Then They Came For The “Journalists,” And I Did Not Speak Out Because I Was Not A “Journalist”
Natural Aspiration 10: Some Brief Notes on The Labor Dispute at TheDrive(l)
For readers unacquainted with the derision aimed in the direction of “Herbs” in corporate media, allow me to enlighten you: Herbs are, apparently, the horrible, awful, evil private equiteers who create value by purchasing media businesses and then making modifications and refinements to the acquisition targets’ business models to enhance cash flow. Dwell not on the potential for bigotry embedded in the term, as Herb(ert) is a common first name for (American) Jewish men, and Jewish folks are reputed in some circles to exert considerable influence over the media. The arch-Herb is Jim Spanfeller, CEO of G/O Media. Per his LinkedIn, Spanfeller is an alumnus of Union College, which is based in Schenectady, New York. Union’s enrollment is 25% Jewish; I personally know three Union alumni, and all are Jewish.
I first became aware of the bizarre Herb epithet during the saga of Gawker Media, which later became Gizmodo Media Group (GMG) and then G/O Media. It was during this period of upheaval that many popular writers departed various G/O Media outlets, including automotive property Jalopnik.
Among the most vociferous, ex-Jalopnik critics of Spanfeller is Stef Schrader. A cursory perusal of her Twitter account reveals dozens and dozens - if not hundreds - of tweets excoriating Spanfeller and other Herbaceous bogeymen.
It appears that the Herbs struck again yesterday; Stef was most recently plying her trade at The Drive(l), which is part of the Recurrent Ventures portfolio.
One of Stef’s well-wishers / cheerleaders tweeted in solidarity and expressed curiosity about an explanatory memo from The Drive(l)’s ownership. Syd was disappointed to learn that a (Business) Insider article expounding on the memo was protected behind a paywall; the article was also syndicated by Apple News (and also behind their paywall).
Unlike Syd, apparently, I value quality journalism and maintain a paid subscription to (Business) Insider, so I was able to read the article. The profound irony of criticizing one media company for laying off writers while simultaneously criticizing another media outlet for placing premium content behind a paywall is deeply delicious.
A few excerpts from the (Business) Insider piece (emphasis mine):
Recurrent Ventures laid off staffers on Wednesday, according to a memo obtained by Insider.
The private-equity-backed digital media company made cuts across its operations and revenue teams, as well as in editorial "specifically across areas of unprofitable investments," CEO Lance Johnson told staffers in the memo.
One current Recurrent staffer told Insider that the staff was "totally surprised" at the fresh round of cuts.
"These changes will allow the company to reallocate capital to growth opportunities in editorial, technology, and commerce," a Recurrent spokesperson told Insider in a statement. "These are difficult but necessary decisions that support the company's long-term goals and strategy, and position us to navigate the current global economic outlook."
"The growth in our expenses has outpaced our revenue growth and we need to recalibrate," Johnson wrote in the memo.
Another casualty of this resource rationalization is Kevin Williams.
A third recent departure from The Drive(l) is Victoria Scott, who appears to have left of her own accord last week.
This is not necessarily a comprehensive list of cuts, just those of which I am aware via Twitter; with the exception of Kevin Williams, the masthead appears to have been updated already.
At press time, Editor-in-Chief Kyle Cheromcha has not yet tweeted about the layoffs; Editorial Director Patrick George, however, has.
I have deep curiosity about how Patrick and Kyle might explain the rationale for cuts that appear exclusively to have impacted minority writers - Stef is a woman, and Kevin is a gay black man - less than a week after a third minority writer’s voluntary farewell (Tori is trans). Meanwhile, there remains an abundance of pale, male, and (somewhat) stale writers on The Drive(l)’s masthead.