Despite her short tenure, she gained a reputation for pushing the envelope at the Web site, already famous for its irreverent posts, and for feuding with Gawker founder Nick Denton. Gawker begs readers to have an ‘open mind and heart’ in quiet relaunchįormer Gawker editor withdraws defamation lawsuit against ex-employeeīustle Digital Group has hired a firebrand writer from Gawker’s past to lead its third effort at resurrecting the snarky gossip site it picked up at a bankruptcy auction nearly three years ago.īustle had little to say on the effort except to confirm it hired Leah Finnegan as editor-in-chief, first mentioned as a one liner in Ben Smith’s media column in the New York Times earlier this week.īustle also confirmed the launch efforts but declined to discuss timing, editorial mission or staffing plans.įinnegan worked at Gawker for one year during its heyday as a writer and features editor before taking a buyout in July 2015. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.News, gossip site Gawker shuts down - again!ĭeadspin owner G/O Media buys business news site Quartz (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.) That’s why, even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. It’s important that we have several ways we make money, just like it’s important for you to have a diversified retirement portfolio to weather the ups and downs of the stock market. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world - not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.įirst, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism? That story will make things even harder for Fusion’s bankers. Mashable, for instance, has been on the market for many months, and now appears ready to sell to publisher Ziff Davis for $50 million - a fraction of the $250 million valuation it commanded from investors in 2016.Īnd both BuzzFeed and Vice, two of the most highly valued digital media startups, are going to miss their 2017 revenue targets, the Wall Street Journal reported today. There are lots of properties looking for buyers or funding, without success. But the proposed sale is coming at a time when investors are generally skeptical about media properties. Investors who have looked at the deal say it may be attractive to private equity investors, at a certain price. But Fusion says it is happy with the performance of the sites - now rebranded as Gizmodo Media Group - and says its combined digital properties now have an audience of more than 110 million unique visitors. Since the Univision acquisition, a stream of Gawker employees have left the websites. Gawker had filed for bankruptcy after losing a privacy lawsuit to wrestler Hulk Hogan, who had been secretly bankrolled by Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel. Univision is shopping the Fusion stake a year after it acquired all of the Gawker Media sites - except for itself - via a bankruptcy auction for $135 million. One example of a big media company doing something similar with a digital asset would be Conde Nast, which bought Reddit, and then brought in outside investors as that site grew, while keeping control of the property.įusion and Univision reps wouldn’t comment on the funding/carve-out process, but offered statements praising Fusion.įrom Univision rep Rosemary Mercedes: “FMG is an important and growing part of our portfolio and we are committed to positioning it for continued success.” And from Fusion rep Dawn Bridges: “As a growing media company, FMG always is exploring and evaluating any number of different opportunities to enhance our potential for growth and continued success.” The idea would be for Univision to keep control of Fusion, but create a standalone company. Sources say the company has hired bankers at Morgan Stanley and Raine Group to shop the deal. Univision is asking investors to spend up to $200 million to buy a minority stake in Fusion Media Group, Univision’s millennial-focused operating group that includes the old Gawker sites, the Onion, a production studio and Fusion TV, a small TV network. In 2016, Univision bought almost all of the Gawker Media sites.
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