According to Variety, Condé Nast is preparing to merge the music publication Pitchfork and the magazine GQ. The company previously purchased Pitchfork in 2015.
The merge will reportedly lead to layoffs, the first of which resulted in the departure of Editor In Chief Puja Patel who formerly served as editor in chief of Spin. Features editor Jill Mapes was also laid off after working for Pitchfork for 8 years. The information was recently revealed in a memo sent to staff early on Wednesday from Condé Nast chief content editor and Vogue’s global editorial director Anna Wintour.
On the shift, Wintour offered, “Today we are evolving our Pitchfork team structure by bringing the team into the GQ organization. This decision was made after a careful evaluation of Pitchfork’s performance and what we believe is the best path forward for the brand so that our coverage of music can continue to thrive within the company.”
Back in May 2020, Condé Nast laid off 100 members of their Pitchfork, Vogue and Vanity Fair publication staff. More were placed on reduced hours and were facing salary cuts. The layoffs were a part of the cost reduction plan for the Covid-19 pandemic. Buzzfeed, Vox Media, and Group Nine Media had also laid off workers and implemented pay cuts throughout the first year of the pandemic with the pay reductions ranging anywhere from 5 to 25 percent.
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