[dmunoz]

Slightly off-topic, but I missed this from last week: the author of this piece, Matt Taibbi, has departed with First Look media. I wonder if he is back at Rolling Stone for good, or just sold this piece to them.

There are two interesting notes on the matter. One, the notice of departure [0], and then a longer piece on "The Inside Story Of Matt Taibbi's Departure From First Look Media" [1].

The second links contains some interesting snippets:

"Taibbi’s dispute with his bosses instead centered on differences in management style and the extent to which First Look would influence the organizational and corporate aspects of his role as editor-in-chief. Those conflicts were rooted in a larger and more fundamental culture clash that has plagued the project from the start: A collision between the First Look executives, who by and large come from a highly structured Silicon Valley corporate environment, and the fiercely independent journalists who view corporate cultures and management-speak with disdain."

It also notes that The Intercept had similar problems while launching.

I also found it interesting that this is the first time I have actually heard what Taibbi was trying to do with First Look: "His vision was a hard-hitting, satirical magazine in the style of the old Spy that would employ Taibbi’s facility for merciless ridicule, humor, and parody to attack Wall Street and the corporate world."

[0] https://firstlook.org/2014/10/28/important-announcement/

[1] https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/10/30/inside-story-m...

Edit: Happened upon some additional details about the conflict at NYMag [2]:

"Over the last year, however, the center of gravity of the organization has shifted, as Omidyar and his Silicon Valley braintrust have exerted control over budgets and vacillated over the journalistic mission. Over the summer, Omidyar appointed a longtime confidante, John Temple — a former newspaper editor who previously led an Omidyar-financed civic journalism venture in Hawaii — to be the president for audience and products, putting him in a position above Eric Bates, the former Rolling Stone editor who was brought on as a First Look editorial director, who is close to Taibbi."

[2] http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/10/matt-taibbi-dis...

[bostik]

I'm (again) badly torn. When Taibbi left for First Look, he was forced to delay publication of any of his pending articles. I knew something big was brewing, but I also had great expectations for FLM.

Then, nothing happened. FLM kept announcing new hires, Taibbi was supposedly neck-deep in admin, and the article never materialised. Now, with just two weeks after his departure from FLM, we are blessed with a heavy-hitting Taibbi piece from Rolling Stone.

So I'm torn, because on one hand I'm personally delighted to have Taibbi writing again. But on the other hand I'm genuinely worried about FLM's future direction. From your comment I have to assume the worry is not unwarranted.