jim spanfeller political affiliation

[1] He is also a past Chairman of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and longtime executive board member of Digital Content Next (DCN). ), Spanfeller described the situation differently. G/O Media workers went on strike today in part to protect remote work. Club managing editor Caitlin PenzeyMoog, who both resigned on July 12. Follow him on Twitter here: @calebecarma. 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. (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. Jim has a different recollection of the facts, McAvoy reiterated. Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. 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. Political affiliation. When asked if it was inaccurate, then, to say she had accepted the job, Spanfeller did not respond. 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. 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. 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. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. Jim Spanfeller . (check all that apply); and What do you like LEAST about Deadspin? 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). Sources say the meeting concluded with an agreement that the best course of action would be to explain to Spanfeller why the player would not be finished by August 15. 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. 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 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. Asked for a response to the latter allegation, Spanfeller responded, That is absurd. 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. And I didnt know what Sean was doing. 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.. I can see why. (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? 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. Asked about the former employees accounts, Spanfeller said he has no idea what this refers to and it is not my recollection of working at The Daily Meal, adding that he doesnt recall screaming at anyone. [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. Asked about the contract, Spanfeller responded, I firmly believe in editorial integrity. [11], Spanfeller ran Forbes.com for 8 years from 2001 to 2009, when digital and print operations were run separately. []. These conversations reveal that Spanfellers biggest effect on the company since taking over has been a deflation of morale. 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. 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. He sent a message back about the importance of diversity and inclusion and a full hiring process. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. As the former publisher of National Geographic, Mens Health & Maximmy successful presentation & leadership skills are evident.. Political party affiliation trends based on location. 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. Six days after the SVPs exchange with McAvoy, Spanfeller sent an email to the entire staff announcing G/O Medias new company values. When Spanfeller Offered to Promote a Woman to a Top Position, He Insisted She Fire a Female Editorial Director Should She Accept the Job. Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise. As I said in the article, some of the celebs I mentioned could have changed their political leanings. (The people I work for and the people who report to me know what I do, Rogers, 63, told Deadspin in an email.). That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. It was placed there without consultation or even simple communication to anyone on Deadspins staff. Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. Senior vice president of marketing Bruce Rogers, who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes. In an email, Flanagan disagreed with those assessments: Simply not true. 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. The union said that it wants the money to translate into higher salary minimums, trans-inclusive healthcare, and a focus on talent retention. No media company does. So put this piece on ice. "We want to do it in a way that's a little more buttoned up," he said. Initially, we had to move fast because the company was losing money at a rapid pace, he said. To hear G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller tell it, everything at his digital media company is going great. 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. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. Its Extremely Revealing. One major conflict arose over whether the company should build a video player in-house or pay for a third-party platform. It laid off 14 staffers in the summer of 2020. Meanwhile, many people who are still at the company feel their work is being hindered by new management. If I had known, I would have been happy to interview her and consider her for the role., On June 20, the next time Spanfeller was in Chicago, the SVP met with him to ask why she had been overlooked. tips@mediaite.com, Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. The survey on Deadspin, however, had some serious issues, he said. Spanfeller declined to answer a question about whether he expressed these sentiments to Klancnik. The employees, nearly all of whom requested anonymity because of fears of retaliation from company management, are angered by a lack of communication regarding company goals, seeming disregard for promoting diversity within the top ranks of the company, and by repeated and egregious interference with editorial procedures. 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. I have stood up for and advocated for my team since the day I started at G/O. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., 5. Mad Money Twitter - Jim . 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. LinkedIn is the world's largest business network, helping professionals like Jim Spanfeller discover inside connections to recommended . 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. When she tried to edit the post, she was greeted by the following image: Attempts to create a new post were similarly thwarted. Email him here: caleb@mediaite.com (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. Nearly two dozen current G/O Media employees spoke to Deadspin for this story. Former CEO of http://Forbes.com, Chairman Emeritus, IAB, Sec OPA NYCJoined April 2009 266Following 1,878Followers Tweets Tweets & replies Media Likes Jim Spanfeller's Tweets Jim Spanfeller @JimSpanfeller Mar 13, 2020 Good News! During an internal sales summit meeting in New York on June 19, sales execs practiced pitching G/O Medias general presentation, a deck of about 15 slides that tells clients why they should do business with the company. I think the thing thats most strange about it is that they didnt coordinate with the editorial side of the business. Jim Spanfeller Biography. Gaffney and Spanfeller said that G/O Media is looking for acquisitions itself. 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. Gov. 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. 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. That union also opposes G/O Media's recent requirement to return to in-person work. 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. . 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. It became clear that she was not a good fit for this position and we both agreed on this. Everything theyve done in reaction to it is the herbiest shit I could possibly imagine. According to multiple sources familiar with the situation, in April Spanfeller offered the job of head of talent to Katie Pontius, who until recently was the chief of staff for The Onion, Inc. It also wasnt communicated to me as a promotion until the day it was emailed out to the company.. Emma Carmichael is a friend of mine, and we both worked at Gawker Media and, as it was later named after being purchased by Univision, Gizmodo Media Group, or GMG. 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. 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. 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. I was also hiring a good portion of these jobs before I actually took over day to day control of the company. These actions are clearly management attempting to target, and even intimidate, staff into changing their editorial stance in spite of our contract-protected independence, especially as it comes on the heels of managements repeated attempts to kill this story as it was being reported about the company. My territory has been cut in half. 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. (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.) 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. As you know, one reason that I dont believe that publications should write about themselves is because I fear it damages perceived external credibility in editorial independence, which, if anything, makes keeping advertisers at bay harder, not easier. He credited The Root for its journalism on the Black Lives Matter movement. ), The internal reaction to these hires has ranged from confusion to anger. "You can write a blog, just don't publish them here.". In one case, sources say Spanfeller did offer to promote a woman to run human resources, but on the condition she fire another woman at the company as her first order of business. G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said the company would become "nicely profitable" by the end of the year, after it's been . Find Out With This Weeks News Quiz. "We are happy to hear that the company is profitable and financially stable enough for Jim Spanfeller to consider further acquisitions, and look forward to welcoming more workers into our union," the G/O Media union said in a statement. 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.. "We were a leftist site, not a liberal one, which gives you a sense of how closely Spanfeller followed our work," he said. (Spanfeller told Deadspin that he and Callahan had only been in a single meeting that I recall.). [10] Spanfeller was also responsible for advertising sales on the magazine's website and that of Yahoo! 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. Two are now successfully navigating careers in the digital advertising space. 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 Rogers was hired less than a week after McAvoy told the SVP that she would be able to interview for the job, she said, she realized that he must have been chosen well before. 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. 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. 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. Text. 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. 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. The rigorous and thorough reporting, editing, and legal review process that Greenwell promised to oversee has since been completed, which is why you are reading this story now. Then, Thursday night, after Bernie Sanders tweeted in support of Deadspin, supporter collective People for Bernie tweeted the post at its new URL: After which, sometime today, the post disappeared, only to be replaced by this: Its not entirely clear which of Kinjas guidelines were violated, particularly considering that theres no agreed upon definition of what constitutes a herb.

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