Jezebel finds new life with Paste purchase

Jezebel, the popular feminist news and opinion website, could be resurrected after being sold to Paste Magazine, a music and culture outlet.

Jezebel CEO Jim Spanfeller announced in early November that the company had made the “very, very difficult decision” to suspend the publication of its site, saying the outlet’s business model and the audiences did not align.

The outlet became a pioneer in the industry by publishing pieces centered on gender and the news of its suspension prompted an outcry from advocates.

Its parent company G/O Media was the latest news organization to fold and look toward buyouts as the industry struggles with limited advertising and generating revenue.

Paste announced it had acquired Jezebel on Tuesday and aims to “amplify Jezebel’s impact.” 

The company said in its release that they are ready to bring Paste’s “established presence in the media landscape” together with Jezebel’s “influential position in addressing contemporary issues.”

The New York Times first reported on the acquisition and said Jezebel could start publishing as soon as Wednesday. The Times said the magazine’s co-founder and CEO Josh Jackson also bought Splinter — a political news site that G/O Media shut down in 2019.

“I’m honored that we get to revive such an iconic, beloved site and bring it back so soon after it was shuttered,” Jackson said in an emailed statement. “It was hard for me to imagine going into 2024 without Jezebel.”

Jackson said he is excited to bring back Splinter with its “irreverent take on politics some time next year.”

Spanfeller said the decision to shutter Jezebel will affect some two dozen journalists across the company, but they couldn’t keep up with the “macroeconomic news” that has hit the industry.

“While G/O Media is a lean, nimble organization, we are not immune to the economic headwinds rattling our business,” the CEO said in a message to staff.

Jackson did not say how much the company paid the acquisitions, but told the Times it was an all-cash deal.

Jackson had also made offers to some staffers who lost their jobs when Jezebel was shut down earlier this month, according to reports. He said he is looking to decide on the site’s next editor-in-chief by next week.

Paste began in Atlanta in 1998 and operated as a print music magazine from 2002 to 2010, before becoming an only digital publication. It was acquired by retailer Wolfgang’s Vault in 2011 and is 100 percent supported by advertising.

“We’ve gone through all the different changes in the media landscape and stayed independent and have survived and thought, “Hey, maybe we can do this with other sites as well,'” Jackson told the Times.

Updated at 3:38 p.m.