Conde Nast is merging popular digital music publication Pitchfork with men’s magazine GQ, a decision that has sparked outrage over subsequent layoffs and concern about the store’s future.
In an email to staff obtained by AFP, Anna Wintour — the chief content officer for Conde Nast, the media group whose outlets include Vogue — announced the changes and the resulting layoffs.
“Today we’re evolving our team structure at Pitchfork by bringing the team into the GQ organization,” the email says. “This decision was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our music coverage continues to thrive within the company.”
Pitchfork began in 1996 as an independent music blog from Minnesota, growing into a popular reference that extensively covered alt and independent music, before becoming a standard for both music criticism and industry news coverage.
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Conde Nast acquired it in 2015.
GQ is a monthly men’s magazine, with an emphasis on feature writing and celebrity coverage.
“Both Pitchfork and GQ have unique and valuable ways of approaching music journalism, and we’re excited about the new possibilities together,” Wintour said in the note, adding that “some of our colleagues at Pitchfork will be leaving the company today.” without specifying. How many.
The organizational change also meant the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Puja Patel, would be leaving, Wintour said.
The news, which was first reported by Semafor, sparked an outpouring of anger and grief on social media, including from fired journalists, former Pitchfork executives and people across the industry.
“I’ve mentioned in my job at pitchfork that I’m on a roller coaster at closing time, just waiting to be let down,” Jill Mapes, Pitchfork’s features editor, wrote on social media platform X. “After almost 8 years, I mass layoffs took place.”
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“I’m glad we could spend that time trying to make it a less dude-friendly place just so GQ could end up at the helm.”
Amanda Petrusich, staff music writer at The New Yorker, said she “wouldn’t have a career without Pitchfork. She probably wouldn’t know much about music either.”
“I feel like death to record review form. Absolutely disappointed for my dear, dear friends and colleagues.”
Conde’s Pitchfork decision comes after the company’s CEO Roger Lynch said last fall that he would lay off 5% of the total staff — about 300 employees.
Source: AFP