Gawker
It's a bittersweet moment. Jezebel has been Gawker's most successful ever launch, and Conde Nast's acquisition of the women's site is the ultimate validation. But it's heartbreaking to let Jezebel go, and part with Anna Holmes, Dodai Stewart, Moe Tkacik, Tracie Egan, Jennifer Gerson and Jessica Grose, the writers who brought a new tone and intelligence to coverage on the web of fashion, media and relationships. It wasn't an easy decision.
The short of it is that we're entering an advertising recession, and the internet will, whatever the wishful thinkers believe, not be immune. Rupert Murdoch's closure of Page Six website is harbinger of the tough times to come. All web publishers will have to make hard choices about the properties they've launched during the good years.
At Gawker Media, we're determined to make those choices sooner rather than later, putting sentiment to one side. Already in 2006, we sold or shuttered three sites—Oddjack, Screenhead and Sploid—that either weren't performing or didn't fit the rest of our portfolio. The internet boom, even then, seemed unsustainable. We told the New York Times then we were "hunkering down." That wasn't the last of it; nor can I say that the disposal of Jezebel will be the end of this rationalization.
Jezebel obviously wasn't sold because it was flailing. The site drew more than 14m pageviews last month, an extraordinary achievement for a title which is less than a year old. But the bulk of Gawker Media's traffic and advertising, despite the attention paid to our more gossipy blogs, goes to the group's geekier titles such as Gizmodo, Kotaku and Lifehacker. We have to decide where we're going to hold the line.
Gawker is a technology media company, in a fierce battle with companies such as CNET and AOL's Weblogs Inc unit; Jezebel will be more easily monetized by Conde Nast, which has a portfolio of similar properties, and a sales team which can deliver package deals to cosmetics companies and other marketers. It's hard to admit, but Jezebel will be in better hands.
One plea. Jezebel's popularity derives from its willingness—eagerness—to break with the generic blandness of women's magazines and websites. Jezebel is anything but bland. In the effort to sell more advertising on the site, I hope that Conde Nast doesn't chill the vitality of Moe and Tracie and Jezebel's other writer-provocateurs.
Comments
April Fool's.
How creative.
Is this the best you can do for an April 1 joke? C'mon!
This is how you sell a joke. Never blink and never wink. The funniest part are the outraged responses.
Whores
Not buying it kids. I knew it was bullshit when they called us "wealthy tastemakers" HA!
See, if this had come out before the Jezebel one, good. But now: lame. 5 on the AFJ scale of 10.
Laughable! April Fool's!
The worst part of the joke is the headline. Whoring Out Jezebel? Really?
'People pay attention to Kotaku'
Priceless...
Jezebel was never as interesting or cutting edge as Ronn Torossiann's self-blog.
I smell something.
Nice try guys, nice try.
I'm just glad people are realizing this one is a joke well before the 200th comment like over on Jezebel. Good lord.
Yeah, the "wealthy tastemakers" kind of blew the guise. But how interesting it would be to see what became of my favorite Cover Lies feature under Conde Nast!
I just aged, like, 20 years. Bastards.
April Tool's!
Also, a man is pregnant.
A sincere request to have the most outraged comments from Jezebel cross-poster here.
@hugnkiss: I mean unlike over on Jezebel. April Fools makes my grammar go wonky.
I'll take epicurious.com over Jezebel any day of the week.
I heard Julia Allison was also hired as branding strategy director and Kelly Kreth is head of marketing.
I just got my tax refunds, how much is Idolator going for?
Wow, Jezebel could have had the shining future awaiting flip.com. Alass.
@rowingrowingrowing: "affluent trendsetters" did it for me.
Ha. NICE.
Well done, Nick.
Would have been a bit more obvious (for the slow-on-the-uptake Jezebel crowd) with a different headline. Something like, "Giving Jezebel a Wedgie."
@hugnkiss: That might be funny if it were true, but it's not.
@collegecallgirl: Totally. Why would Conde Nast buy a site that rips apart most of their publications? I don't read Jezebel often, but I'm pretty sure the LOLVogue and Cover Lies feature would be trimmed down asafp.
Please tell me this is some kind of April Fools joke or something
That's interesting.
I'm marrying the Burger King!
@hugnkiss: Actually people called bullshit by the third comment.
Yes, clever joke. But lets not run it into the ground please.
Oh har har.
@MrInBetween: Hey, hey, hey! Watch it Clever Gawkerite.
@hugnkiss: The third commenter on Jezebel realized it was a joke, and many after.
If only Conde Nast would acquire some of the new Jezebel commenters...
i um like totally believed it.
@stacyinbean: Yeah, I corrected it. I had to leave that thread over on Jezebel because I couldn't handle the number of people who apparently don't own calendars and/or read the previous comments.
/threadjack
Holy shit, ESPN just acquired Deadspin!
/threadjack
The real joke would be to just fucking do it.
@hatepaperdoll and Leiakat: I know a few people spotted the joke early on. But there were way too many people about 150 comments in still screaming "NOOOOOOO! Not my Jezebel!"
April Fool's joke or Gawker commenter fantasy: you decide.
@KarenUhOh: Nike just bought your commenter status.
@Mediahohoho: Original Jezebel commenter fantasy.
Jalopnik to sell to those 3 gearheads who might give a fuck.
clearly this is a joke. nice try though!
Making a joke, or making a market?
My money's on both.
@Mediahohoho: Nice.
@Mediahohoho: Fantasy. They've got nine bajillion commenters over there with nothing to say. I don't care if they all come over here and start whaling on me, but it's true.
Plus, Si can launch his own titles to turn around and shutter, thank you very much.
@KarenUhOh: Yeah, like if I shot myself and left a note, saying: "April Fool's!" Hilarity, right?
How about getting rid of Idolator while your at it?
@KarenUhOh: Exactly. I want an Anna Wintour press release. Something cold and indifferent.
The giveaway for me: "Of course, even the best concepts need airbrushing!"
That's it. 1st April, 2009, I will be sitting in a cottage somewhere in the Northest bit of Scotland, concentrating on not turning on a computer and avoiding all media. I'm SO SICK of April Fool's shit.
@hugnkiss: women. they cant read!
I mean you're. c'mon coffee do your thing!
@Mary Mouse: No, you're right. I'm a Jezebel regular, and some of the commenters have been driving me up the fucking wall lately. Clearly -- considering I'm here. There will be no whaling on you unless you're into that sort of thing.
@hugnkiss: That is true.
@Mediahohoho: Oh, see I thought it was a Denton fantasy.
Wouldn't Advance.net have been the buyer, anyway?
Can't be a joke, see, cuz jokes are supposed to be funny.
This made me laugh a lot. Well done.
Sorry - nothing snarky or funny to see here.
@hugnkiss: Makes sense, given that people tend to read the article first. I was tipped off by the bad Consumerist one -- made no sense.
The real joke is what is being released in earnest by Condenet today:
"With CondéNet on V CAST Video, Verizon Wireless customers can initially select from 40 CondéNet videos, including:
•Style.com's 'Designer Profiles' videos of Chloe Sevigny and Vera Wang"
Truth is terribly less funny than fiction.
Um, can this not be a joke?
or bargaining tactic with pageview rates for the sites being announced today ? any dissent from the masses and we could....
@yourfriendandneighbor: A man is pregneant [www.towleroad.com]
Could you please post that long overdue Furious George item for those of us who don't give a fuck?