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Industry News
2018/04

Gizmodo CEO Steps Down As Univision Lays Off Staff

After picking up the pieces of Gawker from the fallout of the Hulk Hogan lawsuit, Univision has been desperately trying to stitch the media rag back together but failing every step of the way. The latest hiccup comes in the form of Gizmodo’s CEO, Raju Narisetti, stepping down from his position.

Narisetti was put into the role of CEO back in 2016 after Univision bought out Gizmodo and shut down Gawker.com, but after just two years and not enough forward momentum in the profit sector, Narisetti is calling it quits as Gizmodo’s CEO.

Adweek is reporting that Narisetti didn’t give any specific reasons for stepping down other than that it made “structural sense”, writing in an e-mail to staff…

“If you can, amid all the relentless change that is now the new normal for our business, remain focused on our growing audiences, and keep creating meaningful differences than better sameness, with all your journalism, every day,”

Editorial director Susie Banikarim will work with head of Univision Digital, Sameer Deen, to oversee the editorial direction at Gizmodo.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that there are extensive budget cuts on the horizon at Univision, and the initial public offering will be staved off as some of the staff have been cut from Univision departments.

Univision’s own CEO, Randy Falco, is also reportedly set to retire at the end of the year.

Essentially, Univision seems to have picked up a dying animal in Gawker. While some of the other divisions still seem to be chugging along, after Hulk Hogan and #GamerGate destroyed Gawker, it has yet to recover to its full strength, and it looks like the remnants are hanging on by a thread.

The remainder of 2018 will be an interesting year for Gizmodo and the rest of Univision, and we’ll see if they cut off more of the fat as they attempt to trim down the expenses and turn profits.

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