Employees of Gizmodo Media Group on Tuesday launched a devastating piece against their parent company, Univision, accusing the troubled media behemoth of indulging in “a culture of complacency and excess.”
In the lengthy article, titled “Univision Is a F—ing Mess,” Gizmodo Media writers Kate Conger, David Uberti, and Laura Wagner take a deep-dive look what they said were poor management decisions and bad deals that have led the company into a morass.
Univision fell victim to “a disastrous private equity buyout finalized in 2007; an aging audience; a burdensome program-licensing deal with Televisa; competition from Telemundo and Netflix; layers of overpaid and useless middle management; and a general failure to position itself for a digital future,” the article says.
A rep for Univision did not immediately respond to request for comment.
In their piece, produced for Gizmodo Media’s special projects desk, the trio of reporters described Univison as a “stepdad” that once left them well-enough alone but has emerged as a nettlesome presence in recent months as cuts have loomed.
“From routine human resources f–ups to vastly overselling the prospects of an IPO whose ultimate doom this March precipitated the company’s current cost-cutting spree, Univision has been deeply mismanaged and is in the midst of making huge cuts that have, among other things, already claimed vast swaths of Univision Noticias–the most vital newsgathering operation serving the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S.–and Fusion Media Group”
Indeed, things have been tense in the last few months after the company axed 150 employees and scuttled a planned IPO.
“We are taking steps necessary for our business to continue to thrive, but we will never compromise our duty and purpose to inform, entertain and empower our community, which is more important today than ever before,” a spokesperson told TheWrap at the time.
That was not an assessment shared broadly shared by Gizmodo Media employees contacted by TheWrap in recent weeks.
“Univision is not handling this situation well and people are freaked out,” one Gizmodo editor told TheWrap after the firings.
“Things are definitely weird right now,” said a second editor. “There’s an air of anxiety.”
For their piece, Conger, Uberti and Wagner said they spoke with “more than two dozen” current and former Univision employees.