Univision Names News Corp's Raju Narisetti as CEO of Former Gawker Media

The entity formerly known as Gawker Media has a new name and chief executive.

Univision Communications, which in August won the embattled digital media company at a court-administered bankruptcy auction for $135 million, has named News Corp executive Raju Narisetti as chief executive officer.

Mr. Narisetti, who effectively is filling the shoes of Gawker founder and former CEO Nick Denton, will oversee the business and editorial operations of the newly named Gizmodo Media Group, which houses Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker and Kotaku.

The group is now a unit within Univision's Fusion Media Group. Mr. Narisetti will report to Isaac Lee, Univision's chief news, digital and entertainment officer, and Felipe Holguin, the president and chief operating officer of Fusion Media Group.

Mr. Narisetti is the senior vice president of strategy at News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, where he began his journalism career as a reporter and editor. He served as managing editor of the Washington Post from 2009 to 2012 and was founder and editor of Indian business newspaper Mint. He will join Univision in late October, the company said.

"As part of Univision, we will now be more ambitious in deepening, broadening and sensibly scaling the passionate digital communities that Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Kotaku, Jalopnik and Lifehacker have attracted, by offering accurate, responsible, edgy and engaging journalism, as well as through relevant, related content and commerce," Mr. Narisetti said in a statement.

Gizmodo Media Group President Heather Dietrick and Executive Editor John Cook will report to Mr. Narisetti.

Gawker Media's eponymous site Gawker.com shut down in August after Univision acquired the parent company. The site had been at the center of an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit brought by Hulk Hogan, who won $140 million in damages over a Gawker post that included a clip of his sex tape, forcing the company into chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a Florida judge upheld the verdict.

During the legal saga, it was revealed that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel had helped finance the former professional wrestler's case, as well as others brought against Gawker.

Write to Steven Perlberg at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2016 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)

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