Fusion Media Group has shed another senior-level executive. Kevin Roose, who was the vice president of editorial at the company, which includes the Gizmodo Media Group and Fusion, quietly departed in April after his contract was not renewed, WWD has learned. According to a Fusion spokesman, Roose’s position at the company will not be filled.
Reached for comment, Roose confirmed that he has left Fusion and said his next chapter is “something [he] is very, very excited about, but can’t talk about just yet.”
Roose was hired away from New York magazine, where he was a columnist, by Fusion in 2014 as part of a slew of high-profile hires as part of a bid by the Spanish language network Univision to create a digital property for English-speaking Millennial Hispanics. Eventually, the company broadened its mandate to reach all woke Millennials and pursued growth through a strategy of acquisition. In August, Fusion parent company Univision bought the former Gawker Media network — minus the flagship site — at a bankruptcy auction for $135 million and renamed the network Gizmodo Media after its tech blog. Other acquisitions included the African-American-centric The Root and the satirical news network The Onion. In November, Fusion cut 70 jobs and was folded into Gizmodo Media.
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In addition to his role as vice president of editorial, Roose was a host and producer of Real Future, a docuseries about technology on Fusion’s cable network.
Roose’s departure is the latest in a string of top-level exits. Heather Dietrick, a First Amendment lawyer who served as president of Gizmodo Media Group, left the company in May for The Daily Beast. Matt Hardigree, the former editor in chief of car-focused site Jalopnik and, most recently, the executive editor for publishing partnerships, also left in May. According to the spokesman, his job will also not be filled. In April, Alexis Madrigal, formerly Fusion’s editor in chief, returned to The Atlantic and Katie Drummond, who had been the executive managing editor of Gizmodo Media Group, left for The Outline.
Felix Salmon, a senior editor also in a contract position, is rumored to have re-upped his contract. The Fusion spokesman did not respond when asked about Salmon’s status.
Read more about Fusion Media Group:
Fusion’s Alexis Madrigal Returns to The Atlantic
Turmoil at Gizmodo Media Group as Staff Protest Departure of Top Editor