Per Tani, Spanfeller suggested that G/O sites including Jalopnik, which covers cars, and Kotaku, which covers video games, should allow advertiser interests to shape coverage. Last month, G/O Media staffers told The Daily Beast’s Maxwell Tani that Spanfeller was taking the company in an “insane” direction. Amid a “restructuring,” 25 staffers lost their jobs they mostly worked on the business side, but their number included Susie Banikarim, the sites’ “widely respected” editorial director, and senior editors Alex Dickinson and Tim Marchman. The writing was on the wall before April was out. ICYMI: NPR parts ways with freelancer after Tucker Carlson targets her On Friday, Megan Greenwell, Deadspin’s top editor, announced that she will join them, citing “months of being undermined” by bosses. Since the Great Hill takeover, several senior staffers have quit the company. A string of stories-from outlets outside and inside the G/O Media fold-paint a picture of worsening relations between the business side and the editorial side, with the latter’s independence repeatedly called into question. Four months later, eyebrows have achieved escape velocity. In an early memo to staff, Spanfeller called editorial independence “critically important,” but added, “there needs to be a healthy and productive partnership with the business side.” At the time, eyebrows rose. Private-equity involvement in journalism, however, always raises concerns. The mood in the affected newsrooms seemed to be one of cautious optimism Great Hill, staffers hoped, would be an improvement on Univision, the sites’ debt-saddled former owner, which Gizmodo Media Group reporters last year termed “a fucking mess.” Great Hill suggested it would honor an existing union contract, and would not make significant layoffs. The company, renamed G/O Media, installed Jim Spanfeller, formerly of, Playboy, and Ziff Davis, as CEO. Just a fifth used different passwords for all their various accounts.In early April, Great Hill Partners, a private-equity firm, acquired Gizmodo Media Group-a collection of sites, formed from the assets of the old Gawker, that included Jezebel, Lifehacker, and Deadspin-as well as The Onion, a satirical news site, reportedly at a fire-sale price. Sophos has told web users to mix up their passwords for added security.Īccording to a Sophos poll carried out last year, a third of respondents said they used the same passwords for all of their online accounts. "Encrypting passwords does not prevent brute force attacks." "With the ease of hacking and cracking passwords, there need to be additional layers of security," Hart said. "In other words: the acai berry attack looks to be connected w/the Gawker hack rather than a worm."Įthical hacker Jason Hart, senior vice president at CRYPTOcard, told IT PRO hacks like the one against Gawker are becoming easier to carry out. A current attack appears to be due to the Gawker compromise," Harvey wrote on her own Twitter page. "Got a Gawker acct that shares a PW w/your Twitter acct? Change your Twitter PW. The hacked Twitter accounts have been used by spammers to send messages attempting to direct users to a supposed acai berry diet website. The file contained numerous passwords, including those of Gawker founder Nick Denton.Īs yet, there has been no definite link between Gnosis and the Anonymous hacker group who have been going after anti-WikiLeaks services.įollowing the Gawker compromise, hundreds of thousands of Twitter accounts were hacked as well.ĭel Harvey, Twitter's director of trust and safety, said she suspected these new hacks used the same passwords as those taken from Gawker. "We're working around the clock to ensure our security (and our commenters' account security) moving forward."Ī group going by the name of Gnosis has claimed credit for hacking Gawker's servers, reportedly posting a file on the Pirate Bay. "We understand how important trust is on the internet, and we're deeply sorry for and embarrassed about this breach of security - and of trust," a separate note on Lifehacker read. Other Gawker sites include Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Gawker, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin, and Fleshbot.
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