''Deadspin'' is a sports blog founded by
Will Leitch
William F. Leitch (born October 10, 1975 in Mattoon, Illinois) is an American writer and the founding editor of the Gawker Media former sports blog '' Deadspin''. Leitch is a national correspondent for MLB.com, a contributing editor at ''New Yor ...
in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...
and
Univision Communications
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...
, it is currently owned by
G/O Media
G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', '' Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', ''Deadspin'', '' Lifehacker'', ''Jezebel'', ''The Root'', ''The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''.
History ...
.
''Deadspin'' posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries of major sports stories, as well as sports-related anecdotes, rumors, and videos. In addition to covering sports, the site wrote about the media,
pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
, and politics, and published several non-sports sub-sections, including ''The Concourse'' and the humor blog ''Adequate Man.'' Contrasting with traditional sports updates of other outlets,
''Deadspin'' was known for its irreverent, conversational tone,
often injecting crude humor into its writing and taking a critical lens to the topics it covered.
Over time, the site expanded into more
investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
and broke several stories, including the revelation of the
Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax.
Alumni writers of ''Deadspin'' have gone on to work for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
''.
During October and November 2019, the website's entire writing and editorial staff resigned due to conflicts with G/O Media management over a directive to "
stick to sports" content only.
''Deadspin'' began publishing content again in March 2020. The site has suffered after the mass resignations, reportedly attracting only 10.22% of its previous readership.
History
''Deadspin'' was founded in December 2005 by editor-in-chief
Will Leitch
William F. Leitch (born October 10, 1975 in Mattoon, Illinois) is an American writer and the founding editor of the Gawker Media former sports blog '' Deadspin''. Leitch is a national correspondent for MLB.com, a contributing editor at ''New Yor ...
, an author and at that time a founding editor of the New York City-based culture website, "The Black Table", in his New York City apartment, where he wrote 40 blog posts a day.
The blog joined the
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American Online and offline, online Mass media, media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was ba ...
network of websites.
Leitch announced on June 5, 2008, that he would be leaving to take a position at ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine. He was replaced by A. J. Daulerio, former senior writer for the site. Author and journalist
Drew Magary
Andrew Schuyler Magary (born 7 October 1976) is an American[Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...]
'' magazine named the site one of the 50 coolest websites of 2006.
''Deadspin'' was one of six websites that were purchased by
Univision Communications
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is held by the ...
in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016. The
Gizmodo Media Group
Gizmodo Media Group was an online media company and blog network formerly operated by Univision Communications (now TelevisaUnivision) in its Fusion Media Group division. The company was created from assets acquired from Gawker Media during its b ...
was subsequently formed to operate the properties.
The website's masthead consisted of editor-in-chief
Megan Greenwell, managing editor Tom Ley, and senior editor Diana Moskovitz, along with a staff of full-time writers and regular contributors.
Conflicts with G/O Media management
In April 2019, the Gizmodo Media Group was purchased by private equity firm Great Hill Partners and was renamed
G/O Media
G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs ''Gizmodo'', '' Kotaku'', ''Jalopnik'', ''Deadspin'', '' Lifehacker'', ''Jezebel'', ''The Root'', ''The A.V. Club'', ''The Takeout'', ''The Onion'', and ''The Inventory''.
History ...
, with
Jim Spanfeller
James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 2001–2009. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Spanfeller was hired by pr ...
appointed as CEO. Greenwell resigned from ''Deadspin'' effective August 23, 2019. She cited dysfunction caused by corporate management, attempts by them to intimidate writers out of reporting on it, and undermining and condescending to the site's senior staff.
In late October 2019, the editorial staff across several G/O Media sites, including ''Deadspin'', posted articles acknowledging complaints from readers about
advertisements
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
that were
autoplaying with audio. The ''Deadspin'' post said that the editorial staff "are as upset with the current state of our site's user experience as
eadersare" but that they could not control the "ad experience". The posts were subsequently removed by G/O Media management.
The Gizmodo Media Group (GMG) union, which represents editors and writers across the G/O Media sites and is supported by
Writers Guild of America, East
The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media.
The Writers Guild of America, East is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America West. Together the guilds admi ...
,
responded to the post removals with a statement that said, "We condemn this action in the strongest possible terms."
[ According to '']The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', G/O Media enabled the autoplaying ads in an attempt to fulfill the terms of an advertising deal it agreed to with Farmers Insurance Group
Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independen ...
. The companies had signed a deal worth $1 million that was planned to run from September 2019 – 2020 and required G/O Media to deliver 43.5 million impressions. However, after the first few weeks of the campaign, the G/O media and operations teams did not think they could meet that goal and subsequently enabled the ads. Farmers ultimately backed out of the deal on October 30.[
That same week, G/O Media editorial director Paul Maidment sent a memo to ''Deadspin'' employees ordering them to discontinue any content not related to sports. He said that in order to "create as much great sports journalism" as possible, "''Deadspin'' will write only about sports and that which is relevant to sports in some way." The GMG union called the changes in the site's content "undermin ngthe nearly two decades of work writers have put into building a profitable brand with an enormous, dedicated readership". On October 29, following the memo, staffers filled the site's front page with non-sports stories that had been among the site's most popular in the past; by that afternoon, interim editor-in-chief Barry Petchesky had been fired for "not sticking to sports."]
As a result of Petchesky's firing, at least 10 employees participated in a mass resignation on October 30. Among those who left were Ley, writers Albert Burneko, Kelsey McKinney, Patrick Redford, Lauren Theisen, Chris Thompson, and Laura Wagner. Moskovitz also announced her departure, though she had given her two weeks' notice the week prior. Comments on the site were subsequently disabled as well. The GMG union posted a statement saying: "Today, a number of our colleagues at Deadspin resigned from their positions. From the outset, CEO Jim Spanfeller has worked to undermine a successful site by curtailing its most well-read coverage because it makes him personally uncomfortable. This is not what journalism looks like, and this is not what editorial independence looks like. 'Stick to sports' is and always been a thinly veiled euphemism for 'don't speak truth to power.' In addition to being bad business, Spanfeller's actions are morally reprehensible." On October 31, Magary and Dan McQuade announced their departures. By November 1, the entire staff of nearly 20 writers and editors had announced their resignations or already departed. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
expressed his support for the editorial staff, tweeting, "I stand with the former @Deadspin workers who decided not to bow to the greed of private equity vultures like @JimSpanfeller. This is the kind of greed that is destroying journalism across the country, and together we are going to take them on".
Maidment resigned from G/O Media on November 5, 2019, stating that it was the "right moment" to "pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity".
On January 10, 2020, G/O Media announced its decision to move ''Deadspin'' operations from New York City to Chicago, where it would operate as part of ''The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...
''.
On January 31, 2020, Ley and several other former writers established
Unnamed Temporary Sports Blog
', an interim site sponsored by Dashlane
Dashlane is a subscription-based password manager and digital wallet application available on macOS, Windows, iOS and Android. Dashlane uses a freemium pricing model with subscription plan option.
Overview
Dashlane was founded on July 6, ...
that operated exclusively over Super Bowl LIV
Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...
weekend. The site reopened for the week of April 20
Events Pre-1600
* 1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.
1601–1900
* 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament.
* 1657 – English Admiral Robert Blake destroy ...
, sponsored by a cannabis oil
Hash oil or cannabis oil, is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its resins and terpenes – in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other can ...
company. In July 2020, they subsequently announced a new subscription-based sports and culture website, '' Defector''.
The first new content posted to the ''Deadspin'' site following the resignations appeared on March 13, 2020, as new editor-in-chief Jim Rich announced that the website was building a new team. New articles began publishing earlier than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Reporting
''Deadspin'' broke the story of NFL quarterback Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...
's alleged sexual misconduct toward journalist Jenn Sterger
Jennifer Lynette Sterger (born November 29, 1983) is an American model, television personality, and former online columnist for ''Sports Illustrated''. She has worked as the "Gameday Host" for the New York Jets and was a co-host of the Versus spo ...
.
''Deadspin'' also broke the story of Sarah Phillips, a reporter hired by ESPN who lied about her identity and credentials to staffers in order to gain employment.
In 2013, ''Deadspin'' broke the news that the reported September 2012 death of the girlfriend of Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o
Manti Malietau Louis Te'o ( ; born January 26, 1991) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent.
Te'o played college football at Notre Dame, where he was a consensus All-American and received eight national awards. He was drafted ...
, which Te'o had said inspired him during the 2012 season, was apparently a hoax. ''Deadspin'' found no evidence that the girlfriend had ever existed, much less died. A 2022 documentary, '' Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist'', features former staffers Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey speaking about the methods ''Deadspin'' used in exposing the hoax.
''Deadspin'' received attention for "buying" a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
election in 2013. The site announced in late November 2013 that it had acquired a vote from a BBWAA writer which was "purchased" not through a cash payment to the writer, but instead to a charity of the writer's choice. On January 8, after the Hall of Fame voting was announced, ''Deadspin'' revealed that its voter was ''Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'' sportswriter Dan Le Batard
Dan Le Batard is an American newspaper sportswriter, ex radio host, podcast host and television reporter based in Miami, Florida. He has also worked at ESPN, and for his hometown paper, the ''Miami Herald'', for which he wrote from 1990 to 2016. ...
. Le Batard was heavily criticized by fellow sportswriters for "selling" his vote. The BBWAA permanently revoked his Hall of Fame voting privileges and suspended his membership for one year.
In 2014, ''Deadspin'' provided coverage of the Gamergate controversy
Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized online misogyny, misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "# ...
, "expos nga shocking view of sexism and harassment in the gaming industry to the wider public", according to ''Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
''.
On October 15, 2014, ''Deadspin'' published an article which alleged that Cory Gardner
Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional dis ...
, the Republican who ran for the U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
in Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, had faked his high school football career. Later that day, Gardner tweeted photographic evidence of himself in his football uniform as a teenager, and the main source of the story said the report mischaracterized his comments. In response, ''Deadspin'' published an article entitled: "How Deadspin Fucked Up The Cory Gardner Story", stating: "we're sorry and embarrassed", it was "shitty" of them to have wronged Gardner, and "the only thing for us to do now is to eat shit."
After ''Deadspin'' posted an article asking readers to post proof of Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
playing basketball, Cruz responded by jokingly tweeting a picture of Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
star Grayson Allen
Grayson James Allen (born October 8, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played four years of college basketball at Duke University. Allen was drafted with ...
, which then prompted ''Deadspin'' to reply with "Go eat shit."
In July 2017, ''Deadspin'' sparked controversy when in response to Senator John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
's brain cancer
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...
diagnosis, ''Deadspin''s Twitter account tweeted that the website did not want to "hear another fucking word about John McCain unless he dies or does something useful for once."
In March 2018, ''The Concourse'' posted a video showcasing versions of a controversial "journalistic responsibility" promo being produced by television stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
, which helped bring mainstream attention to them.
''Deadspin''s former last post each evening (before the October staff resignations), called ''DUAN'' ("Deadspin Up All Night"), was infamous for its occasionally viral and usually wildly diverse commentaries.
Under the new staff, the site has occasionally drawn controversy for the quality of its reporting and editing. In 2021, critics claimed the site mishandled reporting related to a clash between Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor at ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
Later that year, the site was criticized for calling ESPN anchor Sage Steele
Sage Marie Steele (born November 28, 1972) is an American television anchor who is the co-host of the 12pm (ET) SportsCenter on ESPN. She also hosts SportsCenter on the Road from various sporting events such as the Super Bowl and The Masters. St ...
"the Black Candace Owens
Candace Amber Owens Farmer ( Owens; born April 29, 1989) is an American conservative author, talk show host, political commentator, and activist. Initially critical of United States President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Owens has bee ...
." Owens, a conservative commentator, is Black, while Steele is biracial.
In 2022, the site published a story criticizing San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel
Michael Lee McDaniel (born March 6, 1983) is an American football coach and the head coach of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time assistant to Mike and Kyle Shanahan, McDaniel began his NFL coaching caree ...
as "another young, white guy." McDaniel has spoken at length about growing up biracial. After the article's publication, an editor's note was appended to the piece and a tweet promoting the article was deleted, but none of the copy was changed.
See also
*Defector Media
''Defector Media'' is a subscription-based sports blog and media company founded in September 2020 and based in Manhattan.
The Defector blog is primarily written by former employees of the ''Deadspin'' sports blog. In October and November 2019 ...
References
External links
*
{{GawkerMedia
Gawker Media
American sport websites
Internet properties established in 2005
2005 establishments in the United States
Former Univision Communications subsidiaries