Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
Welcome to this week’s edition of Confider, the media newsletter that pulls back the curtain to reveal what’s really going on inside the world’s most powerful navel-gazing industry. Subscribe here and send your questions, tips, and complaints here.
EXCLUSIVE — G/O DUMPSTER FIRE: The top editor at one of G/O Media’s most famous properties has quit, Confider has learned, as staffers say CEO Jim Spanfeller has become unhinged and impossible to work for. Jezebel editor-in-chief Laura Bassett resigned from her post on Friday, becoming the seventh EIC in a portfolio of ten sites to quit G/O over the last eight months—the second EIC in as many weeks. She was absolutely unsparing towards management in her resignation note, which was obtained and reviewed by Confider. “If I’m not allowed to replace my deputy editor, give any of my writers raises or promotions ever for the great work they do, or fill any of the half dozen open writer slots I’ve had for a year, it’s clear that any pathway for growth I had here has been deliberately cut off and that I’ve done all I can do to make this site what it could be given reasonable resources,” she wrote. Bassett took over Jezebel in September 2021 and now joins a running list of G/O EICs to have bailed: Eric Barrow, who exited as EIC of Deadspin in December; Vanessa K. De Luca, who left as EIC of The Root in April; Bob Sorokanich, who left as EIC of Jalopnik that same month; Zach Seward, who quit as EIC of Quartz in May; and Patricia Hernandez, who exited as EIC of Kotaku just last week. It all comes as Spanfeller, whom many current and former employees derisively refer to as a “herb,”pushes ahead with an expanded use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom and has introduced a “scorecard” to mark staff performance. Under this system, people familiar with the matter told Confider, writers and editors are assigned points value based on an algorithm that Spanfeller concocted, which is 25 percent based on output, 50 percent based on traffic generated, and 25 percent on engagement. The scorecard, which has been strenuously objected to by staffers, ultimately dings feature and investigative writers who don’t produce as much content as someone covering breaking news or churning out slideshows. Spanfeller, who insiders claim is obsessed with the number of articles each site publishes in a day, grills editors at a weekly traffic meeting about their respective site’s performance. “He is too focused on small details of headlines and when an article went up to understand an online news site,” one G/O staffer told Confider. Making matters worse for morale: Spanfeller hired his daughter to a sales position and then promoted her within a year, according to two people familiar with the matter, all while continuing to block internal promotions. The bigger mystery, however, as staffers told Confider, is what G/O’s ownership at private equity firm Great Hill Partners plans to do with all of this. “They are not going to get the valuation they planned for,” one insider told Confider. “The media market has collapsed in the time they’ve had this asset.” A spokesperson for G/O Media emailed Confider about the EIC exodus: “When there is a change in editorial management there is frequently some turnover in the senior editorial ranks. We couldn’t be happier with the new EICs of our sites and the overall editorial direction of G/O Media.” And regarding the use of AI, the spokesperson continued: “We see AI as a supplement to our editorial workflow, not a replacement. We do not plan on laying off editorial staff due to AI activities.” And on Spanfeller’s scorecards, the spox added: “These performance metrics are consistent with metrics used by other digital media companies. G/O Media is committed to long form journalism across all of our portfolio of sites.” A spokesperson for Great Hill Partners did not respond to a request for comment.
BYE BYE RONNY: With Ron DeSantis’ poll numbers cratering ahead of the first GOP primary debate, Fox News looks to have all but abandoned the Florida governor for another “anti-woke” Donald Trump alternative. Vivek Ramaswamy, the 37-year-old fame-seeking biotech entrepreneur who honed his populist culture-warrior persona on Fox’s airwaves, has surged in recent polls and is suddenly vying with DeSantis for second place. It appears the conservative cable giant smells the desperation from DeSantis’ camp—apparent in a leaked debate strategy memo urging the guv to “hammer” Ramaswamy—and has noticeably pivoted to Vivek. The network had already grown increasingly tough on DeSantis over the summer, but the change has been remarkable: Over the past week, Fox News has mentioned Ramaswamy at least 200 times, according to media monitoring service TVEyes. He’s also appeared for a half-dozen interviews, during which the network has applauded his rising popularity or gushed over his “respectful” handling of an interaction with a pansexual activist at the Iowa State Fair. Fox hosts simply cannot get over Ramaswamy’s ability to rap Eminem lyrics, believing he tapped into “music that really appeals to Gen-Z’ers.” Fox & Friends has seemingly set the tone for the network’s shift away from DeSantis in its quest for an electable GOP hopeful who isn’t the quadruply indicted Trump (especially as he skips the Fox-hosted debate and rages against Rupert Murdoch for being insufficiently loyal to him). While repeatedly declaring Ramaswamy “brilliant” and hammering away at DeSantis’ embarrassing debate prep, the Friends crew declared that Vivek has the “perfect message”—e.g., he’s a young guy who likes everything Trump did and wants the twice-impeached ex-president as a mentor. Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins helpfully revealed that his 91-year-old mother is “really impressed” by Ramaswamy, who has played footsie with 9/11 trutherism. “The Ramaswamy/Murdoch ‘get-to-know-you session’ is really paying off today lmao,” a Fox News producer texted Confider on Thursday during Ramaswamy’s Fox News blitz, referencing a private meeting between the two men this past spring. Murdoch has sought a GOP savior to allow the party (and his media empire) to move on from Trump, including reportedly encouraging Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to jump into the race. And while Ramaswamy enjoys hours of free press on Fox News, the network’s smaller rival Newsmax has reportedly tried to shake him down for its support. With Newsmax already airing paid programming from little-known gadfly candidate Perry Johnson—who claims he has now qualified for the Fox debate—Semafor reported that network CEO Chris Ruddy told Ramaswamy that he should emulate Johnson if he wanted better coverage on the channel, a claim Newsmax has vehemently denied.