As of Friday, no writers or editors remain on staff at Deadspin, the sports and culture website that saw a mass exodus of staffers this week — six months after a private equity firm Great Hill Partners acquired the site as part of G/O Media and pressed major editorial changes.
Former Editor-in-Chief Megan Greenwell tweeted, “And with that, it’s over. Deadspin no longer employs a single writer or editor. I am gutted but so very proud of this group of people.”
She added, “Deadspin was a good website.”
Dave McKenna, the last remaining staffer, was ceremonially named “editor-in-chief” in a Friday post to the site that also made it clear that Friday was his last day. He did not immediately return a request for comment.
A representative for G/O Media told TheWrap that Deadspin’s parent company had “no response … on that tweet.”
Also on Friday, after a series of posts credited to “Deadspin staff,” author and sportswriter Alan Goldsher published a commentary on the Golden State Warriors — which he promoted on Twitter as his “debut” for the site. Within an hour, he announced he had quit the site as well: “This clearly wasn’t a good idea, and I appreciate that I was pointed in the right direction.”
A rep for G/O Media described Goldher as a contributor, not a staffer — later adding, “It appears as though Alan is no longer affiliated with Deadspin.” Goldsher did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his shortlived tenure.
The staffing exodus from the sports-culture site really kicked off Wednesday as at least seven reporters and editors resigned following the firing of top editor Barry Petchesky on Tuesday for failing to heed the new owners’ directive to focus exclusively on sports content.
On Thursday, there was an hours-long lag in getting new content on the site — even though the Washington Nationals had a historic Game 7 World Series win the night before. Previously submitted contributor content went up by mid-morning.