This response, which Spanfeller emailed out along with the questions to and answers from every other executive to the entire company as an attempt to undermine this story, prompted this response from a third sales employee. A week after Spanfeller insisted to Varietythat 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 editorial director Susie Banikarim. Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. Spanfeller said that he wasnt preventing, just delaying analytics from being implemented, on the grounds that its not particularly useful information at the moment. (The day after Deadspin contacted Spanfeller for comment, the tech team was given the green light to roll out video analytics. I think the thing thats most strange about it is that they didnt coordinate with the editorial side of the business. The employees, nearly all of whom requested anonymity because of fears of retaliation from company management, are angered by a lack of communication regarding company goals, seeming disregard for promoting diversity within the top ranks of the company, and by repeated and egregious interference with editorial procedures. 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. No one has been named interim editor, and there is no succession plan in place. It will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, he told Insider, and hunt for acquisitions in 2022. 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? When asked if it was inaccurate, then, to say she had accepted the job, Spanfeller did not respond. Jim has a different recollection of the facts, McAvoy reiterated. Club managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog, who both resigned on July 12. Mr. Spanfeller has a BA in English Literature from Union College, Schenectady, New York. Now that we are closer to stabilizing the company, there can be a more deliberate recruitment and hiring process. It wasnt collaborative.. As traffic dipped and employees headed for the exits, staffers at the company wrote a letter to Great Hill asking that Spanfeller be replaced as CEO. They include: (Spanfeller declined to be interviewed in person but answered emailed questions. It was placed there without consultation or even simple communication to anyone on Deadspins staff. It is ridiculous to launch a management survey questioning the editorial value of the site. It was a welcome refrain for employees all too aware of how the company had languished under Univisions doomed ownership. Email us. [9], In 1996, Spanfeller left his job at Inc., where he had become publisher, to become publisher of Yahoo! Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? 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. 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). [] While it is what we did at Forbes that has nothing to do with the reason to do it here. 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 Details may include related records, political party, location, and more. 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. Hes trying to micromanage, the tech employee said last week. Spanfeller Hired Media Friends/Former Colleagues to Fill G/O Media Roles Just After Claiming He Had No Plans for Major Turnover. Jim Rich, the former Daily News editor charged with bringing Deadspin back to life following a mass staff exodus, has resigned after just 18 months on the job, The Post has learned. About their hires, he wrote, I introduced Steve and Lance to Mike McAvoy, but I did not make the hires. []. From a womans perspective, I did feel very belittled. In early April, Great Hill Partners, a private-equity firm, acquired Gizmodo Media Groupa collection of sites, formed from the assets of the old Gawker, that included Jezebel, Lifehacker, and Deadspinas well as The Onion, a satirical news site, reportedly at a fire-sale price.The company, renamed G/O Media, installed Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes.com, Playboy, and Ziff Davis, as CEO. 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. in English Literature in 1979 and went to work as a reporter for the SoHo Weekly News. 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. [12][13], In 2011, Spanfeller launched The Daily Meal with an estimated $2 million investment. Spanfeller says Pontius accepted the job, but he decided she was not a good fit for this position after Pontius refused to join me in communicating our plans to fire Banikarim. They cant even pitch effectively, said another employee who was present. "We needed to change a lot of things, and change is hard.". Ultimately, the issue of building a wall has raised political risk, Cramer said. I read that she's a registered Republican in Texas. Great Hill Partners did not disclose the financial terms of the private, all equity transaction but stated in a press release that Spanfeller is an investor. Its everything Ive wanted and more.. The anti-herb agenda is being suppressed.. At the same time, working with the EICs to set a general editorial direction is clearly in the purview of any owner.). 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. Spanfeller said he did not recall the specific request. The other is still in college., Four of nine major hires have been women, Spanfeller said. The company is also on the hunt for acquisitions, according to Spanfeller. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. 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. This is the same thing that has also happened to Deadspin. He credited The Root for its journalism on the Black Lives Matter movement. Reverse Phone Search Tool And much more all for free! Just two weeks after Spanfeller and Great Hill acquired the company, and less than a week after he said in an interview with Variety that he didnt expect any layoffs, Spanfeller fired 25 people across the 400-person company, including Susie Banikarim, GMGs widely respected editorial director, and the only person of color on the executive leadership team at the time. "I think that most media company CEOs probably are as involved as I am," Spanfeller said. 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. Spanfeller said he would go into negotiations "with an open mind and good faith," but a former executive at the company predicted conflict at the negotiating table between the union and the CEO, given their view of Spanfeller's heavy-handed leadership style. 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. When Rogers was hired less than a week after McAvoy told the SVP that she would be able to interview for the job, she said, she realized that he must have been chosen well before. In 1964, Spanfeller recieved the title of Artist of the Year from the Artists Guild of New York. pretty big scoop from me Jim Spanfeller is a herb https://t.co/gZDCs6mfhC. I have stood up for and advocated for my team since the day I started at G/O. 15 Life Hacks That Are Actually Pretty Good 17,580. I think it makes him a bad role model for the rest of his team.. [5], In 1984, Spanfeller was named publisher of Newsweek On Campus magazine. Before he started full time in early June, Flanagan was brought in as a consultant just after Spanfeller took over G/O Media. I was disappointed. Well keep fighting for whats right. Without posting the jobs publicly, Spanfeller hired a stable of white men to fill executive positions overseeing nearly every facet of the company., You also had no interest in meeting the only woman on the revenue leadership team who is an SVP who has been successful., As the only woman on the previous revenue leadership team, I started to wonder if women were being considered for leadership roles., 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., The appropriate thing to do would be to talk to the editorial side of the business and have a clear objective for the survey., Chief financial officer Tom Callahan, who worked at Forbes while Spanfeller worked there. Im kind of a tipsy at a bar in Paris, she added. It's a culture of fear," said the first former employee, who added that staffers sometimes likened meetings with Spanfeller to the "boar on the floor" scene in HBO's "Succession," where media mogul Logan Roy orders his underlings to crawl and oink like pigs. tips@mediaite.com, Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. On July 30, the day after I emailed reporting questions to Spanfeller, Maidment, Rogers, Jesse Knight, and Sean Flanagan, Spanfeller sent a company-wide email under the subject line Reporting on Ourselves; Deadspin Reporting On The Company and Our Executives. In the email, excerpts of which were published by media reporters from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, Spanfeller voiced his opinion on how coverage of the company should work: I believe the solution is to have that reporting reviewed by an impartial outside editor a Public Editor, if you will [] and not just for these situations but for any situation where someone within or without the company has issues with our coverage or reporting. When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. I never changed my mind. The role was not posted nor was it communicated to me in time where I would have even been given equal opportunity to be considered, she said. 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. Spanfeller Media is working to redefine content for the digital era. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President . Youre not qualified. 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. Another was more direct: Thats Jim wanting to be in control. Like many media companies, G/O Media's advertising business was battered by the pandemic. The takeover of G/O Media, previosuly known as Gizmodo Media Group and Gawker Media, by former Forbes executive Jim Spanfellercontinues to throttle downhill, as one of the companys news sites, Deadspin, published a scathing expos on Friday detailing a litany of problems employees have faced since investment firm Great Hill purchased Gizmodo and placed Spanfeller in control.
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