Published
Fri, Feb 2, 2024, 19:30
- Former staff say they're banned from freelancing for the music site.
Weeks after 12 Pitchfork employees were laid off as part of Condé Nast's decision to fold the music publication into GQ, former staff are speaking out about the experience.
Hattie Lindert was hired as a part-time associate writer at Pitchfork in June 2023. She said the merger was announced in a 20-minute Zoom conference with Anna Wintour, global chief content officer at Condé Nast, which owns Pitchfork, GQ and other media outlets. Within 30 minutes, employees were scheduled for separate meetings to find out whether or not their positions had been affected. Lindert was one of 12 employees who were laid off.
"People were definitely surprised," she told Resident Advisor. "My supervisors—at least my direct ones—didn't know about [the meeting] before it was scheduled."
Back in December, Condé Nast reportedly told The NewsGuild of New York, a union for media workers, that there would be no layoffs at Pitchfork. Evan Minsker, Pitchfork's former associate news director, backed this up to RA, saying staff were told their jobs were safe.
That's why the recent terminations were "an extra shock," Minsker continued. He had been with the company full-time since 2012 before being laid off last month. He was working the night before without knowledge of the news that would come the following day. "But [even though] I didn't have proof they knew that it was coming or when it was coming, they certainly knew it was coming," he added.
In the past two years of Minsker's tenure, he said he noticed the site becoming more understaffed. "I went from working every shift with at least one person to multiple shifts by myself," he said. "Doing the Coachella lineup announcements by myself, as an example, was not sustainable. There were three breaking news stories in a row that fell on my plate while I was by myself." Looking ahead, he expressed worry and uncertainty over the site's future.
"The people who do have jobs are working on a ghost ship," one anonymous source told RA. "All their friends are gone, no one is in charge—it's just a bad scene."
On February 1st, Minsker also revealed that former Pitchfork staff are no longer allowed to freelance for the site. "I've heard this from at least four people who were told pretty directly from someone at Pitchfork," Minsker said. As an active union member, he said he feels protective of his colleagues: "It feels unnecessary and vindictive. We all deserve better."
The GQ merger and subsequent layoffs are the latest worrying sign for the health of music media. Last year, Bandcamp employees were also let go when the company was sold to Songtradr. For more insights on how business deals are impacting music journalism, read our recent op-ed.
RA has reached out to Condé Nast for comment. We'll report more on this story as it unfolds.
Photo: Tom Harris