It happens to a lot of websites. Heck, I think it is inevitable. I was involved in several start-ups in the 90s and early 2Ks (foodie website, product review site, and a business trade association). The same kind of things plagued all of them. All of them are still successful but only after going through many of the same things you see here. Fractionating, people trying to claim ownership or steering the boat, spin-offs, etc. All of those things are just distractions from whatever the stated goal is of the site. It becomes all about personalities. I believe it is just an internet thing. It equals the playing field a lot and suddenly everyone thinks they can run whatever. Bloggers think they are journalists. A lady posting reviews on Amazon thinks she is a professional critic. And posters on a forum think they can run a website.
Reminds me of a line from the Don Henly song “Garden of Allah” ( Considering he’s a lib, that whole thing is lyrically a condemnation of liberal ideas)
“Today I made an appearance downtown. I am an expert witness...because I say I am”
Of course, since most ‘professionals’ do their profession so poorly, it’s not hard to see why anyone thinks they can do it better. But most of the time they just suck even worse.
“Bloggers think they are journalists.”
A select few do a much better job at investigative journalism than do so called journalists.
Some ought to be. Even worse, many "journalists" think they're journalists.