Splinter Is No More
Splinter news is to shut down, its parent company has announced. Staff were informed on Tuesday and G/O Media made the news public on Thursday. Splinter covered media and political news but reportedly wasn’t attracting enough readers.
“Despite the hard work of everyone on that staff, which has produced much outstanding journalism and great scoops, establishing a steady and sustainable audience for a relatively young site proved challenging in a fiercely competitive sector,” G/O Media editorial director Paul Maidment said.
“Given that reality, the leadership team made the difficult decision to cease operation of Splinter and redistribute the headcount to the other sites to increase the impact the editorial department can have overall.”
Maidment said that Splinter staff will be retained where possible and redeployed to the company’s other sites, which include Deadspin, Jezebel, Gizmodo, and Jalopnik. Despite this, some staff have reported that they have been laid off by the parent company.
“Our goal, wherever possible, will be to retain current Splinter staff members in open positions at other G/O Media sites,” Maidment said.
“As of today, Splinter will cease publication. It has been my greatest honor to have been the editor of this site and I will love this staff to my dying breath,” Splinter’s editor-in-chief Aleksander Chan said.
“Thank you to all of our readers, fans, and haters—it’s been a thrill. Further details TK. Splinter forever.”
Splinter was founded in 2017 and was seen as a successor to Gawker, a site which declined following legal disputes with wrestler Hulk Hogan and billionaire Peter Thiel.
