It definitely feels like its the old boys club, a G/O Media employee told Deadspin. 3. Email him here: caleb@mediaite.com "You're not a 'blogger,' you're a professional journalist. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. [9], In 1996, Spanfeller left his job at Inc., where he had become publisher, to become publisher of Yahoo! Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. Maidment never responded to my questions directly; the first time I saw his answers was when they were included in Spanfellers company-wide email, but he had this to say about his role in the newsroom: I have always shielded the editorial teams I have managed from commercial or business-side interference in what they write, which to my mind is the essence of editorial integrity. Another was more direct: Thats Jim wanting to be in control. No media company does. As the former publisher of National Geographic, Mens Health & Maximmy successful presentation & leadership skills are evident.. Never mind the flood of negative stories about staff blowback over the company's editorial direction. When asked by Deadspin why he wouldnt name an interim editor while that search took place in order to stabilize the site and ensure that the people filling in were properly compensated for their work, Spanfeller said that the Onion union demanded that we immediately promote two people into those roles. [2][3], Spanfeller graduated from Union College with a B.A. Spanfeller declined to answer a question about whether he expressed these sentiments to Klancnik. 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. 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. I had experience and confidence in the people who were hired. There are regions that were within my scope of responsibilities and within my role that I cannot call on and neither can my team.. We shall have a discussion on the policy at the next EiCs leads meeting. Spanfeller Media Group ( SMG ), a subsidiary of publishing company Tribune Publishing, is a digital media company based in New York City. On Glassdoor, a website where current and former employees can submit anonymous reviews of their workplaces, reviews of The Daily Meal are overwhelmingly negative. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. 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. Jim Rich, the former top editor of the New York Daily News, will start as editor-in-chief of Deadspin on Monday. "You can write a blog, just don't publish them here.". G/O Media sites generated about 45.7 million unique visitors in October, according to Comscore, down from 47.8 million in October 2020 and 101.6 million in October 2019, right before the Deadspin exodus. 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. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President . The Daily Meal was acquired by Tronc in 2016. Great Hill Partners is a growth equity company committed to building businesses. 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. 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. But after the staff meeting, sources say, members of the tech team held a meeting with Knight to explain why the date was unrealistic. To hear G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller tell it, everything at his digital media company is going great. 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). Soon after Flanagan started, other members of the sales team began to question his ability to do the job he was hired forspecifically, his ability to represent the websites and the company mission. Like many media companies, G/O Media's advertising business was battered by the pandemic. Then, in early June, former Onion CEO Mike McAvoy, whountil he was separated from the company on July 11had been leading sales across all the sites, told the SVP that Spanfeller had hired two new sales leaders, Flanagan and Thompson. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. Gov. Deadspin cited an account from a former writer at The Daily Meal, a food and beverage site that Spanfeller founded in 2015, who claims her former boss once started screaming at her because she voiced concerns about writing a story on the websites earning figures, which she felt she was not qualified for. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Jim has a different recollection of the facts, McAvoy reiterated. Katie then refused to assume the HR lead role around other wider layoffs at the company. I am a father of three wonderful woman. 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. Ive reached out to Spanfeller for comment multiple times over the past few days and have yet to hear back. I read that she's a registered Republican in Texas. 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. []. [1] He is also a past Chairman of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and longtime executive board member of Digital Content Next (DCN). When one reviews the actual questions one might feel even more uneasy. In his email to the staff, Spanfeller described this story as one that had been commissioned by the site, and attempted to paint the reporting process behind it as haphazard and unfair. 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. I can see why. "The fact that we could acquire it at a price that would make it one of our smallest investments is that good or bad? 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In addition to the annoying ads, G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller also wants Kotaku to only write about video games. 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. I have definitely given positive feedback to numerous women, including senior executives in edit, sales, and marketing, he offered instead. When asked why he didnt consider the SVP, Spanfeller told Deadspin, I was unaware of her interest in the role and that Mike had made that commitment and Im sorry. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. Mike hired Steve, and Steve hired Lance after conducting a process around each hire. Great Hill Partners vice president Eric Ahlgren and managing partner Chris Gaffney did not respond to Deadspins emailed questions. When Spanfeller Offered to Promote a Woman to a Top Position, He Insisted She Fire a Female Editorial Director Should She Accept the Job. Spanfeller told Insider that G/O Media plans to reinvest the profits into the business. Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. 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. The appropriate thing to do would be to talk to the editorial side of the business and have a clear objective for the survey.. I am a father of three wonderful woman, Spanfeller wrote in a statement. Club executive editor Laura M. Browning and former A.V. 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. 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. McAvoy described the SVP of marketing job as a combination of sales strategy, account management, and managing creative teamsall responsibilities that fell under the SVPs purview. Jim Spanfeller @JimSpanfeller Founder of http://TheDailyMeal.comand http://TheActiveTimes.com. This guy just seems like he doesnt like women, another added. "We closed Splinter because it was a liberal political site that was losing audience in the middle of a liberal moment," he said. 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. Clashes between the Gawker Media editorial culture and the company's new private equity owner seemed inevitable from the start. In reality, this story started with a tip the site received about Spanfellers hiring practices, and grew from there thanks to sources accounts. Views. About their hires, he wrote, I introduced Steve and Lance to Mike McAvoy, but I did not make the hires. 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. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records. Greenwell told Maidment she was unwilling to shut down an ongoing reporting process in response to management demands, and Maidment continued to make his argument against the idea of reporting on G/O Mediaa hallmark of the company since its earliest days, as well as a tradition at other major publicationsin several meetings with the editors and writers he oversees. 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 (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? 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. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. Naturally, we were dismayed to discover one more problemthe survey placed on Deadspin. Spanfeller, a man who is regularly and perhaps euphemistically referred to in press accounts as a digital media "veteran," has so far hired a slew of his former colleagues at Forbes.comwhere he. It became clear that she was not a good fit for this position and we both agreed on this. 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. This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge. I think the thing thats most strange about it is that they didnt coordinate with the editorial side of the business. Since Spanfeller took over G/O Media in April, more than a dozen people have left the company voluntarily, in addition to the 25 people who were laid off. 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. 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. "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. 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.". (G/O Medias Collective Bargaining Agreement contains a clause that explicitly states that editorial decisions can only be made by editorial staff members, which Spanfeller is not. As for the content of the survey, Reibstein said it is possible to read it as innocent, a way to attempt to gauge customer satisfaction, as its known in the marketing industry. Mr. Rich, who will report to G/O Media Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, . They include: (Spanfeller declined to be interviewed in person but answered emailed questions. New York City. These conversations reveal that Spanfellers biggest effect on the company since taking over has been a deflation of morale. (check all that apply). Mad Money Twitter - Jim . Six days after the SVPs exchange with McAvoy, Spanfeller sent an email to the entire staff announcing G/O Medias new company values. 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. 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. Employees in G/O Media's editorial union urged the company's private-equity owners to replace G/O Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller in a letter Monday, saying a change in leadership was . In one instance in which Spanfeller tried to promote a woman within the company, his offer came with strings attached. 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. 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. Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. Indeed, two former G/O Media staffers blasted Spanfeller for being stingy with resources. (The people I work for and the people who report to me know what I do, Rogers, 63, told Deadspin in an email.). [5] Upon returning from Europe, Spanfeller took a position at AMP Marketing Systems. 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. 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. 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. Spanfeller admitted he contacted Maidment in June after receiving my initial email requesting an interview. [] While it is what we did at Forbes that has nothing to do with the reason to do it here. She said Spanfeller didnt have many questions for her, describing him as apathetic. Spanfeller seemed not to recall this interaction, telling Deadspin that the sales team was not covering direct clients..
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