G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company[1] that owns and operates several digital media outlets, including Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, The Root, The Inventory, and Quartz.[2][3]
 | |
| Predecessor | Gizmodo Media Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | April 8, 2019 |
| Headquarters | New York, New York |
Key people | Jim Spanfeller (CEO) |
| Owner | Great Hill Partners |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | g-omedia |
History
G/O was formed in April 2019 when Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm, purchased the websites from Univision for $18.9 million.[4][5] Prior to the sale, the former Gawker Media properties had operated as Gizmodo Media Group after being acquired by Univision following the conclusion of the Bollea v. Gawker lawsuit and subsequent bankruptcy in 2016.[6][7][8] Former Forbes executive Jim Spanfeller became the CEO of G/O Media.[9] In the first twelve months following its purchase of the websites, G/O shut down Splinter News in November 2019[10] and sold ClickHole in February 2020 to Cards Against Humanity.[11]
In mid-October 2021, G/O Media removed all images from stories published before the acquisition by Great Hill Partners in 2019 from the 11 websites it owns, including Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, The Onion, and Jezebel. No reason was given but was speculated to be related to copyright infringement lawsuits the company was involved in.[12]
From 2023 onwards the company began to dispose of sites that it owned, with Lifehacker being sold in March 2023 to Ziff Davis,[13] while Jezebel was shuttered[14] and then sold in November 2023 to Paste along with Splinter News.[15] In January 2024, Adweek reported that G/O Media was looking to sell off the remaining sites under its ownership, following failed efforts to find buyers for the whole organisation. The company claimed the reporting was "largely incorrect" but didn't specify how.[16] On March 11, 2024, G/O Media sold Deadspin to the European start-up Lineup Publishing, who immediately laid off all of Deadspin's employees.[17] Later that month, G/O Media sold The A.V. Club to Paste and The Takeout to Static Media, with it also reported that the company was actively looking for buyers of The Onion.[18] The Onion was sold in April 2024 to a company called Global Tetrahedron.[19]
Staff conflicts with leadership
G/O Media's leadership, introduced after the purchase from Univision, has been subject to frequent criticism by employees.[9] Complaints include closer advertiser relationships, a lack of diversity, and suppression of reporting about the company itself.[9] In October 2019, Deadspin's editor-in-chief, Barry Petchesky, was fired for refusing to adhere to a directive that the site "stick to sports."[20] Soon after, the entirety of Deadspin's staff resigned in protest, leaving the site inactive.[21] In November 2021, Gawker reported on substantial staff resignations at Jezebel over the course of 2021, comprising around 75% of staff. The resignations were reportedly related to a "hostile work environment" created by G/O's management and the new deputy editorial director Lea Goldman.[22] In January 2022, another article detailed similar staff decline at The Root, with 15 out of 16 full-time staff having left throughout 2021 since Vanessa De Luca started as editor-in-chief,[23] while at The A.V. Club seven senior staff members left the site after management required them to move from Chicago to Los Angeles. According to the Chicago Tribune, the departing staffers cited a lack of salary increase to account for increased cost of living due to the transfer.[24]
The company also saw multiple disputes with the employee unions. In January 2020, the GMG Union, which represents the staff of six G/O Media sites, 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."[25] On February 4, 2021, the Writers Guild of America East filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that G/O Media told employees it had fired Alex Cranz for labor activism.[26] On March 1, 2022, GMG Union members went on strike after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.[27] The strike was resolved on March 6 with a new contract that included some of the members' terms.[28] On June 29, 2023, G/O Media implemented a "modest test" of artificial intelligence-generated content on its websites, in a move similar to BuzzFeed and CNET. The move sparked backlash from GMG Union members, citing AI's track record of false statements and plagiarism from its training data, with basic errors in the generated content also attracting attention.[29][30] In January 2024 a strike involving members of The Onion Union, which represents workers at other G/O Media sites, was narrowly averted following an agreement.[31]
Acquisitions
Sold properties
- ClickHole to Cards Against Humanity (February 2020)[11]
- Lifehacker to Ziff Davis (March 2023)[13][33]
- Jezebel and Splinter News to Paste (November 2023)[15]
- Deadspin to Lineup Publishing (March 2024)[17]
- The A.V. Club to Paste (March 2024)[34]
- The Takeout to Static Media (March 2024)[34]
- The Onion to Global Tetrahedron (April 2024)[19]
References
Further reading
- Kelly, Keith J. (July 18, 2019). "New CEO of G/O Media ripped for bringing in 'older white guys'". New York Post. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- Spangler, Todd (April 30, 2019). "G/O Media Lays Off 25 Staffers, After New CEO Said He Didn't Expect Layoffs at Former Gizmodo Media Group". Variety. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- Spangler, Todd (November 5, 2019). "G/O Media Editorial Director Resigns After Deadspin's Entire Staff Quit Over His Coverage Crackdown". Variety. Archived from the original on November 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.