representative branded content to meet the demand, but it was not given additional resources. Vice president of sales for the south Lance Johnson, who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes (and most recently worked with Bruce Rogers at a company called SITO Mobile). G/O Media, the company which ran Deadspin, was acquired by the private equity group Great Hill Partners, which installed Spanfeller as CEO and gave him one mission: Make them richer.