According to a New York Times profile, multi-platform Millennial-baiters Fusion Media’s big-money backers at Disney put pressure on the fledgling outfit to back off its (initially quite aggressive!) reporting on the contents of last year’s Sony hack.

After Fusion—a joint venture between Disney and Univision—began publishing stories drawing on stolen documents, Disney put Fusion “on notice that it would not take kindly to coverage that might dent its standing with consumers,” the Times reports. It is always heartening to hear about talented people being paid exorbitant sums to do something other than what they’ve proven themselves to be good at doing.

The Times piece raises more questions than it answers, which is fine, of course, and seems mostly attributable to the fact that Fusion Media doesn’t itself seem to know what it is trying to be. (Who does?)

Recently-appointed editor-in-chief Alexis Madrigal described Fusion as “a cable and digital network that is championing a more diverse and inclusive America.” Simple enough! And yet:

Several current and former Fusion employees mentioned a masculine and raucous office culture inside the organization.

Last year, when the company instituted what it described as a routine training program on appropriate sexual behavior, some employees took it as a reaction to widespread rumors of office liaisons. David Ford, a spokesman for Fusion, said that, just like other corporations, it conducted “respect in the workplace training as part of our overall compliance program.”

Also, strangely, at least one line has been deleted entirely from the Times piece, referring to a clique surrounding the company’s CEO, Isaac Lee:

There are also a coterie of well-regarded reporters and editors that some inside the organization have nicknamed F.O.I.L., or Friends of Isaac Lee, according to current and former members of the staff.

Lee told the Times that no one at the company gets preferential treatment. “I have nothing to worry about,” he said. “I know exactly what I am doing.”

Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.