Maven Reaffirms Commitment to SI Strategy As Staffers Look to Union Protection

One day after a statement claiming to represent over 90% of Sports Illustrated's remaining editorial staff accused the brand's new operator, TheMaven, of gutting the newsroom and putting "SI's reputation and long-term health at risk," Maven founder and CEO James Heckman defended what he called "difficult, and sometimes traumatic changes, which we deemed necessary to transition SI’s business back to a trusted and growing heritage brand." A press release filed under the "Trending News" tab on SI's homepage Tuesday touted Maven's "strong 2019 financial performance," highlighting "$27 million in operational savings" generated by mass layoffs, the shift to a monthly print schedule for 2020 and "consolidating duplicative operating costs." Maven says SI.com drew 29 million unique visitors in December, up from 27 million in December 2018, though it conceded that 5.6 million of those visitors came in through its new "team network," hubs grouped around specific college and pro teams whose content is produced by independent contractors compensated, in part, based on how much traffic they generate. “Overnight, Sports Illustrated’s digital offering was revived,” added Ryan Hunt, who was promoted to co-editor-in-chief alongside Steve Cannella following Chris Stone's departure after the Maven acquisition. “Our user growth, content offering and diversity of experiences across web, mobile and video will help change the landscape for sports fans.” The staffers who survived a round of... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-01-09 18:24:45 UTC ]
News tagged with: #editorial staff #caption id= #prominently featured #concerns raised #business model #extremely proud

Maven Reaffirms Commitment to SI Strategy As Staffers Look to Union Protection

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