The
vaunted
music
publication
Pitchfork
will
be
merged
into
GQ,
and
the
shocking
announcement
came
with
a
wave
of
layoffs.
On
Wednesday
(Jan.
17),
an
internal
memo
from
Anna
Wintour,
the
chief
content
officer
of
Condé
Nast,
announced
that
Pitchfork
would
be
merged
with
the
men’s
magazine
GQ.
“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,”
the
memo
began.
“Both
Pitchfork
and
GQ
have
unique
and
valuable
ways
that
they
approach
music
journalism,
and
we
are
excited
for
the
new
possibilities
together,”
the
memo
by
Wintour
continued
before
adding
that
there
would
be
layoffs.
“Some
of
our
Pitchfork
colleagues
will
be
leaving
the
company
today,”
she
said.
Wintour
would
go
on
to
thank
Puja
Patel,
the
editor-in-chief
of
Pitchfork
who
would
wind
up
being
one
of
those
employees
laid
off.
“For
her
leadership
of
the
title
over
the
last
five
years.
She
has
been
a
wonderful
colleague
and
advocate
for
the
brand,
and
I’m
grateful
for
her
and
the
team’s
many
contributions.”
Under
Patel’s
stewardship,
the
publication
moved
from
being
a
masthead
that
handed
out
minute
praise
to
artists
since
its
inception
in
1996
to
becoming
more
diverse
in
its
base
of
contributing
writers.
It
was
also
attached
to
music
festivals
in
Mexico
City
and
London.
In
that
time,
it
has
faced
heavy
criticism
for
its
past
music
reviews,
prompting
it
to
“do-over”
certain
reviews.
Condé
Nast
announced
in
November
2023
that
it
would
be
laying
off
5%
of
its
present
workforce,
amounting
to
270
employees.
The
publishing
brand
acquired
Pitchfork
in
2015.
Many
music
journalists
mourned
the
news
along
with
those
at
Pitchfork
who
were
laid
off,
including
features
editor
Jill
Mapes.
“After
nearly
8
yrs,
mass
layoffs
got
me.
glad
we
could
spend
that
time
trying
to
make
it
a
less
dude-ish
place
just
for
GQ
to
end
up
at
the
helm,”
Maples
wrote
on
X.