Deadspin, the once-revered sports blog rendered mute by a staff revolt in October, is about to enter a new stage of existence: moving to Chicago, being put under The Onion’s corporate structure, and suspending negotiations with the union that represents its old staff, according to a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Mullin.

News: G/O Media is moving Deadspin to Chicago and suspending negotiations with unionized employees. Here's the letter from Jim Spanfeller. pic.twitter.com/x3ymCOCbmI

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) January 10, 2020

Jim Spanfeller — CEO of G/O Media, which bought Deadspin and other former Gawker Media properties from Univision last year — sent the letter to Writers Guild of America East executive director Lowell Peterson, saying the company wouldn’t continue discussions on the collective bargaining agreement’s editorial independence provisions. But Spanfeller said its offer to former Deadspin employees to return to work (in New York) “remains open at this time.”

“The further revisions you seek are designed not to protect the integrity of the reporting, but to place virtually full operational control the brands in the hands of the bargaining unit,” Spanfeller wrote. “Your unreasonable and unprecedented demands go are not in the best interests of the company and would inhibit our ability to successfully operate our websites for the benefit of our readers, employees and advertisers…”

WGAE responded to the letter, saying the company had “without warning” “walked away from discussions” and that “today’s actions undermine all our efforts to find a workable solution.” (Along with Deadspin, WGAE also represents editorial staffers at other G/O sites.)

WGAE response to G/O management's letter https://t.co/rqijAAu16c pic.twitter.com/h5AidDK1T3

— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 10, 2020

Spanfeller sparked the staff rebellion by telling them to, in essence, “stick to sports” and abandon the site’s tradition of also writing about politics, culture, and other issues in a Deadspin style. The staff quit over a few days in late October. Deadspin published a few, mostly unbylined stories in the following days, but its most recent post is from November 4.

In his letter, Spanfeller said “our efforts to operate and then restart Deadspin have been severely hampered by Union-represented employees’ concerted, divisive actions and their continued objections to our managerial decisions.” These actions, he said, have led potential employees to not want to work for Deadspin and even its remaining editorial management to “refuse to partake in the recruitment process.” He cites the case of one-time Deadspin freelancer Alan Goldsher, saying Goldsher was “harassed incessantly — to the point the individual refused to work for Deadspin further.”

That’s not quite what happened. Goldsher did face lots of blowback on Twitter from Deadspin fans after his one piece was published November 1. But, as The Daily Beast put it, within an hour, Goldsher “went from being a ‘scab’ to a newfound symbol of the resistance against G/O Media.” After hearing from Deadspin fans, he tweeted that his piece “clearly wasn’t a good idea, and I appreciate that I was pointed in the right direction.”

I've listened to the room, and I'm out of Deadspin. I hear what you guys are saying, and I respect it. This clearly wasn't a good idea, and I appreciate that I was pointed in the right direction.

— Alan Goldsher (@AlanGoldsher) November 1, 2019

That's my personal experience. That's my reality. Former Deadspin writers should be thrilled that their community has their back. If I'd ever had that kind of support, I probably would've looked at the opportunity much differently.

— Alan Goldsher (@AlanGoldsher) November 1, 2019

In a weird way, I have to thank you guys for all the insults and cries of "scab." If that hadn't have happened, I would've had no clue that the general public felt this way.

— Alan Goldsher (@AlanGoldsher) November 1, 2019

And while the experience of being swarmed by a social media mob was awful, Goldsher came away heartened. Following his public apology, strangers had suggested sending him money via Venmo. One even offered a job in the “financial sector,” he said. (He turned the offer down.)

“I guess there is a writers’ community, just not one I’ve been a part of…it was nothing short of amazing,” Goldsher said. “The big takeaway is: There are people who will have your back.”

For what it’s worth, Alan Goldsher lives in…Chicago. Primarily a musician, he also has a new album out this week, “Big Al Bassman Funks Up The Jazz Classics.”

They're moving Deadspin under the Onion's corporate structure? They're both represented by WGAE — how does this solve G/O's union issue? https://t.co/CqjudzZdZX

— Lydia DePillis (@lydiadepillis) January 10, 2020

lmao Jim Spanfeller filed a grievance against Deadspin’s union because he thought the staff mass-quitting violated the no-strike clause https://t.co/d4YXLbOf5I

— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) January 10, 2020

jim is in charge deadspin legally but he doesnt understand that it does not really *belong* to him. it belongs to the people who built it and the readers who loved it, and that's why he can't recreate it himself, however mad he gets at the union

— guy fieri 2020 campaign manager (@libbycwatson) January 10, 2020

Chicago is a media hellscape of BLOOD MERIDIAN-esque proportions right now, so this sounds like the right move for zombie Deadspin. https://t.co/iC5uK3yZ9D

— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) January 10, 2020

Why even bother? Deadspin is already dead. Moving it won’t do anything. These people are so stupid. https://t.co/0GxFk8RhDu

— New Decade, Same Nick Case (@Nick422) January 10, 2020