[]. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. We shall have a discussion on the policy at the next EiCs leads meeting. According to sources familiar with the situation, the tech team was instructed by Knight, who was directed by Spanfeller, to push out the survey without consent from anyone in editorial. Club, and Splinter, was purchased by the firm in April, along with the satirical news site The Onion, which led to a massive shift in the companys culture and considerable turnover in the top ranks or, as one G/O Media employee put it, Spanfeller has brought in a bunch of white dudes to change the company. "We needed to change a lot of things, and change is hard.". Jim has a different recollection of the facts, McAvoy reiterated. Enter Jim "Herb" Spanfeller. [9], In 1996, Spanfeller left his job at Inc., where he had become publisher, to become publisher of Yahoo! Views. 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. Sources say he was retained to consult on sales and how the department could work more directly with clients, which the now-former employee says was her job. In addition to the removal of the post itself, Carmichael also discovered that shes now unable to use her personal Kinja account at all. 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. Both lawsuits detail discrimination personally faced or witnessed by the plaintiffs from Jim Spanfeller, who became CEO of G/O Media in April after private equity firm Great Hill acquired Gizmodo Media Group. I hold myself to a high regard and ensuring that Im respectful to others and create a community of camaraderie, hire for diversity, and that there is a work life balance, she told Deadspin. Email us. Naturally, we were dismayed to discover one more problemthe survey placed on Deadspin. In a follow-up meeting with Spanfeller about the story, she suggested that hard financial data might not be their audiences central interest. I think the biggest problem was the leadership wouldnt get out of the way of everyone, one former employee told Deadspin. Well keep fighting for whats right. The fourth known instance of Spanfeller overlooking a woman at the company in favor of a white male former colleague also happened on the sales team. They cant even pitch effectively, said another employee who was present. (Deadspin reached out to 10 former Spanfeller employees at The Daily Meal; four consented to be interviewed, though all declined to be named because they fear retribution from Spanfeller or their current companies.) Whats left of that company is currently called G/O Media. 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.. Computing. He sits on the Board of Directors of The New York Chapter of The National Foundation for Teaching . 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. As the former publisher of National Geographic, Mens Health & Maximmy successful presentation & leadership skills are evident.. (Spanfeller told Deadspin that he and Callahan had only been in a single meeting that I recall.). Follow him on Twitter here: @calebecarma. Having done it at Forbes, I simply knew it could be done quickly and with incremental value to the company.. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., 5. 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. While these high-ranking women were being overlooked and bypassed, Spanfeller evidently was concerned about retaining at least one other VP on the sales side. Spanfeller said he asked for the survey; Rogers said he wrote it; and editorial director Paul Maidment said he didnt approve it, but he told Deadspin editor-in-chief Megan Greenwell that he did not attempt to stop it from running on the site when he was filled in shortly before it was scheduled to go up. 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.". In April, the tech team was told to move the companys video operations off of MCP, which Univision paid for to host video content, and onto JW Player, a cheaper video system. Everyone can seeit on the pageor at least, everyone could see it before the censorship. On July 9, he hired Faiza Javaid as deputy general counsel, a position that was posted publicly. 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. 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. Views. Like many media companies, G/O Media's advertising business was battered by the pandemic. Additionally, as you are reporting here, there are numerous outstanding people, both men and women who have worked for me on more than one occasion., By July, Spanfellers third full month at the company, questions about Spanfellers commitment to his journalists editorial independence began to dominate conversation in the office. 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. 15 Life Hacks That Are Actually Pretty Good 17,580. G/O Media shuttered its politics site, Splinter, in 2019. 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. She asked McAvoy, then her immediate supervisor, for the opportunity to interview for the position, citing her leadership of the revenue division, her construction of a diverse team, and her renown in the industry. [15][16] In January 2020 the GMG union, which represents the staff of G/O media, announced a vote of no confidence in CEO Jim Spanfeller citing, among other issues, a lack of willingness to negotiate for "functional editorial independence protections. These include a senior vice president of marketing who last week wrote a baffling reader satisfaction survey for Deadspin at Spanfellers behest; a sales executive who, sources say, appears unable to give an effective sales pitch; and an editorial director who repeatedly attempted to kill the reporting process for this story. Jack Crosbie, a former Splinter contractor and co-owner of Discourse, said that traffic declined at Splinter because G/O did not refill lost positions. Spanfeller Media is working to redefine content for the digital era. It has introduced real uncertainty in to stocks, and Trump's agenda has become shaky. In its brief life, the postwritten by Emma Carmichael, a former editor at a former version of the companywas viewed nearly 100,000 times and was tweeted out by the official People for Bernie Twitter account. Spanfeller also said that he did not ask Katie to fire Susie, only to be in the room while I had the conversation about Susies future with the company., Spanfeller ended up firing Banikarim himself, and then, months later, hiring Angela Persaud for the chief talent officer job after a public search. But Spanfeller said that he wants G/O Media to keep the voice and mission that made Gawker Media sites singular in the digital media industry. Heres The REAL Clip, Christian Walker GOES OFF on Predator Matt Schlapp for Allegedly Groping Male Campaign Staffer: Hes Done This Before, Im Sure!, LOL. View Jim Spanfeller's professional profile on LinkedIn. 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.". At an all-staff meeting this week, Knight told Spanfeller that August 15 is the target completion date, which Spanfeller told Deadspin he believes is achievable. Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? His skin got bright red, she said. Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. 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, but Spanfeller is perhaps best known for dramatically increasing Forbes.coms focus on digital advertising (Spanfeller also previously served as chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau). 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. You wrote a 'story,'" Spanfeller recalled telling staff. This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge.. Why Ketanji Brown Jackson Split With the Courts Liberals in a 54 Decision, the firing of beloved editor Barry Petchesky, According to Great Hill Partners website, increasingly insisted on directing editorial coverage. 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 . In reality, this story started with a tip the site received about Spanfellers hiring practices, and grew from there thanks to sources accounts. 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. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 20012009. . Have a tip we should know? Never mind the flood of negative stories about staff blowback over the company's editorial direction. The anti-herb agenda is being suppressed.. About their hires, he wrote, I introduced Steve and Lance to Mike McAvoy, but I did not make the hires. Which he would do by turning Deadspin into a sports-only website. 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. Jim Rich, the former top editor of the New York Daily News, will start as editor-in-chief of Deadspin on Monday. And Fake. Elsewhere in the company, G/O Media has pushed staffers at its site the AV Club to relocate to Los Angeles from Chicago, according to a recent report in Gawker, which is now owned by Bustle Digital Group. When I followed up about the meeting the next day with Spanfeller, I was told it was canceled. , in respect of a candidate, means the name of the political party that has endorsed him or her or the word "independent", as the case may be, included in the nomination paper in accordance with subparagraph 66 (1) (a) (v). John Taggart for The Washington Post via Getty Images, NOW WATCH: WATCH: How advertisers can navigate the death of third-party cookies, according to execs from Mars Petcare, R/GA, The Washington Post, and The Trade Desk, Clashes between the Gawker Media editorial culture. New York(CNN Business) Two former executives are suing G/O Media, the parent company of sites including Gizmodo, Deadspin and The Onion, alleging discrimination and negligence. Ad revenue rebounded, Spanfeller told Insider last year. 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). In other words, G/O media had effectively broken the redirect at Deadspin2.com, so that the site now redirected to a dead link. Multiple sources say that Spanfeller reached out to VP of media operations Brad Klancnik to tell him he was a valuable employee and that the new owners would like him to stay at the company, but female VPs say he did not relay such messages to them. Other top employees who have left the company since the start of Spanfellers reign include former A.V. Its everything Ive wanted and more.. But those efforts did not go very far, the people said, and the company has yet to mount a takeover. That distinction quickly sparked backlash in late 2019, when the staff of Deadspin resigned over the firing of a top editor and the company's mandate that the site stick to covering sports. He did not answer a question about whether he was aware that a female VP was already leading west coast sales or that he installed a man (who also carries a VP title) above her. 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 G/O Media union sent the following statement regarding the survey: The GMG Union has made repeated good-faith efforts to cooperate with management in resolving the many outstanding issues currently facing the company, from workplace accessibility to a video player that lacks viable metrics. He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? These two highly talented HR executives then met with a number of people around our company including representatives of the unions., When asked why Spanfeller didnt follow this thorough search process before filling seven key positions with his former coworkers, he blamed his hiring practices on the financial shape of the company. In all of those cases Jim listened to my arguments and in many cases agreed with me and the issue was settled, he wrote in response to one question. (The other woman on the executive leadership team, general counsel Lynn Oberlander, left the company this week.) Ultimately, the issue of building a wall has raised political risk, Cramer said. 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. According to his LinkedIn, Thompson is the founder of Mediacentric Inc., a multi-media representation company., A man was hired with my same title [vice president for west coast sales] to be my boss, the VP told Deadspin. When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. Combined with more data-driven metrics like unique views, how long a reader spends on a story, and how many times a story is shared, reader feedback can provide useful information. Mr. Rich, who will report to G/O Media Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, . 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. They requested anonymity to speak candidly but their identities are known to Insider. It was placed there without consultation or even simple communication to anyone on Deadspins staff. It definitely feels like its the old boys club, a G/O Media employee told Deadspin. [11], Spanfeller ran Forbes.com for 8 years from 2001 to 2009, when digital and print operations were run separately. When asked if she stood by the content of the since-disappeared post, Carmichael remained steadfast: I did really careful, thorough research, and the evidence is there. She said Spanfeller told her that he was unaware of what she did at the company, and that she replied: That doesnt help, because that says you not only didnt know what I did, but you also had no interest in meeting the only woman on the revenue leadership team who is an SVP who has been successful, according to meeting her revenue and finance goals. She said the conversation ended with Spanfeller saying, Im sorry, I dont know what else you want me to say., Spanfeller confirmed the womans account to Deadspin. . I was unclear about what she did. Spanfellers executive assistant set up a time for us to meet. It is also worth noting that multiple internal candidates have expressed interest in the position of EIC of the A/V Club. The Onion union declined to comment, but a source with knowledge of the situation disputed that the union demanded promotions, saying its letter demanded action and used the words We ask for the following when addressing promotions. The JW Player was an interim step, Spanfeller said. Before we go any further, I feel compelled to acknowledge that nearly everything about this item is a conflict of interest. Sources say that on the tech side of the company, Spanfeller has taken to micromanaging various aspects of developers work, holding meetings to ask what each one is working on, demanding detailed accounts of how they spend their working days, and mandating various projects based on his work at Forbes in the mid-2000s. It is ridiculous to launch a management survey questioning the editorial value of the site. [12], Spanfeller took over as CEO of G/O Media when Great Hill Partners purchased the company, formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group, and The Onion from Univision on April 8, 2019, and combined the companies. And as the only woman on the previous revenue leadership team, I started to wonder if women were being considered for leadership roles. Indeed, Spanfeller told Deadspin that he first contacted Rogers about the job on June 11. At least have everybody well briefed on this is what were doing and this is what wed like to learn from it, Reibstein said. Six of these hires were Spanfellers colleagues from his previous jobs at Forbes, Playboy, and Ziff Davis. Its hard to imagine what one would not like on that list of items, Reibstein said of the third question. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. 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. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. View details on more than 95 Million registered voters across the United States. [7], Spanfeller was named associate publisher and senior vice president of marketing of Playboy Enterprises in April 1989. New York City. 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. On Glassdoor, a website where current and former employees can submit anonymous reviews of their workplaces, reviews of The Daily Meal are overwhelmingly negative. "People are scared of him. In 1964, Spanfeller recieved the title of Artist of the Year from the Artists Guild of New York. Multiple people who worked for him at The Daily Meal (part of Spanfeller Media Group) told Deadspin that Spanfeller couldnt cede any control. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. No media company does. Reverse Phone Search Tool And much more all for free! Youre not qualified. Both lawsuits detail discrimination personally faced or witnessed by the plaintiffs from Jim Spanfeller, who became CEO of G/O Media in April after private equity firm Great Hill acquired Gizmodo . For the life of me, I am not sure how you can have a legal review without a complete story and I cannot imagine how you can consider your work to be objective without reviewing the answers to the questions that you have asked. When one reviews the actual questions one might feel even more uneasy. Sources say the meeting concluded with an agreement that the best course of action would be to explain to Spanfeller why the player would not be finished by August 15. Initially, we had to move fast because the company was losing money at a rapid pace, he said. Im kind of a tipsy at a bar in Paris, she added. During those meetings, Maidments ideaswhich included commissioning an editor outside the company to review and approve stories written by about the companywere met with unanimous opposition. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President . Page 1 of 9,554,641. So put this piece on ice. Unlike private equity investors who financially engineer acquisitions, burdening companies they buy with debt and massive . [1] He is also a past Chairman of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and longtime executive board member of Digital Content Next (DCN). The tech team managed to execute the move in about a month, but before they had finished, Spanfeller changed course and decided that the developers should build an entirely new video platform and player from scratch, explaining the decision by saying that that was what he did at Forbes, according to employees involved. Oberlander actually left last week. Six days after the SVPs exchange with McAvoy, Spanfeller sent an email to the entire staff announcing G/O Medias new company values. 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 the time of publication, Carmichaels original tweet has been retweeted more than 300 times. Spanfellers all-staff email went on to accuse Deadspins staff of bias and cast doubt on the motives behind the story. He said the company was just profitable before the pandemic hit its business, and is now comfortably back in the black. Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. That union also opposes G/O Media's recent requirement to return to in-person work. I am a father of three wonderful woman, Spanfeller wrote in a statement. I found this troubling but was okay with it given the circumstances. A voter's representatives in government. [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". According to Dave Reibstein, past chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association and a professor of marketing at University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business (where he teaches a course on market research), there are several problems with the survey.

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