jim spanfeller political affiliation
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. Where people are registered to vote. We could have video analytics today. And Fake. The mess at G/O Media - Columbia Journalism Review Multiple sources say that Spanfeller reached out to VP of media operations Brad Klancnik to tell him he was a valuable employee and that the new owners would like him to stay at the company, but female VPs say he did not relay such messages to them. Former Daily News Editor in Chief Is Tapped to Run Deadspin So put this piece on ice. Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. Jim Justice speaks during President Donald Trump's political rally inside the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington on Thursday. A source said Spanfeller told editors-in-chief of the companys websites that he had chosen Maidment, 68, for the job before the sale was completed and did not interview other candidates, including Banikarim. 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. 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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. [12][13], In 2011, Spanfeller launched The Daily Meal with an estimated $2 million investment. 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. 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. The key journalistic properties descended from . 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. He started screaming at me, Who told you you were allowed to speak about audience? G/O Media lawsuits: Two former exec allege discrimination - CNN 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. Youre not qualified. This former staffer said the team wished to add Black creatives to help create more representative branded content to meet the demand, but it was not given additional resources. 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. I have stood up for and advocated for my team since the day I started at G/O. Computing. G/O Media Workers Call on Owners to Replace CEO - WSJ Jim Spanfeller the beleaguered boss of G/O Media, which owns The Onion and Deadspin is being sued by two former executives who claim in separate lawsuits that he discriminated against . The VP had a call with McAvoy and Spanfeller to discuss the process, asking Spanfeller why he hadnt even reached out to her about the position. Page 1 of 9,554,641. 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. Never mind that employees called for his resignation last year. (Spanfeller denies this claim.). There are regions that were within my scope of responsibilities and within my role that I cannot call on and neither can my team.. In one instance in which Spanfeller tried to promote a woman within the company, his offer came with strings attached. Email us. I was unclear about what she did. Im not building a club, we are working to build a successful companyand that depends on great women and men.. 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. Jim Spanfeller . When Spanfeller Offered to Promote a Woman to a Top Position, He Insisted She Fire a Female Editorial Director Should She Accept the Job. Jim Spanfeller - New York, New York, United States - LinkedIn 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). James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. 15 Life Hacks That Are Actually Pretty Good 17,580. Great Hill Partners and current CEO Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes, bought these sites and the Onion from Univision Communications Inc. in April. [5] Upon returning from Europe, Spanfeller took a position at AMP Marketing Systems. I have communicated our timeline concerns to Jim and he understands that development is not an exact science and that goals may not be hit, Knight told Deadspin. When pressed, Knight admitted the deadline may be unrealistic. 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. As Spanfeller increasingly insisted on directing editorial coverage in what he believed to be more advertiser-friendly directions, clashes between him and the companys writers and editors have escalated. [4] He soon switched to the business side of the paper, and later took a tour through Europe. (check all that apply). 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. Spanfeller Hired Media Friends/Former Colleagues to Fill G/O Media Roles Just After Claiming He Had No Plans for Major Turnover. In April, the tech team was told to move the companys video operations off of MCP, which Univision paid for to host video content, and onto JW Player, a cheaper video system. 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. It was four days old. Views. In a follow-up meeting with Spanfeller about the story, she suggested that hard financial data might not be their audiences central interest. Asked for a response to the latter allegation, Spanfeller responded, That is absurd. I think the general sentiment coming out of that meeting, at least for some of the senior sales people, was like, these guys are going to lead our sales team? (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. View details on more than 95 Million registered voters across the United States. Two other major jobs Spanfeller gave to women include his new head of talent and deputy counsel, which were both outside hires; he did give a promotion to one woman, who he made deputy editorial director. [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. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. Jim Spanfeller - Wikipedia Email him here: caleb@mediaite.com Spanfeller responded that he would be happy to get together, but did not say anything about open roles. 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. To hear G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller tell it, everything at his digital media company is going great. 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. Jim Spanfeller - CEO - G/O Media | LinkedIn (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.) 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. [8] In June 1993, Spanfeller became associate publisher for advertising at Inc. magazine, replacing Kristin Norrgard, who left to become publisher of Working Woman magazine. G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller Tells Employees to 'Brace for Impact' of John Taggart for The Washington Post / Getty Images. Everyone can seeit on the pageor at least, everyone could see it before the censorship. 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. The digital media and blogging network, which oversees websites like Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jezebel, A.V. "There's a fly and he's a swatter, and that's it," the former executive said. New York(CNN Business) Two former executives are suing G/O Media, the parent company of sites including Gizmodo, Deadspin and The Onion, alleging discrimination and negligence. 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. His skin got bright red, she said. 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. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records WV Gov. Justice switching political parties, returning to GOP All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. In the meantime, Carmichael had her own message for Spanfeller: Congratulations on confirming your herb-ishness.. 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. My management style has been widely reported on over the years and the picture you are painting does not comport with that. Celebrities Who Are Republicans/Conservatives - HubPages 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. 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. Oberlander actually left last week. The post, published Tuesday evening, proved wildly popular on Twitter. G/O Media shuttered its politics site, Splinter, in 2019. "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 . I Close-Read the 113-Page Complaint Trying to Ban the Abortion Pill in Texas. Its Extremely Revealing. Jim Spanfeller - Chief Executive Officer @ G/O Media - Crunchbase Asked about the meeting, Knight initially didnt answer. I am a father of three wonderful woman, Spanfeller wrote in a statement. Spanfeller said the company hopes to expand into areas like travel, music, business, and news. Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? 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. He said the company was just profitable before the pandemic hit its business, and is now comfortably back in the black. 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 previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President . Political affiliation Definition | Law Insider A source at the company familiar with the situation said Thompsons hire had been flagged to upper management as a potential problem. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 20012009. Deadspin Is ZombifiedBut Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 2001-2009. (Pontius left the company.) They include: (Spanfeller declined to be interviewed in person but answered emailed questions. Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. 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. 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. Spanfeller told Insider that G/O Media plans to reinvest the profits into the business. They cant even pitch effectively, said another employee who was present. 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. 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. "The fact that we could acquire it at a price that would make it one of our smallest investments is that good or bad? 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. Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. 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. Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. I was disappointed. "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb": The rise and fall of a blog post. This is normal in situations like these where a new group is coming in and is facing a near term challenge. 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. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. The other is still in college., Four of nine major hires have been women, Spanfeller said. Im kind of a tipsy at a bar in Paris, she added. Political party affiliation trends based on location. 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. 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. 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. 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 detection of possible errors in a person's voter record as well as instructions on how to update it. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. 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. When she tried to edit the post, she was greeted by the following image: Attempts to create a new post were similarly thwarted. 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. It also wasnt communicated to me as a promotion until the day it was emailed out to the company.. (Spanfeller told Deadspin that he and Callahan had only been in a single meeting that I recall.). Spanfeller Has an Alleged History of Screaming at Women Employees. Mr. Rich, who will report to G/O Media Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, . 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. 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 was CEO from 2001 to 2009and Playboywhere he was a senior vice president from 1989 to 1993. 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. Clashes between the Gawker Media editorial culture and the company's new private equity owner seemed inevitable from the start. Jim Spanfeller Biography. 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. At the time of publication, Carmichaels original tweet has been retweeted more than 300 times. Announcing Persauds hire on July 10, Spanfeller wrote this of the process: After a very fulsome search where we interviewed dozens of qualified candidates we identified two finalists. It definitely feels like its the old boys club, a G/O Media employee told Deadspin. Club executive editor Laura M. Browning and former A.V. 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. Voting precincts and districts. 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. [10] Spanfeller was also responsible for advertising sales on the magazine's website and that of Yahoo! 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. It was a welcome refrain for employees all too aware of how the company had languished under Univisions doomed ownership. This is the same thing that has also happened to Deadspin. Sign up for notifications from Insider! G/O Media, owner of Gizmodo and The Onion, will post an eight-figure operating profit this year, CEO Jim Spanfeller says. Spanfellers all-staff email went on to accuse Deadspins staff of bias and cast doubt on the motives behind the story. Search over 95 Million Voter Registration Records. Gaffney said the firm was prepared to hold onto the investment for a decade or more and that Spanfeller, a former Forbes and Playboy executive, does not have a time frame for preparing the company for a sale. Other top employees who have left the company since the start of Spanfellers reign include former A.V. Never mind the recent exodus of company leadership under his tenure, including the editorial director, chief financial officer, and chief revenue officer. Another former Daily Meal staffer said that management was straight-up scared of Spanfeller, adding, I can see why. In all of those cases Jim listened to my arguments and in many cases agreed with me and the issue was settled, he wrote in response to one question. tips@mediaite.com, Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. They requested anonymity to speak candidly but their identities are known to Insider. We have also learned the tech team has been asked to post the survey again. 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 internal reaction to these hires has ranged from confusion to anger. I think the biggest problem was the leadership wouldnt get out of the way of everyone, one former employee told Deadspin. Great Hill Partners is a growth equity company committed to building businesses.