Jun 8, 2020, 7:03 AM. 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.. (Spanfeller told Deadspin that he and Callahan had only been in a single meeting that I recall.). 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 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. Jeremy Gordon Oct292019 03:41PM EST. 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. The private equity firm was able to snap up the deal for only about $25 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the figure. 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. (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. Text. 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. Computing. 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. 2. []. Another former Daily Meal staffer said that management was straight-up scared of Spanfeller, adding, I can see why. The CEO alleged. I had experience and confidence in the people who were hired. 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.". He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. 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 . 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. 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. Jim Spanfeller, We could have video analytics today. Spanfeller declined to answer a question about whether he expressed these sentiments to Klancnik. G/O Media, the newly formed company comprised of the assets of the former Gizmodo Media, will lay off 25 employees, according to a memo that company CEO Jim Spanfeller sent to staffers on Tuesday. We have also learned the tech team has been asked to post the survey again. 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. 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 other is still in college., Four of nine major hires have been women, Spanfeller said. A spokesperson for G/O has yet to respond to a request for clarification, but we will update this post if and when that changes. 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. 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. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. 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. All rights reserved. This particular set of troubles all started when private equity firm Great Hill Partners purchased GMG and hired Spanfeller, a former Forbes.com CEO, to guide the ship. 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. 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. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records. Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise. [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. It was four days old. Nearly two dozen current G/O Media employees spoke to Deadspin for this story. When Spanfeller Offered to Promote a Woman to a Top Position, He Insisted She Fire a Female Editorial Director Should She Accept the Job. 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. But those efforts did not go very far, the people said, and the company has yet to mount a takeover. It was a welcome refrain for employees all too aware of how the company had languished under Univisions doomed ownership. Mr. Spanfeller has a BA in English Literature from Union College, Schenectady, New York. (Pontius declined to comment. That is clearly evident when you note the poor syntax and galling bias of the questions. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. The company is also on the hunt for acquisitions, according to Spanfeller. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. (Spanfeller denies this claim.). 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. 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. We may earn a commission from links on this page. 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. 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. When asked if it was inaccurate, then, to say she had accepted the job, Spanfeller did not respond. 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. Jim Rich, the former top editor of the New York Daily News, will start as editor-in-chief of Deadspin on Monday. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. 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. Spanfeller admitted he contacted Maidment in June after receiving my initial email requesting an interview. 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. Now that we are closer to stabilizing the company, there can be a more deliberate recruitment and hiring process. The anger stems from Spanfellers apparent disregard for his own stated company values, which include a commitment to diversity and inclusion. While the archived version of the post did not preserve the original images, you can view a PDF of the original post below. 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. Everyone can seeit on the pageor at least, everyone could see it before the censorship. His skin got bright red, she said. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. But Spanfellers expectation that the process would be done in the next week or so shocked the tech team. 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. 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.. Unlike private equity investors who financially engineer acquisitions, burdening companies they buy with debt and massive . 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. Jim Justice speaks during President Donald Trump's political rally inside the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington on Thursday. It was placed there without consultation or even simple communication to anyone on Deadspins staff. And I didnt know what Sean was doing. This sites credibility is not dependent on who and what it reports on, but on its ability to report forcefully and accurately. Spanfeller responded that he would be happy to get together, but did not say anything about open roles. Employees across editorial, sales, and tech have left, but many of these positions, even mission-critical ones, have not been filled. Jim Spanfeller . 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. Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Having done it at Forbes, I simply knew it could be done quickly and with incremental value to the company.. 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 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 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. This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge. 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.