Fusion is planning to rebrand under a new name: Splinter

Four Gizmodo Media Group sources told Business Insider of the decision, which GMG announced later on Friday.

"We firmly believe in telling the truth about outdated institutions and calling out injustices when we see them — and sometimes the truth hurts," Splinter editor-in-chief Dodai Stewart said in a press release. "Splinter will contextualize current events while remaining committed to amplifying underrepresented voices, shining a light on systemic inequality, and skewering politicians when necessary."

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Univision filed a trademark for the name "Splinter" in June. The filing describes Splinter as a website that would provide "information and commentary in the field of news, science, culture, politics, and entertainment."

Some employees don't seem fond of the rebranding. When asked about the planned new name, one texted a frog and a tea emoji, a meme meant to convey doubt.

Stewart commented further on the name change in a series of tweets.

There has been confusion broadly about Fusion.net for months.

Fusion.net, a Univision site that merged into Gizmodo Media Group, the home of the former Gawker Media sites, became Fusion.kinja.com in May when the Fusion television channel, a separate entity operated by Univision, assumed the Fusion.net domain.

GMG site leads and executives took weeks to develop a rebranded name for Fusion.kinja.com, which some view as an opportunity for the site to have a fresh start after years of traffic woes and occasional confusion over the divergent missions of the television channel and the website.

In an interview in June, GMG CEO Raju Narisetti said it made sense to make a clean break between the website and the Fusion television channel.

"We added a big politics component to it — we added the special projects desk to it," Narisetti told Business Insider then. "We beefed up voices. So the topics and what we were trying to do and the audiences we were selling were starting to diverge. It made sense to say, 'If that’s going to happen, and there's already marketplace confusion about is this the website of the TV side, let the TV folks have it."