He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? 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 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. It will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, he told Insider, and hunt for acquisitions in 2022. Its hard to imagine what one would not like on that list of items, Reibstein said of the third question. 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. When Spanfeller Offered to Promote a Woman to a Top Position, He Insisted She Fire a Female Editorial Director Should She Accept the Job. (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.) 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. Asked about the meeting, Knight initially didnt answer. While Carmichael was on a plane to Paris, I discovered that G/O had changed her accounts URL from emma.kinja.com to lajskhclsahkchkad.kinja.com, while going to emma.kinja.com now redirects to the new URL, at the time of the change, it simply showed a broken page. ), The internal reaction to these hires has ranged from confusion to anger. The anger stems from Spanfellers apparent disregard for his own stated company values, which include a commitment to diversity and inclusion. "I think that most media company CEOs probably are as involved as I am," Spanfeller said. "You can write a blog, just don't publish them here.". This guy just seems like he doesnt like women, another added. In addition to the removal of the post itself, Carmichael also discovered that shes now unable to use her personal Kinja account at all. Additionally, Jim Spanfeller has had 6 past jobs including CEO at Forbes. A senior vice president who has worked for what is now G/O Media for four and a half years met with Spanfeller in the companys Chicago office shortly after he purchased the company in April. It has introduced real uncertainty in to stocks, and Trump's agenda has become shaky. The survey on Deadspin, however, had some serious issues, he said. 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. That union also opposes G/O Media's recent requirement to return to in-person work. These vacant roles have yet to be filled and Spanfeller has not announced an interim editor. Now that we are closer to stabilizing the companys finances, we can take even more time and be more deliberate in our hiring, which the SVP Talent is already doing.. G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN It became clear that she was not a good fit for this position and we both agreed on this. In a follow-up meeting with Spanfeller about the story, she suggested that hard financial data might not be their audiences central interest. It definitely feels like its the old boys club, a G/O Media employee told Deadspin. Youre not qualified. Who even told you you were allowed to think about audience?, My management was straight-up scared of him, said a staffer who worked at the site for two years and had responsibilities on both the editorial and marketing sides of the company. [12], Spanfeller took over as CEO of G/O Media when Great Hill Partners purchased the company, formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group, and The Onion from Univision on April 8, 2019, and combined the companies. 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. His skin got bright red, she said. 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 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. In other words, G/O media had effectively broken the redirect at Deadspin2.com, so that the site now redirected to a dead link. Cramer finally reveals whether he is pro-Trump or anti-Trump - CNBC G/O Media, owner of Gizmodo and The Onion, will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, CEO Jim Spanfeller says. 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. Ultimately, the issue of building a wall has raised political risk, Cramer said. The person hired was Bruce Rogers, who most recently ran the institute arm of SITO Mobile, a mobile data company. "People are scared of him. [9], In 1996, Spanfeller left his job at Inc., where he had become publisher, to become publisher of Yahoo! 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. New York City. 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. Sign up for notifications from Insider! A voter's representatives in government. 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. 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. ), This isnt the first time Spanfeller has been accused of micromanaging. The JW Player was an interim step, Spanfeller said. Deadspin's entire editorial staff is gone - The Washington Post Six of these hires were Spanfellers colleagues from his previous jobs at Forbes, Playboy, and Ziff Davis. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records. 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. On July 9, he hired Faiza Javaid as deputy general counsel, a position that was posted publicly. 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. But before a formal interview process could take place, Spanfeller filled the jobs with his ex-colleagues. But after the staff meeting, sources say, members of the tech team held a meeting with Knight to explain why the date was unrealistic. Lastly, I firmly believe, personally, that Jim Spanfeller is a herb. 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. Jim Spanfeller has 2 current jobs as Founder at The Daily Meal and Chief Executive Officer at G/O Media. 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. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. All rights reserved. In the culmination of a dayslong struggle to suppress a post that repeatedly referred to its CEO, Jim Spanfeller, as a herb, G/O Media has taken the drastic step of removing the article from its Kinja platform entirely. 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. 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. In reality, this story started with a tip the site received about Spanfellers hiring practices, and grew from there thanks to sources accounts. In one instance in which Spanfeller tried to promote a woman within the company, his offer came with strings attached. 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). I was unclear about what she did. Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. 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. 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 detection of possible errors in a person's voter record as well as instructions on how to update it. Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise. Spanfeller said the goal was to find out what the key points of attraction are for our visitors.. Multiple people who worked for him at The Daily Meal (part of Spanfeller Media Group) told Deadspin that Spanfeller couldnt cede any control. 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. 20 Employees Complained to Deadspin About Spanfellers Management, After interviewing nearly two dozen employees, Deadspin found that 20 people who work for G/O Media expressed frustration with Spanfellers approach to hiring and his new executives lack of knowledge about the company combined with their seeming unwillingness or inability to get up to speed.. I realized that I wasnt communicating my advocacy for the department or our initiatives to upper management and other departments back to the team clearly enough. [We] had a phone conversation, kind of confronting Jim about it, and he told Mike, I thought we talked about this. It was throwing Mike under the bus, and Mike told Jim that they had not talked about it. Spanfeller accused writers and editors of acting in bad faith based on a list of questions submitted to him before publication and the fact that a draft of the article had been sent for legal. It was four days old. 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. Club managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog, who both resigned on July 12. The sales employee (who is not an SVP) wasnt surprised to hear that Spanfeller didnt know what she did. According to Dave Reibstein, past chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Marketing Association and a professor of marketing at University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business (where he teaches a course on market research), there are several problems with the survey. [2][3], Spanfeller graduated from Union College with a B.A. Hes trying to micromanage, the tech employee said last week. What's happening at Deadspin is a travesty | The Outline He did not answer a question about whether he was aware that a female VP was already leading west coast sales or that he installed a man (who also carries a VP title) above her. 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 I think it's all good," said Chris Gaffney, co-founder and managing partner at Great Hill. Its everything Ive wanted and more.. 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. Several high-ranking employees have left the company over the past three months, departments have been stretched thin, and those who remain say that Spanfellers micromanaging and inappropriate interference has hamstrung their ability to effectively do their jobs. 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. 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. Ive reached out to Spanfeller for comment multiple times over the past few days and have yet to hear back. [1] 12-Year-Old Prankster Throws Dead Snake on Woman's Car and Gets Flattened by Husband 15,743. 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 Hired Media Friends/Former Colleagues to Fill G/O Media Roles Just After Claiming He Had No Plans for Major Turnover. I am and will continue to be a very strong advocate for my team.. Successfully sold . 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. 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. (check all that apply). On July 25, a pop-up survey appeared on Deadspin asking three questions: How satisfied are you with Deadspin? Answering a similar one, he seemed to contradict himself: This concern was expressed to me and I take it very seriously. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. 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. Jim Spanfeller - New York, New York, United States - LinkedIn This sites credibility is not dependent on who and what it reports on, but on its ability to report forcefully and accurately. Political party affiliation trends based on location. Like many media companies, G/O Media's advertising business was battered by the pandemic. Justice announced he was switching his party affiliation . It laid off 14 staffers in the summer of 2020. 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. Combined with more data-driven metrics like unique views, how long a reader spends on a story, and how many times a story is shared, reader feedback can provide useful information. 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,. Spanfellers all-staff email went on to accuse Deadspins staff of bias and cast doubt on the motives behind the story. These conversations reveal that Spanfellers biggest effect on the company since taking over has been a deflation of morale. Whenever a publication shuts down, as has happened more and more over the last few years, it undergoes a public eulogizing by its employees, the friends of its employees, the people who wanted to work there, and most importantly the readers, whose tributes are . 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. 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. That management did not respond to our request for an explanation is only another of the many ways the workers at GMG have been ignored and put on the back burner in the name of a profitability mirage that is clearly more attractive to the big decision-makers than a functioning workplace. 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. When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. 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. Voting precincts and districts. 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. Celebrities Who Are Republicans/Conservatives - HubPages This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge.. 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. 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. Vice president for west coast sales Steve Thompson, who worked with Spanfeller at, Vice president for east coast sales Sean Flanagan, who worked with Spanfeller at. Jim Spanfeller Biography. Deadspin Editor Fired Amid Pushback Over 'Stick to Sports' Memo Multiple employees on the tech team say the chief technology officer, Jesse Knight, has repeatedly shown himself unable or unwilling to stand up to Spanfeller and advocate for his team and best practice standards. Use this information as you see fit. Katie then refused to assume the HR lead role around other wider layoffs at the company. "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb": The rise and fall of a blog post. 1. Jim Spanfeller (@JimSpanfeller) / Twitter But Spanfellers expectation that the process would be done in the next week or so shocked the tech team. The former staff of Splinter later launched the worker-owned Discourse Blog. In that 30-minute meeting, the woman told Deadspin, Spanfeller told her that Univision had been a bad owner and that he saw an opportunity to make improvements and turn a profit. Never mind the recent exodus of company leadership under his tenure, including the editorial director, chief financial officer, and chief revenue officer. He sits on the Board of Directors of The New York Chapter of The National Foundation for Teaching . 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. Spanfeller Media Group ( SMG ), a subsidiary of publishing company Tribune Publishing, is a digital media company based in New York City. Details may include related records, political party, location, and more. "[17], "Great Hill Partners Agrees to Acquire Gizmodo Media Group", "Great Hill Partners Acquires Gizmodo Media Group", "President & CEO, Jim Spanfeller Named as IAB Chairman", "Alumni Album: Helping Us Connect to the Web", "Advertising; 4 Young Executives On Move at Newsweek", "Playboy Hires 2 New Execs; Title of Publisher Goes to 1", "New Gizmodo boss Jim Spanfeller is an old school digital media vet", "After Days Of Resignations, The Last Of The Deadspin Staff Has Quit", "Deadspin Is ZombifiedBut Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On", "The Media-Sensational Rise and Fall of "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb", "GMG Union votes no confidence in G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Spanfeller&oldid=1074755870, This page was last edited on 2 March 2022, at 00:52. That is clearly evident when you note the poor syntax and galling bias of the questions. Page 1 of 9,554,641. "We were a leftist site, not a liberal one, which gives you a sense of how closely Spanfeller followed our work," he said. Gov. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President .
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