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Deadspin Relaunching In Chicago, Blasts Union-Represented Employees That Have ‘Severely Hampered’ Website

   DailyWire.com
An employee of the website Deadspin shows a logo at their office in Manhattan, New York on November 1, 2018.
John Taggart for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Late last year, sports media website Deadspin shut down. It now appears as though the company will relaunch once again, but is halting negotiations with union-represented employees seeking changes to the company’s “collective bargaining agreement’s editorial independence provisions.”

In November New York Magazine’s Intelligencer reported that Deadspin was purchased by Great Hill Partners – a private-equity firm – six months before the resignations/layoffs. After the purchase, the website appeared to be going downhill when it was allegedly doing just fine before. Great Hill had acquired the Gizmodo Media Group (now known as G/O) after Gawker Media collapsed due to its publication of sensitive information on Hulk Hogan, who sued the outlet with the help of Peter Thiel and won.

Once Great hill purchased G/O, according to the Intelligencer, the media company’s editorial director was laid off and “strict office hours and a dress code” were implemented. Many of the writers and editors didn’t like the new requirements, claiming they hurt the website’s editorial independence.

In October, G/O media sent a memo to Deadspin staff telling them to stop inserting politics into the website. The Daily Beast reported on the leaked memo, written by G/O Media editorial director Paul Maidment.

“To create as much great sports journalism as we can requires a 100% focus of our resources on sports. And it will be the sole focus,” Maidment wrote in the memo. “Deadspin will write only about sports and that which is relevant to sports in some way.”

Deadspin lost its staff soon after, as they quit over having to focus on what the website was supposed to be reporting on.

Now Deadspin is planning to relaunch in G/O’s Chicago office. A letter from G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller circulated on social media on Friday and took special aim at the Writer’s Guild of America-East, which represented Deadspin employees.

“In terms of modifications to the Gizmodo collective bargaining agreement’s editorial independence provisions, we believe we have reached a point where our discussions are no longer productive and as such, we will not engage in further discussions on this topic. We have and will continue to respect the editorial integrity of our journalists at each of our platforms. The contractual provisions, as they currently exist, more than do this, with language that far exceeds anything that exists elsewhere in the digital media industry,” Spanfeller wrote. “The further revisions you seek are designed not to protect the integrity of reporting, but to place virtually full operational control of the brands in the hands of the bargaining unit. For example, your request to give the staff veto power over who might be hired as their boss goes far outside the norms of the media industry. Your unreasonable and unprecedented demands are not in the best interests of the company and would inhibit our ability to successfully operate our websites for the benefit of our readers, employees, and advertisers – it is absolutely critical for media companies to have the ability to ensure that sites are appealing not only to visitors but also business partners and prevent any irreversible damage to the company and to the ongoing employment of our staff.”

Spanfeller went on to say that “over the past few months our efforts to operate and then restart Deadspin have been severely hampered by Union-represented employees’ concerted, divisive actions and their continued objections to our managerial decisions.”

He added that at least one freelance writer was “harassed incessantly” by the union and represented employees.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Deadspin employees would not longer have union representation. Since Deadspin is moving under The Onion corporate structure, it will continue to receive union representation.

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