Jim Spanfeller

Last updated

James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American executive known for running Forbes.com from 2001 to 2009. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. [1] He is also a past Chairman of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and longtime executive board member of Digital Content Next (DCN). [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Spanfeller graduated from Union College with a B.A. in English Literature in 1979 and went to work as a reporter for the SoHo Weekly News. [4] He soon switched to the business side of the paper, and later took a tour through Europe. [5] Upon returning from Europe, Spanfeller took a position at AMP Marketing Systems. [5]

In 1984, Spanfeller was named publisher of Newsweek On Campus magazine. [6] Just under two years later, Spanfeller was replaced as publisher by Scott Kauffman and became the national sales manager of Newsweek magazine in 1986. [7]

Spanfeller was named associate publisher and senior vice president of marketing of Playboy Enterprises in April 1989. [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. [9]

In 1996, Spanfeller left his job at Inc., where he had become publisher, to become publisher of Yahoo! Internet Life, a joint publication of Ziff-Davis and Yahoo!. [10] Spanfeller was also responsible for advertising sales on the magazine's website and that of Yahoo! Computing. [11]

Forbes.com

Spanfeller was employed by Forbes.com for 8 years from 2001 to 2009, when digital and print operations were run separately. [12] [13]

Daily Meal

In 2011, Spanfeller launched The Daily Meal with an estimated $2 million investment. The Daily Meal was acquired by Tronc in 2016. [12]

G/O Media

Spanfeller took over as CEO of G/O Media when Great Hill Partners purchased the company, formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group, and The Onion from Univision on April 8, 2019, and combined the companies. 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. [2]

In 2019, G/O Media's sports blog Deadspin received media attention when all of its writers and editors resigned after an edict given by upper management to "stick to sports". [14] A subsequent post on Kinja post mocked Spanfeller as a "herb"; after being widely shared on social media, G/O Media removed the post. [15] [16] In the Vanity Fair article, writer Joe Pompeo noted that "someone edited Spanfeller's Wikipedia entry to read 'Jim Spanfeller is a fart-faced fascist best known for running Forbes.com 2001-09.' (That language has since been scrubbed.)" [17]

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." [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziff Davis</span> American publisher and Internet company

Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, internet connectivity services, gaming and entertainment brands, and cybersecurity and martech tools. Previously, the company was predominantly a publisher of hobbyist magazines.

Gawker was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers that was based in New York City and focused on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month as of 2015. Founded in 2002, Gawker was the flagship blog for Denton's Gawker Media. Gawker Media also managed other blogs such as Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Kotaku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gawker Media</span> Former British-American online media company and blog network

Gawker Media LLC was an American internet 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 Islands, as of 2012, Gawker Media was the parent company for seven different weblogs and many subsites under them: Gawker.com, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial license. In 2004, the company renamed from Blogwire, Inc. to Gawker Media, Inc., and to Gawker Media LLC shortly after.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinja (website)</span> Online news aggregator

Kinja is a free online news aggregator, launched in April 2004. It is operated by G/O Media. It was formerly operated by Gizmodo Media Group, which was purchased by Univision Communications during Gawker Media's bankruptcy.

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.

Deadspin is a sports blog founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by Gawker Media, Univision Communications and G/O Media, it was sold to Lineup Publishing in March 2024.

<i>Gizmodo</i> Design, technology, science, and science fiction website and blog

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 sub-blogs io9 and Earther, which focus on pop-culture and environmentalism respectively.

The Root is an African American-oriented online magazine. It was launched on January 28, 2008, by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Donald E. Graham.

<i>io9</i> Blog

io9 is a sub-blog of the technology blog Gizmodo that focuses on science fiction and fantasy pop culture, with former focuses on science, technology and futurism. It was created as a standalone blog in 2008 by editor Annalee Newitz under Gawker Media. In 2015, io9 became a part of Gizmodo as part of a reorganization under parent company Gawker.

Jezebel is a US-based website featuring news and cultural commentary geared towards women. It was launched in 2007 by Gawker Media under the editorship of Anna Holmes as a feminist counterpoint to traditional women's magazines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivek R. Shah</span> American businessman

Vivek R. Shah is an American businessman and chief executive officer of Ziff Davis, an American internet and digital media company.

Michael S. Perlis is an American business executive who currently serves as vice chairman and strategic adviser at Forbes Media LLC. He previously worked for Playboy, SoftBank Capital, and Ziff Davis. Perlis served as CEO of Forbes from December 2010 until October 2017, when he became vice chairman and strategic adviser.

Spanfeller Media Group (SMG), a subsidiary of publishing company Tribune Publishing, is a digital media company based in New York City. It was founded in 2010 by Jim Spanfeller, after leading the digital strategy at Forbes.com. Spanfeller Media Group operates two media sites as subject-specific digital destinations, The Daily Meal, dedicated to food and drink, and The Active Times, centered on outdoor sports and an active lifestyle.

The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. It is the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group. Jim Spanfeller is a former CEO of Forbes.com. In 2016, Spanfeller was acquired by Tribune Publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wenda Harris Millard</span>

Wenda Harris Millard is a media executive currently serving as Vice Chairman at MediaLink. Millard has held positions in media and technology as co-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Chief Sales Officer at Yahoo!. In 2009, Millard joined as MediaLink President and COO, a strategic advisory firm founded by Michael Kassan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meredith Kopit Levien</span> American publisher (born 1971)

Meredith Kopit Levien is an American media executive who is the chief executive officer of The New York Times Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fusion Media Group</span>

The Fusion Media Group is a division of Univision Communications. The company was launched in April 2016 after Univision bought out Disney's stake in Fusion through the Fusion Media Network joint venture between Univision & Disney-ABC. While Univision is focused on serving Hispanic America in Spanish, FMG is the company's multi-platform, English language division targeting young adults.

Gizmodo Media Group was an online media company and blog network formerly operated by Univision Communications in its Fusion Media Group division. The company was created from assets acquired from Gawker Media during its bankruptcy in 2016. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named G/O Media.

G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that owns and operates several digital media outlets, including Kotaku, Jalopnik, The Root, The Inventory, and Quartz.

James Rich is an American journalist and newspaper editor. Originally known for his sports coverage with the New York Post, Rich has served twice as editor-in-chief of New York's Daily News, also editing The Huffington Post and later the sports website Deadspin on two separate occasions.

References

  1. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin (8 April 2019). "Great Hill Partners Agrees to Acquire Gizmodo Media Group". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  2. 1 2 "Great Hill Partners Acquires Gizmodo Media Group". www.greathillpartners.com. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
  3. ↑ "President & CEO, Jim Spanfeller Named as IAB Chairman". www.iab.com. January 10, 2006.
  4. ↑ "Predicting Web Evolution". Union College News Archive. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 Slater (1 January 1997). "Alumni Album: Helping Us Connect to the Web". Union College News Archive. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Dougherty, Philip H. (2 October 1984). "Advertising: People". The New York Times. ProQuest   425208010.
  7. ↑ Dougherty, Philip H. (11 July 1986). "Advertising; 4 Young Executives On Move at Newsweek". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  8. ↑ Warren, James (20 April 1989). "Playboy Hires 2 New Execs; Title of Publisher Goes to 1". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  9. ↑ Elliot, Stuart (11 June 1993). "Advertising: People". The New York Times. ProQuest   109163446.
  10. ↑ "Hiring of Execs Announced by Ziff-Davis". Los Angeles Times. 24 June 1996. ProQuest   293360057.
  11. ↑ "Softbank's Ziff-Davis unit is expected to hire trio". The Wall Street Journal. 24 June 1996. ProQuest   398499619.
  12. 1 2 "New Gizmodo boss Jim Spanfeller is an old school digital media vet". Digiday. 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  13. ↑ "Forbes.com CEO stepping down". Crain's New York Business. 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  14. ↑ Booker, Brakkton. "After Days Of Resignations, The Last Of The Deadspin Staff Has Quit". NPR. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  15. ↑ Pompeo, Joe. "Deadspin Is Zombified—But Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  16. ↑ Feinberg, Ashley (1 November 2019). "The Media-Sensational Rise and Fall of "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb"". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  17. ↑ Booker, Brakkton. "Deadspin is Zombified But Gawker's Content Warriors Keep Sticking it To the Man". VanityFair. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "GMG Union votes no confidence in G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller". Awful Announcing. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.