G/O Media Inc. is an American media
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
that runs ''
Gizmodo
''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite '' io9'', ...
'', ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
Histor ...
'', ''Jalopnik'', ''
Deadspin'', ''
Lifehacker
''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is currently owned by G/O Media. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including: Microso ...
'', ''
Jezebel'', ''
The Root'', ''
The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''
The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''.
History
G/O was formed in April 2019 when Great Hill Partners, a
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including lev ...
, purchased the websites from
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and include ...
for $20.6 million. Prior to the sale, the former
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American online media company and blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorporated in the Cayman Isla ...
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. Former ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' executive
Jim Spanfeller became the CEO of G/O Media.
Conflict with leadership
G/O Media's leadership, introduced after the purchase from Univision, has been subject to frequent criticism by employees.
Complaints include closer advertiser relationships, a lack of diversity, and suppression of reporting about the company itself.
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
"Stick to sports" is a phrase used in sports journalism and scholarship, primarily in the United States, to indicate the view that professional athletes should refrain from political or cultural commentary.
In the United States, the notion tha ...
." Soon after, the entirety of Deadspin staff
resigned in protest leaving the site inactive. 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."
On February 4, 2021, the Writers Guild of America East filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that G/O Media had told employees that they had fired Alex Cranz for labor activism.
In Mid-October 2021, G/O Media removed all images from the 11 websites it owns — such as Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, The Onion, and Jezebel — without any announcement or notice.
In November 2021 Gawker released an article detailing substantial staff resignations at Jezebel over the course of 2021 comprising around 75% of staff. Much of the reasoning behind this was placed at the feet of a "hostile work environment" created by G/O's management and the new deputy editorial director Lea Goldman. This was followed by another article in January 2022 detailing similar staff decline at The Root, with 15 out of 16 full-time staff having left over the course of 2021 since the introduction of Vanessa De Luca as editor-in-chief.
In January 2022, it emerged that seven senior staff at The A.V. Club were leaving the site after a management mandate requiring them to move from Chicago to Los Angeles. A lack of salary uplift to account for increased costs of living was cited as a main reason for leaving.
On March 1, 2022, GMG Union members went on strike after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract. The strike was resolved on March 6 with a proposed new contract including some of the members' terms.
Acquisitions
In April 2022, it was announced that G/O Media had acquired the ''
Quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical f ...
'' news brand.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Major Internet companies
Gawker Media
Mass media companies based in New York City
Mass media companies established in 2019