John Temple, president of audience and products at First Look Media, is leaving the company, he announced on First Look Media’s blog Wednesday.
“The time has come for me to leave First Look,” Temple wrote. “The company has reached a place where I feel comfortable putting the call of my own projects and my need for more personal time first.”
Temple, who joined First Look Media in August, was previously a senior fellow at Stanford’s Knight Fellowship program John S Knight Journalism Fellowships program. He was also managing editor of The Washington Post and Honolulu Civil Beat, a news organization backed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Temple’s tenure at First Look Media was marked by turbulence at the news organization. There were reports of tensions between editorial staffers and management as the company sought to launch a news organization fronted by Rolling Stone contributor Matt Taibbi. That effort folded before it was officially launched, and Taibbi decamped for Rolling Stone.
In his note, Temple says he feels comfortable departing now owing to shored up executive ranks and a firm leadership structure.
First Look Media, our journalism and publishing arm, now has a leadership team in New York including Michael Bloom, president and general manager; Adam Pincus, executive vice-president/content; and The Intercept’s editor-in-chief, Betsy Reed, committed to widening the scope, reach and impact of its content.
Temple does not name a replacement in his post, and says he will spend his time post-First Look pursuing his own projects.
