G/O Media introduced on Thursday that it had offered The Onion, a satirical information website, to a gaggle of digital media veterans.
The Onion, which began in 1988 in Wisconsin as a weekly satirical newspaper and later turned an internet site, is understood for its parodies of present occasions. For the final decade, it has republished the identical headline after almost each mass taking pictures: “‘No Strategy to Forestall This,’ Says Solely Nation The place This Recurrently Occurs.”
In an e mail to G/O Media employees that was obtained by The New York Occasions, Jim Spanfeller, the chief govt, stated the corporate was “present process an intensive evaluation of our portfolio with the intention of coring all the way down to our main websites when it comes to viewers and revenues.” He stated G/O Media had agreed to promote to “a brand new Chicago-based agency known as World Tetrahedron.”
“This firm is made up of 4 digital media veterans with a profound love for The Onion and comedy-based content material,” Mr. Spanfeller wrote. “The location’s new homeowners have agreed to maintain The Onion’s total employees intact and in Chicago, one thing we insisted be a part of the deal.”
The title World Tetrahedron is, in true Onion vogue, a winking reference to a sinister fictional firm featured within the guide “Our Dumb Century,” which was written by The Onion’s employees and printed in 1999.
The true-life World Tetrahedron is owned by Jeff Lawson, a co-founder and former chief govt of the know-how communications firm Twilio. The chief govt is Ben Collins, who was a senior reporter at NBC Information till not too long ago.
In an interview, Mr. Lawson stated that he had lengthy needed to purchase The Onion and had pursued the challenge at numerous closing dates earlier than linking up with Mr. Collins, who began pondering the thought early this 12 months.
“The world wants laughter; it wants satirical criticism greater than ever,” Mr. Lawson stated. “And that’s why we predict that is the correct time and the correct means to assist The Onion proceed to develop, proceed to flourish, and admittedly I’m involved if we hadn’t achieved this, I don’t know what would have occurred.”
Mr. Collins stated audiences had a longstanding connection to The Onion and famous that lots of the web site’s writers and editors had been there for years.
“Our objective is to be stewards for this factor,” he stated. “We’re conserving all of the writers, we’re going to work with the union, we’re going to make it to allow them to hopefully receives a commission a bit of bit more cash, and we’re going to offer them the room to develop.”
The brand new homeowners stated they deliberate to enhance consumer expertise on the web site and develop into multimedia, however in any other case needed The Onion’s employees members to proceed to do the work they’ve been doing.
Mr. Lawson and Mr. Collins, who have been in Chicago Thursday to fulfill The Onion’s editorial employees, declined to reveal the deal worth. Noah Shachtman, the previous editor in chief of Rolling Stone, has suggested on the challenge, in line with two individuals with information of the deal.
“The Onion is simply an establishment,” Mr. Lawson stated, including: “It needs to be preserved and it needs to be nice.”
The web site is the newest to be shed by G/O Media, which nonetheless publishes a number of stalwart web manufacturers like Gizmodo, The Root and Quartz. Lately, the corporate offered off Jezebel, Lifehacker, Deadspin and the A.V. Membership. G/O Media was shaped in 2019 by the personal fairness agency Nice Hill Companions after it purchased a set of internet sites that have been as soon as a part of Gawker Media.
