hey gawker dudes. what the fuck is wrong with you?

if they do end up getting picked up by a different network, this will probably end up being a good thing for the show. i had appletv free for a month and there was nothing i would conceive of watching a minute of on it

― flopson, Monday, December 14, 2020 2:09 AM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

Ted lasso is v good but will not alleviate concerns abt the critical capacities of Apple tv

toxic gossip, class warfare, clickbait and gross public shaming of people

it truly was a great website

rip

uhhh

https://jezebel.com/who-forgot-to-invite-chun-li-to-the-mortal-kombat-1846300631

this looked like an obvious joke post that an editor later shat on

it was published at 4:20pm

Journalism

Big Defector update via Margaret Sullivan in the Washington Post. In sum, it's doing quite well for now:

And vital encouragement came when the group first announced its intentions to start a new site: More than 10,000 people immediately signed up as subscribers (the entry level is $8 a month; it costs a bit more for those who want to comment on stories). Tens of thousands of others would follow — enough to pay for the $50,000 minimum salaries of more than 20 staffers. Higher “target salaries” depend on the success of the site and on particular job responsibilities.

Subscriptions provide the only form of revenue. The site has no ads, and hasn’t resorted to any membership campaigns in the tradition of public television.

Each of the founding employees holds a financial stake in the company of about 5 percent; new staffers get a somewhat smaller share but all have an equal vote in major decisions. A two-thirds vote of the staff could result in editor Tom Ley’s firing.

“That’s terrifying and comforting at the same time,” Ley told me. “There is the possibility of me screwing stuff up, which is the scary part.” But, he says, if the staff does fire him, “at least it will be because of me,” not because of a corporate decision from on high.

I asked Ley whether he thought Defector would still be around in three years. He admitted that he’s hopeful but uncertain.

“There is going to be a white-knuckle moment of truth” at the one-year mark next summer, he said, when the initial one-year subscriptions expire.

Also recently hired Laura Wagner and Kalyn Kahler.

Each of the founding employees holds a financial stake in the company of about 5 percent; new staffers get a somewhat smaller share but all have an equal vote in major decisions. A two-thirds vote of the staff could result in editor Tom Ley’s firing.

“That’s terrifying and comforting at the same time,” Ley told me. “There is the possibility of me screwing stuff up, which is the scary part.” But, he says, if the staff does fire him, “at least it will be because of me,” not because of a corporate decision from on high.

this is the most FOUNDING FATHERS vibe i've felt in so long. fuck yeah for people who actually believe in democracy

The power of charging people to post cannot be denied. Maybe something for ILX to consider - a $1 toll to gain posting privileges on a thread.

Gawker's coming back https://t.co/Z2XQ21BmlA pic.twitter.com/fOJm9hqBVi

— Ben Smith (@benyt) April 11, 2021

Didn't they already try that?

prob unfair but a few years ago leah finnegan retweeted a transphobic piece by natasha vargas-cooper and i've always held that against her :)

feel like she did some other sketchy stuff that i can’t remember

Pour one out or something?

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/will-gawkers-swashbuckling-style-survive-upcoming-relaunch

But Gawker could also punch down, something that happened more often in its later years, by which time the blog as an insurgent had itself become an established character. “Punching down was often never a good look for Gawker,” Kamer noted. It felt that way, Snyder recalls, “when there was blood on the floor of the Condé Nast tower,” referring to a controversial post about an executive’s private life—the removal of which caused the site’s then editor in chief Max Read to resign in protest, and other staffers, including Finnegan, to take buyouts. Days after the blowup, Denton announced his new vision for Gawker, reportedly telling those who remained that he wanted it to be “20% nicer.” (I asked to interview Read for this piece, but he told me he’s “suffering from a serious brain injury that has erased my memory of everything that happened between the years 2010 and 2016.”)

There are some very good quotes from former staffers in that piece. Whatever form Gawker takes when it "returns," people will complain about it. The problem with a site that talks a lot of shit is that it's great until they're talking shit about someone you like. Then you're obligated to bleat about how it's "punching down."

Often never a good look

this is exhausting

lmao at the Read quote, not gonna read the rest

e’s “suffering from a serious brain injury that has erased my memory of everything that happened between the years 2010 and 2016.”

man, i miss max

he's regularly in new york mag if you didn't know

Often never a good look

otm

ONAGL?

Eugene ONAGL

lollll

https://www.theonion.com/trump-forced-to-shut-down-blog-after-publishing-hulk-ho-1847026382

never forget that one of the names most pivotal to the shifting of the media landscape in the early 2000s was bubba the love sponge

At the end of the video, Clem can be heard telling Heather, "If we ever need to retire, here is our ticket". Hogan filed a lawsuit against the Clems for invading his privacy on October 15, 2012. He settled the suit on October 29, 2012. Following the settlement, Clem publicly apologized to Hogan. Hogan sued Gawker Media for publishing the tape, and a jury of six awarded Hogan more than $140 million in March 2016.

i like her but nevertheless feel unsettled

which is bullshit; nu nu nu gawker is not actually different from any other outlet

officially open for features pitches! not looking for anything super newsy at this time but if there’s something you’ve wanted to write for ages and haven’t because you’re not sure who would take a chance on it i want to hear from you! bra✧✧✧.jen✧✧✧@gaw✧✧✧.c✧✧

— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) June 1, 2021

I hope they bring back the Gawker Stalker map, that was the best

https://deadspin.com/rachel-nichols-comments-about-maria-taylor-are-latest-1847231057

some great journalism going on over there

That is a super-weird piece. Kind of trying to take credit for having part of the scoop but failing to nail down the rest of it, and actually publishing something kind of counter to the scoop instead.

Video Got Sent To Us

i've seen ppl freaking out because she's married to mike nichols' son, who is diane sawyer's stepson. but she'd already been at the washington post for years before she married him; you can shit on her for any number of things, but the nepotism angle is weak

i think the nepotism thing rings hollow in her earlier career but getting to espn a few years later, it couldnta hurt

What's gawker again? Rings a bell

i mean a lot of newspaper journalists made their way to espn in the same era that rachel did. she was a woman on an NHL beat in the 90s. any questions re: her qualifications to do any job in sports journalism should be dismissed immediately.

this entire thing sucks btw, she said something shitty in what she thought was a private conversation, which every single human being alive has done.

i am in no way questioning her qualifications. its hard af for women -- non-former athlete women especially -- to break into that job.

xp *Stephen A voice* HOWEVER

this is not just a shitty thing said in private. it was a racist thing about her Black coworker that was recorded to a company server which not every single human alive has done.

yes, it is a meaningful transgression for which there should be some kind of consequence and that's about as far as i'm comfortable adjudicating it.

tbf she has advanced at espn because she is both good and attractive, and i'm sure she's aware of the tokenism that's been involved all along

can only assume she has had to fight for roles again and again, as many other media figures do, but this time it's tokenism vs tokenism -- or perhaps the absolute opposite and they are both great and merely fighting for a job? idk

let doris run espn imo

I think the story is pretty mild as far as rachel nichols specifically goes — I agree with CAD — but ESPN’s handling of it was telling. and I really just wanted to lol at scab deadspin

Go check Twitter, it’s still trending. People have a lot to say. Some of it is really good conversation

lol

yeah, that line stood out to me too. evergreen!

https://defector.com/the-current-version-of-deadspin-cant-even-eat-shit-correctly/

airing out the editors is past baggage but 100% the right move

I’ve noticed that a lot of writing fails to determine or frame
1. is there a story here?
2. What is the story?
3. How do we frame this competently given what we have?

the deadspin new hires are either given no editorial guidance or really shitty vague crap imo

when does that nu-gawker launch?

airing out the editors is past baggage but 100% the right move

I’ve noticed that a lot of writing fails to determine or frame
1. is there a story here?
2. What is the story?
3. How do we frame this competently given what we have?

the deadspin new hires are either given no editorial guidance or really shitty vague crap imo

when does that nu-gawker launch?

wtf sorry

the nu-gawker has launched, a while back?

https://defector.com