About their hires, he wrote, I introduced Steve and Lance to Mike McAvoy, but I did not make the hires. 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. 2. Former Daily News Editor in Chief Is Tapped to Run Deadspin Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? 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. Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. The Deadspin takedown covered numerous issues that have arisen since Univisions sale of the company to Great Hill, ranging from accounts of Spanfeller screaming at past employees, to allegations that the new G/O Media boss is on-boarding his old media buddies over highly qualified women who have worked at the company for years, along with numerous other accusations of mismanagement. The confusion stems from a lack of communication. 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. "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. 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. During Jim Spanfeller's younger years, he lived in Pennsylvania and recieved his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1952 from the Philladelphia Academy of the Fine Arts. 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. in English Literature in 1979 and went to work as a reporter for the SoHo Weekly News. 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. I think the biggest problem was the leadership wouldnt get out of the way of everyone, one former employee told Deadspin. 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). 15 Life Hacks That Are Actually Pretty Good 17,580. G/O Media shuttered its politics site, Splinter, in 2019. 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. Dead and spun: a story in three meetings - Columbia Journalism Review It will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, he told Insider, and hunt for acquisitions in 2022. Email us. Great Hill Partners and current CEO Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes, bought these sites and the Onion from Univision Communications Inc. in April. 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. Club executive editor Laura M. Browning and former A.V. We may earn a commission from links on this page. No media company does. 3. 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. 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. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. 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. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 20012009. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., 5. Vacillating Wildly From Dispiriting to Exhilarating. Spanfeller Media Group ( SMG ), a subsidiary of publishing company Tribune Publishing, is a digital media company based in New York City. 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. Oberlander actually left last week. I have definitely given positive feedback to numerous women, including senior executives in edit, sales, and marketing, he offered instead. Flanagan volunteered to go first, and what followed wasnt overwhelmingly inspiring, as one sales employee who was at the meeting put it: Flanagan read word for word what was on the slides, two people present confirmed. All rights reserved. Ex-Deadspin EIC Jim Rich resigns in latest turmoil at G/O Media I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. "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. 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. Voter Registration Records In an email, Flanagan disagreed with those assessments: Simply not true. Computing. The union said that it wants the money to translate into higher salary minimums, trans-inclusive healthcare, and a focus on talent retention. 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. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. Youre not qualified. No one has been named interim editor, and there is no succession plan in place. []. "We are happy to hear that the company is profitable and financially stable enough for Jim Spanfeller to consider further acquisitions, and look forward to welcoming more workers into our union," the G/O Media union said in a statement. 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. 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. (The people I work for and the people who report to me know what I do, Rogers, 63, told Deadspin in an email.). 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,. (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.) "People are scared of him. He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? Spanfeller admitted he contacted Maidment in June after receiving my initial email requesting an interview. Employees across editorial, sales, and tech have left, but many of these positions, even mission-critical ones, have not been filled. Spanfeller responded that he would be happy to get together, but did not say anything about open roles. Before we go any further, I feel compelled to acknowledge that nearly everything about this item is a conflict of interest. John Taggart for The Washington Post / Getty Images. Jim Spanfeller . Club managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog, who both resigned on July 12. So Out of Touch: Gen Z Congressman-Elect Mocks RNC Tweet Criticizing Him For His Housing Woes. It also wasnt communicated to me as a promotion until the day it was emailed out to the company.. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. 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. 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. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. (The other woman on the executive leadership team, general counsel Lynn Oberlander, left the company this week.) In the email, Spanfeller said he was "greatly concerned about the objectivity and core intentions of this piece," and questioned the editorial standards of Deadspin's editors. 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). It was four days old. 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. This is the same thing that has also happened to Deadspin. Sign up for notifications from Insider! I Close-Read the 113-Page Complaint Trying to Ban the Abortion Pill in Texas. Another was more direct: Thats Jim wanting to be in control. 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. 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 . G/O Media executives have discussed potential deal targets in the past, including Genius, The Hill, and HuffPost, according to two people familiar with the matter. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. 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. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. Who even told you you were allowed to think about audience? the woman alleged. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 2001-2009. 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. Jim Spanfeller has 2 current jobs as Founder at The Daily Meal and Chief Executive Officer at G/O Media. When I followed up about the meeting the next day with Spanfeller, I was told it was canceled. Indeed, two former G/O Media staffers blasted Spanfeller for being stingy with resources. 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. 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. 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. There are regions that were within my scope of responsibilities and within my role that I cannot call on and neither can my team.. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION are core to our culture, and we expect all staff to advance and promote that. Heartened, the SVP emailed Spanfeller to remind him of their meeting in April and express her hope that women, people of color, and people who identify as LGBTQ would be considered as he hired his leadership team, and to say that she looked forward to discussing her role in the organization. Im kind of a tipsy at a bar in Paris, she added. Jim Spanfeller Biography & Works of Art | Qart.com When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? Having done it at Forbes, I simply knew it could be done quickly and with incremental value to the company.. 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. So put this piece on ice. Spanfeller Media is working to redefine content for the digital era. 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. Popular Gaming Website Kotaku Might Be Going Away In Wake of