Gawker
-
ch-ch-changes
Gawker Comments Are Made of Stars
The new Gawker commenting system is here. And, if everything works out as planned, it will let us highlight the brilliant, witty and informative comments. Welcome to a new hierarchical era.
16,644
572
Comment by BadUncle: All of this is well and good. But can you please bring back Friday executions, commies and - for the... 16 Responses | Other threads
-
housekeeping
Meet the New Valleywag: Ryan Tate
After terrorizing tech managers, Owen Thomas has decided to join 'em. Emerging from the shadows to replace him as the Valleywag is Ryan Tate, who's already relishing the idea of life in the sunshine. More »
11,889
Comment by Ryan Tate: In fairness, I only look this pissy when I'm in France, drinking bad coffee. Hello, daylight people! Please explain this bright... 22 Responses | Other threads
-
housekeeping
In Case You Were Wondering How Our Traffic Is Doing
Compete.com released their monthly unique visitor numbers today and Gawker had another strong month, staying ahead of old-line (and much larger) outfits like ABCNews.com and NYMag.com. More »
4,233
Comment by Wonderland: You would never last on this traffic if you were actually producing your own content. 5 Responses | Other threads
-
self-referential
What Do You Know? We Won an Award
You may have started the day thinking you were reading any old gossip rag, but the people have clicked and Gawker is your best group blog of the 2009 Weblog Awards. More »
2,575
Comment by Aaron Altman: And I'm afraid to ask what "8Asians" is all about. 5 Responses | Other threads
-
defamer
Defamer Folds Into Gawker; Editors to Pursue Careers in Bearded Hip-Hop
Like a waffling yard sale lady who, push come to shove, simply couldn't part with her prized collection of People "Sexiest Man Alives," Nick Denton has succumbed to a crippling case of seller's remorse.
More » -
internet
The Evolution Of A Blog
Here are snapshots of the world's biggest blog titles—as they are now and as they were at launch. Here's Gawker from 2003 when the gossip site was edited by Elizabeth Spiers—and from yesterday. Less change than one might expect: the logo has shrunk because the site has less need to trumpet its arrival; the ad is real rather than a placeholder; the testimonials and blogroll have gone from the sidebar to be replaced by data about pageviews and comments; the skyline of top stories is new; and the site is rather more visual than it was. But the ancestry is unmistakeable.
3,014
By Nick DentonComment by OMG! Toesies on the Nosies!: And in five days, the Gawker sites will all look different yet again because the IT department won't stop tinkering... 6 Responses | Other threads
-
the gawker tipline
646-214-8138
Never in the last decade has there been more workplace gossip to leak than now. But—for the same economic reasons—everybody's more paranoid than ever that the boss' IT agents are snooping. Some Gawker tipsters are reluctant to send email from work computers. So we're opening a telephone tipline. Dial *67 to obscure the caller ID and then 646-214-8138 to leave Gawker's editors a voicemail. For the rules, read on.
More »
9,227
By Nick DentonComment by American Dreamer: Does George Clooney (pictured) actually answer your tip phone line himself or was that just a clever advertisement. I'd love... 6 Responses | Other threads
-
about
Gawker Draws Level With New York Magazine
Gawker has had a reasonably friendly rivalry with Bruce Wasserstein's New York magazine. At least three former editors of this site—Elizabeth Spiers, Jesse Oxfeld and Jessica Coen—have found refuge there after their sentence in the blogging mines. This history makes the latest audience numbers from Compete.com particularly satisfying. In September, gawker.com alone—not including any sibling sites—drew level with New York's nymag.com.
2,093
By Nick DentonComment by Larry Fine: Good job Nick. Btw, is that spike in NYmag's traffic in Feb '08 when Bruce posed nude for the website? 3 Responses | Other threads
-
-
magazines
Introducing The Unspiked Files
The publication of a relatively juicy interview with Jennifer Lopez—rejected by an unnamed fashion magazine—reminds us that magazine articles are often dropped not because they're bad but because they're good. Or—more often—simply because they've been overtaken by events or clash with some other article or because an insecure editor has over-commissioned. (Tina Brown, who published Kevin Sessums' J-Lo profile on her new Daily Beast website, was notorious for assigning three times the articles she ran.) Anyway, here's an alternative for journalists who've spent weeks slaving on an article only to see it spiked: Gawker's unspiked files.
More »
7,904
By Nick DentonComment by El_Feo: For reals: This is what N+1 started out doing 4 Responses | Other threads
-
about
Six Months Later
Without any breakout story, Gawker's pageviews last month were 16.7m. That's 108% ahead of the level at the end of last year. But now comes that slow-news time of year that—in ancestral Hungary—they call the cucumber season.
2,459
By Nick DentonComment by BadUncle: Quality controls at the cigarette factory appear to have deteriorated. more » | Other threads
-
housekeeping
A Bigger Skyline
You might notice a small change to the design of this page: the 'skyline' array of top stories is now bigger and more easily clickable. With Gawker publishing up to 70 items a day, stories drop pretty rapidly off the page. So we're highlighting the day's top news more obviously than before for those readers who might only check the site once a day. (Some people have jobs which demand concentration.) When there's an ad at the right, four editor's picks will show; when there's no ad, six top stories. If you spot any glitches, email me.
820
By Nick DentonComment by allyzay: @Sailor: and now the entire website's business model is (rather tragically IMO) built around them! it is funny how things... more » | Other threads
-
quote of the day
Death By Pageview
"The higher the number of page views, the more accelerated the rate at which, say, the hydrochloric acid will be dispensed. (I believe this is analogous to how Gawker Media currently pays its writers.)" [From the AV Club's belated review of web snuff movie Untraceable.]
626
By Nick DentonComment by rex: Totally stole my joke, from month's ago: [www.fimoculous.com] I expect an expose, just like that NYT/WaPo one. more » | Other threads
-
housekeeping
Thank you, Sue Simmons and Bill O'Reilly.
-
about
Traffic Report
No celebrity deaths last month. But exhaustive coverage of the Eliot Spitzer's call-girl scandal helped boost pageviews in March. (A story that salacious is unlikely to be repeated in April but, then again, nobody expected New York's self-righteous Governor to blow up quite so spectacularly.) Anecdotally, Gawker has added readers outside New York, which is what one would expect: the site's media and pop culture coverage has been more national in its appeal. Pageviews in March, at 18.4m were 127% above the level of last December. Unique visitors for the month were 2.7m, compared with an audience of 1.2m in December. Portfolio's oft-mistaken Felix Salmon, who bet the site wouldn't regain its 2007 levels, took Lockhart Steele to a very nice lunch at Lure.
1,252
By Nick DentonComment by WasatchMan: I live in Utah. Don't know whether or not you give a shit. more » | Other threads
-
housekeeping
The Revolving Door
Time, belatedly, to update the Gawker masthead: Ryan Tate and Hamilton Nolan, bylines you've seen for the last few weeks, are joining the team. (Ryan is pictured below, and Hamilton above.) Ryan, who is based on the West Coast, will cover the overnight shift. He was a reporter for the boring San Francisco Business Times, but he has a wicked side: Ryan used to comment under the pen-name "Sid Hudgens", which is how he came to my attention. Suedehead Hamilton Nolan, formerly with PR Week, is now Gawker's advertising and public relations reporter. The publicists are already trembling. One departure: Maggie Shnayerson, whose coverage of the Viacom freelancer revolt put Gawker in an unusual role, instigator of one of the most successful labor campaigns of recent years, according to the The Nation. Positions still open include nightlife and media reporters. Email me.
6,681
By Nick DentonComment by Aatom: This is all starting to make a job at Conde look stable and secure. Good luck, boys. more » | Other threads
-
housekeeping
Did You Know?
You can view today's most popular stories, at gawker.com/popular. They include items from earlier in the week which are getting belated recognition, such as Alex Pareene's history of terrible CNN headlines.
246
By Nick DentonComment by allyzay: the housekeeping thing is becoming so cute. more » | Other threads
-
shameless self-promotion
Bloggies
Lifehacker, Jezebel, Gizmodo, and several other Gawker sites — are contenders in the 2008 Weblog Awards. (Which are going ahead, writers strike or not.) In total, the Gawker titles garnered 18 nominations, a record. And this is your last chance to vote.
470
By Nick DentonComment by shehatesme: Gawker Media up against DOOCE? I can't stand the suspense. more » | Other threads
-
about
Gawker Comments FAQ
1. Who can leave comments on Gawker? More » -
about
Valleywag comments FAQ
1. Who can leave comments on Valleywag?
Anyone who's auditioned successfully to become a commenter (see below) or anyone who's received an email invitation from us or a friend. The comment system is invitation-only because our editors want to spend more time providing new content and less time moderating comment threads. More » -
about
Valleywag Artists
If you are an artist interested in having your work displayed on Valleywag, please see Gawker Artists. -
about
Advertiser Tango
Special thanks to this week's advertisers, who help prevent split ends. Interested? More info here. More » -
about
Advertiser Love Fest
Special thanks to this week's advertisers, whose support allows us to nurse all sorts of nasty habits. Interested? Info here. More » -
about
Defamer Unmasked: Our Time Has Finally Come
As the NY Daily News' Lloyd Grove clumsily leaked this morning (in that lovable, misspelling-riddled, afterthought-ish way of his), Esquire magazine is revealing the secret of my incredibly mundane identity in its upcoming issue, after months of relatively pointless anonymity. And: More » -
about
Advertiser Dry Hump
A special thanks to this week's sponsors, whose support paid for our elaborate, spangly Halloween costumes. Interested? More info here. More » -
about
Advertiser Love Fest
A quick thanks to this week's advertisers, who keep our interns in bikini waxes: More » -
about
Gawker Launches 'Art of Speed'
Today Gawker launches Art of Speed, a contract publishing blog in cooperation with Nike. Nike's Art of Speed project is composed of 15 short films made by up-and-coming filmmakers and artists, commissioned and selected by Nike. The website will run for a month, exploring the films, their creators, and the state of contemporary filmmaking and its technology. More » -
about
Letter from the Guest Editor III: Going Underground
Thanks for tuning in everyone. Despite the server problems it was a real blast driving the ol' Gawker Buick up and down the avenue all week. If I didn't hit you or your loved ones, please sleep well knowing that I was at least aiming for ya. Also, I extend my apologies to anyone who wrote and I didn't get back to. There was a lot to handle. You can check out my regular daily stuff over at TheOtherPage.com. Goodnight. -
about
Advertising on Defamer
You could argue that New York has no need for a gossip blog like Gawker. There's Page Six, and Rush & Molloy, and people in power are accustomed to a bit of mockery. By contrast, in so far as a city ever needed a gossip rag, LA is crying out for a Defamer. For a city that's in many ways the cultural capital of the world, it's woefully under-gossiped. Sure, the celebrity weeklies give the latest tittle-tattle on the reality TV romance of the week. But the real stars of Hollywood are the producers, the agents, the PR flacks, the studio execs, and the screenwriters. They're usually behind the scenes. No longer. Defamer had the strongest launch of any Gawker title, and has taken the lead on celebrity stories. More » -
about
Letter from the Guest Editor II: Gawker Asia Launches
Choire asked me to remind everyone that it is I, Andrew Krucoff, who is guest-editing Gawker this week. (I'm sure this was obvious by the change in tone and lack of insider or even outsider knowledge.) Also, I think Wonkette, Defamer, Gizmodo, and Fleshbot all take turns ass-fucking the mothership's server while I spend my day hours helpless, curled in a ball, and caged in bamboo. I have half the mind to post only from midnight to 6am covering updates on Asian financial markets. Bear with me people. Choire's back on Monday and the nightmare will be over soon. Thanks. -
about
Please refer to the Gawker Media Terms of Use by clicking here.
-
about
Disclaimer
Defamer is a gossip site. The site publishes both rumors and conjecture, in addition to accurately reported information. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies; the site's proprietors do not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. Links to content on and quotation of material from other sites are not the responsibility of Gawker Media. More » -
about
Defamer Wants Your Tips!
Defamer always welcomes tips from its readers, and we fully protect the anonymity of our tipsters the way that we ferociously guard our own. More » -
about
Welcome to Defamer
Defamer's Hollywood obsessions include celebrity agent-swapping, aborted pilots, producer bully tactics, aggrieved production assistants, ridiculous script deals, the newest technology in breast implants, and, above all, sweet, sweet box office. We think the gossip in Hollywood has focussed a bit too much on the glamour, and not enough on the important stuff — namely, the cold hard cash. (And, even better, the promise of cash that never materializes.) The real stars of Hollywood, after all, aren't even household names... yet. We hope that L.A., the greatest, cruelest city in the world, is finally getting the gossip rag it deserves. More » -
about
To Do: Don't Kill Bill
· Is Bill Murray your favorite actor? Wow, you are so edgy! Join the 93 million other hipsters who also worship him at BAM for screenings of Murray's best films followed by a chit-chat with Big Bill himself. More » -
about
Who Is The Defamer?
We're not keeping the author of this website anonymous because he's famous. In fact, quite the opposite. He's nobody — just another Hollywood peon, maybe another PA on the set. Or he could be your assistant — you know, the one you just made fetch your dogs from the groomer? That wasn't very nice of you. More » -
about
Advertiser Shot-Out
Thanks to this week's advertisers: More » -
about
Please refer to the Gawker Media privacy policy by clicking here.
about
New York, 1:38 PM
Thu Jul 16
54 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@gawker.com
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Editor-in-Chief:
Gabriel Snyder | Email
Contributing Editors:
Valleywag:
Ryan Tate | Email
Media:
Hamilton Nolan | Email
Politics:
Alex Pareene | Email
Investigations:
John Cook | Email
Entertainment:
Richard Lawson | Email
Weekends:
Foster Kamer | Email
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley | Email
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
