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. 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. In the months that followed, without posting the jobs publicly, Spanfeller, 62, hired a stable of white men to fill executive positions overseeing nearly every facet of the company. A longtime digital media veteran, Spanfeller was an unconventional choice to lead the new Gizmodo Media Group sites (The Daily Beast's CEO, Heather Dietrick, once served as president of the . 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. McAvoy told her she would be able to interview for a bigger role, she said, only to follow up a few weeks later and say that Rogers had been hired. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. The anti-herb agenda is being suppressed.. Or knowledgeable writers?, Asked about the survey, Rogers said he thinks its responses will accurately and fully reflect Deadspin readers opinions of the site. 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. 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. Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. 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. Gaffney and Spanfeller said that G/O Media is looking for acquisitions itself. "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 . 12-Year-Old Prankster Throws Dead Snake on Woman's Car and Gets Flattened by Husband 15,743. In one instance in which Spanfeller tried to promote a woman within the company, his offer came with strings attached. G/O is still wracked with internal tensions ahead of contract negotiations with one of its editorial unions. The JW Player was an interim step, Spanfeller said. Page 1 of 9,554,641. The differences were as granular as whether to call published pieces "blogs" or "stories." We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. 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. In addition to poor planning and communication around the video player, multiple sources say Spanfeller wouldnt allow the tech team to implement video tracking analytics on JW Player, so no one had any idea how many views videos were getting. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Celebrities Who Are Republicans/Conservatives - HubPages 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. Mr. Spanfeller has a BA in English Literature from Union College, Schenectady, New York. Initially, we had to move fast because the company was losing money at a rapid pace, he said. Asked about the meeting, Knight initially didnt answer. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. "We were a leftist site, not a liberal one, which gives you a sense of how closely Spanfeller followed our work," he said. On July 25, a pop-up survey appeared on Deadspin asking three questions: How satisfied are you with Deadspin? 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. The key journalistic properties descended from . Stay up to date with what you want to know. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. James J. Spanfeller serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President of Electronic Publishing for . The company is also on the hunt for acquisitions, according to Spanfeller. 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. Jim Spanfeller Biography & Works of Art | Qart.com 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. These vacant roles have yet to be filled and Spanfeller has not announced an interim editor. And I didnt know what Sean was doing. G/O Media, from a business perspective, has turned a corner, Spanfeller says. Gov. 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. 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. I was also hiring a good portion of these jobs before I actually took over day to day control of the company. 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. 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. 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. G/O Media, owner of Gizmodo and The Onion, will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, CEO Jim Spanfeller says. 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. There are regions that were within my scope of responsibilities and within my role that I cannot call on and neither can my team.. (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? 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. 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. But as Spanfeller began to implement his vision, that hope was replaced by employee frustration and skepticism over his hiring practices and interference with the companys journalism. Spanfeller responded that he would be happy to get together, but did not say anything about open roles. He said the company was just profitable before the pandemic hit its business, and is now comfortably back in the black. 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. 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. 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. []. Spanfellers executive assistant set up a time for us to meet. According to sources familiar with the situation, the Onions union sent a letter to Spanfeller asking that he help provide a plan for the site and fill the vacuum left by top leadership. Other top employees who have left the company since the start of Spanfellers reign include former A.V. Jim Spanfeller - New York, New York, United States - LinkedIn He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? ), This isnt the first time Spanfeller has been accused of micromanaging. Throughout his career he has recieved more than 60 awards for his work from such . Views. "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb": The rise and fall of a blog post. G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN In this specific case, I have committed to the current story being fully reported and submitted for external review and, if it passes that review, it will be published. Voting precincts and districts. Another former Daily Meal staffer said that management was straight-up scared of Spanfeller, adding, I can see why. 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. Naturally, we were dismayed to discover one more problemthe survey placed on Deadspin. It also wasnt communicated to me as a promotion until the day it was emailed out to the company.. 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. Jim Spanfeller - Wikipedia I think the thing thats most strange about it is that they didnt coordinate with the editorial side of the business. The four women who Spanfeller counts as major hires include two he hired (head of talent and deputy counsel); one he promoted from within to executive managing editor; and a yet-to-be-filled position he says he plans to offer to a woman. . 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. 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. Youre not qualified. And he made sure to make it clear that I just didnt get it in his mind that I just didnt get this whole digital thing, she said. The CEO alleged. Six days after the SVPs exchange with McAvoy, Spanfeller sent an email to the entire staff announcing G/O Medias new company values. In 1964, Spanfeller recieved the title of Artist of the Year from the Artists Guild of New York. Deadspin Editor Quits, Rails Against Bosses: 'I've Been Repeatedly Lied That is clearly evident when you note the poor syntax and galling bias of the questions. 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. But Spanfellers expectation that the process would be done in the next week or so shocked the tech team. Text. ), Spanfeller described the situation differently. [5] Upon returning from Europe, Spanfeller took a position at AMP Marketing Systems. 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. 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. Jim Spanfeller . I think it makes him a bad role model for the rest of his team.. John Taggart for The Washington Post / Getty Images. One major conflict arose over whether the company should build a video player in-house or pay for a third-party platform. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records Former Daily News Editor in Chief Is Tapped to Run Deadspin Now that we are closer to stabilizing the company, there can be a more deliberate recruitment and hiring process. Spanfellers cronies now fill the G/O Media positions of chief financial officer, editorial director, senior VP of marketing, VP of west coast sales, VP of east coast sales, and VP of southern sales. 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. 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. [] While it is what we did at Forbes that has nothing to do with the reason to do it here. I had experience and confidence in the people who were hired. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. Email us. (Spanfeller says this is inaccurate and that he did consider other candidates for the editorial director role, but Paul quickly rose to the top after he expressed an interest in the position.) Three of the men Spanfeller hired were installed over successful women who had been at the company for years. It is ridiculous to launch a management survey questioning the editorial value of the site. When asked if it was inaccurate, then, to say she had accepted the job, Spanfeller did not respond. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. 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. "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. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. What's happening at Deadspin is a travesty | The Outline 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. 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. 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. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., A fourth source, a former senior staff member at The Daily Meal who worked with Spanfeller, confirmed his temper issues and the dysfunctional nature of the workplace. Three and a half hours later, Maidment told us to put the story on ice, but both Spanfeller and Maidment maintain that Spanfeller never explicitly or implicitly directed the story to be killed. The other is still in college.. No one has been named interim editor, and there is no succession plan in place. 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. The only person that I was aware of that was calling directly on clients was an SVP at The Onion and that was to sell creative services, he said. Spanfeller said he did not recall the specific request. Before we go any further, I feel compelled to acknowledge that nearly everything about this item is a conflict of interest. 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. [5], In 1984, Spanfeller was named publisher of Newsweek On Campus magazine. In an email read to Deadspin, McAvoy agreed that she was qualified for the role and said he would talk with Spanfeller to ensure she was interviewed for the new opportunity, which had not been posted publicly. G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN Steve Riley on February 14, 2013: Just right off the bat. This conversation inspired her to write a post on the personal account she still holds on G/Os publishing platform, Kinja, titled Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb., Pronounced with a hard h, herbs are difficult to define, but typified by the individuals seen in this earlier Carmichael post about herbitude. 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 each site. tips@mediaite.com, Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. Endnotes [1] Statement from G/O Media: "Some reports have miscast Jim Spanfeller as a private equity businessman when, in fact, he has spent his entire career in editorial-driven businesses. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. pretty big scoop from me Jim Spanfeller is a herb https://t.co/gZDCs6mfhC. In two cases, women asked for and were promised the opportunity to interview for executive-level positions for which they were qualified, only to see Spanfeller hire one of his former colleagues before they were given a chance to interview. They include: (Spanfeller declined to be interviewed in person but answered emailed questions. The person hired was Bruce Rogers, who most recently ran the institute arm of SITO Mobile, a mobile data company. Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. (Though the source spoke in great detail about her experience, she requested her name not be used because she didnt want it to affect her future employment opportunities.) 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. 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. Its everything Ive wanted and more.. 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. A source at the company familiar with the situation said Thompsons hire had been flagged to upper management as a potential problem. The anger stems from Spanfellers apparent disregard for his own stated company values, which include a commitment to diversity and inclusion. Senior vice president of marketing Bruce Rogers, who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes. They requested anonymity to speak candidly but their identities are known to Insider. Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. 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. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 20012009. Indeed, two former G/O Media staffers blasted Spanfeller for being stingy with resources. (Pontius left the company.) In one case, sources say Spanfeller did offer to promote a woman to run human resources, but on the condition she fire another woman at the company as her first order of business. Whats left of that company is currently called G/O Media. I told Mike, verbally and in writing, that I would be interested in taking on new responsibilities and opportunities within the organization and I would like to interview for whatever position would be a part of that, she told Deadspin. 15 Life Hacks That Are Actually Pretty Good 17,580. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. Jim Spanfeller Biography. New York City. My territory has been cut in half. According to multiple sources inside the company, the post even joined the leading posts from official G/O sites on the big board, a large screen in the companys New York headquarters that displays that moments most highly trafficked storiesan unusual feat for a user-generated post. 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. It was a welcome refrain for employees all too aware of how the company had languished under Univisions doomed ownership. Popular Gaming Website Kotaku Might Be Going Away In Wake of Below are some of the biggest revelations outlined in Deadspins roughly 7,000 word report on their parent company and its new management, which they spoke to nearly two dozen G/O Media employees for. 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. G/O Media shuttered its politics site, Splinter, in 2019. Jim Spanfeller - Big Think I Close-Read the 113-Page Complaint Trying to Ban the Abortion Pill in Texas. Im sorry that Mike didnt more clearly convey the information to me., McAvoy said, Jim has a different recollection of the facts., The SVP said she told Spanfeller that she wasnt the only person who noticed this pattern of hiring his former colleagues over women at the company, and that he should be prepared to address it.