My boss Jim Bankoff and New York Media’s Pam Wasserstein talked to me about their deal. I still have questions.
Last night, I learned that Vox Media, my employer, is buying New York Media, the publisher behind New York magazine and sites like Vulture and the Cut.
This morning, I interviewed Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff and New York Media CEO Pam Wasserstein for our Recode Media podcast.
And I learned that interviewing your boss, on the record and in a public forum, is just as fraught as I had imagined. You aren’t any more likely to get a frank answer to an uncomfortable question than someone who doesn’t work for your boss. And you don’t really get points for asking that uncomfortable question.
Still, it’s my job to ask these kinds of questions. Like: Why did Bankoff and Wasserstein decide to link up now instead of in 2018 when Wasserstein had hired bankers to look at selling her family business? And: Since the two companies own various sites with overlapping subject matters and audiences, doesn’t it make sense to merge some of them instead of keeping them separate, as Bankoff has pledged to do?
For the record, Bankoff and Wasserstein say they did the deal now instead of earlier because both companies are healthier than they have been in the past. And Bankoff and Wasserstein say they already operate sites with overlapping coverage areas — Vox/Recode, for instance, covers tech and so does Vox Media-owned The Verge — and that it’s no problem at all.
You can hear our full conversation below, or listen to it via Apple Podcast here:
Meanwhile, in lieu of any inside information about the deal — figuring out when to write about your employer and when not to has been an interesting experience for me — I do have some thoughts.
Author: Peter Kafka
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