Members of the Writers Guild of America East react to today’s news of the closure of G/O Media’s Jezebel after an unsuccessful attempt to sell the site. The closure came after it was announced that parent company G/O Media would be laying off 23 employees, including Jezebel’s team.
The company attributed the cuts to part of a restructuring to deal with economic headwinds and a difficult digital advertising environment. The New York-based company also announced the departure of G/O Media editorial director Merrill Brown.
“We are devastated but hardly surprised by G/O Media and Jim Spanfeller’s inability to operate our website and their cruel decision to shut it down,” the WGAE statement said. “A pillar of fearless journalism and important cultural commentary since 2007, Jezebel has left an indelible mark on the media landscape.
“Jezebel’s closure also highlights fundamental flaws in the ad-supported media model, where concerns about “brand safety” limit monetization of content across the biggest and most important stories of the day – stories that generate huge traffic because people read and share them. The statement continued. “A well-run company would have moved away from an advertising model, but instead they shut down the brand entirely due to their strategic and commercial ineptitude. Jezebel was a good website.”
Jim Spanfeller, CEO of G/O Media, announced the closure and layoffs in a note to staff on Thursday.
“Starting this week, we are making the very, very difficult decision to suspend the release of Jezebel,” Spanfeller wrote. “Few decisions throughout my career have been so distressing, and I want to make it clear that this is in NO way a reflection of the Jezebel editorial team.
“Unfortunately, our business model and the audiences we serve on our network did not align with Jezebel’s,” Spanfeller added. “And when that became clear, we started looking for a new, perhaps better home that could give Jezebel a path forward. It became a personal mission for Lea Goldman [G/O Media deputy editorial director], who worked tirelessly on the project and spoke to over two dozen potential buyers. It’s a testament to Jezebel’s legacy and loyalty that so many players have hired us. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to find a new home for Jez.”
Launched in 2007 by Gawker Media with founding editor Anna Holmes, Jezebel provided news and cultural commentary specifically for women. After Gawker Media dissolved, the site was purchased by Univision Communications and later acquired by G/O Media.
In July, the WGAE called for an “immediate end” to AI-generated articles on G/O Media websites, which also includes AV Club, Deadspin, Gizmodo and others.
The union called bot journalism “an oxymoron” and noted that “G/O Media published AI-generated articles on several unionized sites, embarrassing employees who work hard under untenable conditions to provide websites with relevant, precise and engaging journalism.”
WGAE members at The Onion also released a statement blaming G/O Media management for today’s layoffs.
“Our hostile and incompetent management made no effort to work with the union to find a less cruel alternative agreement or to take salary cuts themselves,” the authors said in the statement.
“Our affected colleagues are talented artists, satirists and journalists. This callous firing has everything to do with G/O Media’s ineffective management and nothing to do with the talent of our colleagues who should still be here with us.
“Since G/O Media’s founding in 2019, The Onion Inc. Union has shrunk 61%, closed two sites, sold one, and experienced multiple layoffs,” the statement continued. “Despite these enormous obstacles, G/O Media’s editorial team has continued to produce award-winning journalism and invest in these publications with a commitment that is completely at odds with our apathetic and controversial ownership.”