In case you missed it, the staff at ostensible sports site Deadspin were recently directed to avoid covering material that isn’t explicitly sports-related.
More from the Daily Beast:
In a Monday memo to staff, G/O Media editorial director Paul Maidment told the employees of the site—which primarily covers sports, but also frequently writes about media, politics, and culture—to abstain from stories that do not have an explicit link to sports.
“To create as much great sports journalism as we can requires a 100% focus of our resources on sports. And it will be the sole focus,” Maidment said. “Deadspin will write only about sports and that which is relevant to sports in some way.”
The top editorial leader at G/O—the new company overseeing Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jezebel, Lifehacker, and a number of former Gawker Media sites—told employees that stories with tie-ins to sports were permitted to run on the site but that they should leave non-sports stories to the company’s other websites.
“Where such subjects touch on sports, they are fair game for Deadspin. Where they do not, they are not,” Maidment wrote. “We have plenty of other sites that write about politics, pop culture, the arts, and the rest, and they’re the appropriate place for such work.”
Today, one of Deadspin’s writers, Barry Petchesky, tweeted that he’s been fired “for not sticking to sports”:
Hi! I’ve just been fired from Deadspin for not sticking to sports.
— Barry Petchesky (@barry) October 29, 2019
G/O Media has fired Deadspin's longest-serving full-time employee, who wrote nearly 20,000 posts for the site over ten years. https://t.co/D6aLDc2xeq
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 29, 2019
It’s difficult to rejoice in someone losing their job, but maybe Deadspin’s commitment to getting über-political hasn’t actually panned out very well for them and that layoffs are the logical conclusion.
Earlier today, @JimSpanfeller, CEO of G/O Media, fired our colleague and longtime Deadspin Deputy Editor Barry Petchesky. This will not stand. We will have updates soon.
— GMG Union (@gmgunion) October 29, 2019
Do they have a case, though?
— ?Grim Creature? (@jtLOL) October 29, 2019
Petchesky may just be one of many.
Still can’t believe Baskin Robbins fired me just because I insisted on giving people my rap demo instead of the ice cream they ordered https://t.co/r4dsiohmfU
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 29, 2019
Can Deadspin really stick to sports?
Ted Cruz: 2
Deadspin: 0 https://t.co/QiBZ5teWGb
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 29, 2019
Oof. And remember that time Deadspin rejoiced in the cancellation of Carson King over some old tweets? How should we feel about these from Petchesky?
Here’s some of his greatest hits. pic.twitter.com/4JiKXWjNpt
— R.I.P. Kenvin Till (@burnera96766890) October 29, 2019
Double oof.
Just something to consider:
LOL the Deadspin kiddies put this at the top of their front page today, good riddance pic.twitter.com/cEqXh4yKA1
— ?Grim Creature? (@jtLOL) October 29, 2019
If these Deadspin children want to be remembered for horseshit like this, so be it. https://t.co/TY0I6l27nw
— ?Grim Creature? (@jtLOL) October 29, 2019
This is in response to the Deadspin management edict to stick to sports. The editors made the whole front page nothing but non-sports stories. So as they're packing up their desks, at least they can congratulate themselves on sticking it to The Man. pic.twitter.com/rT4yHUPqRz
— ?Grim Creature? (@jtLOL) October 29, 2019
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