Well, the technical term for the shut down is a "hiatus," but both of the site's editors, Cord Jefferson and Drew Grant, have been fired, Grant tells us. At least she has another gig lined up, over at the axed media types complaint haus, ASSME.org

Earlier this year Hauslaib jettisoned two other under-performing titles, Hollywood rag Mollygood and "urban" fetishist Stereohyped. The mini-empire's gay site Queerty will continue to putter along, as it's continued to attract, despite its hideous new redesign, a loyal base of underwear model fans and reactionary hissy-fit throwers.

We're wondering what happened to Hauslaib's big plans. Just two months ago he told us, "we've got a few significant new things we're working on with Jossip and Queerty."

That came after Jossip Initiatives shut down Stereohyped and celebrity site Mollygood. Hauslaib was going to focus; apparently two sites was too many, and Hauslaib wants to devote all his energies to Queerty.

Good luck with that. Jossip the company was reportedly up for sale or investment back in March of 2008 and didn't seem to drum up any buyers. The economy hasn't gotten any better since then, particularly for media companies. So while we'd normally call a home page-topping banner like this one something along the lines of "desperate," in the context of this market and this industry, it may well be the strategy with the best odds of success.

I'm sure it is in that spirit that online gossip site Jossip is sending off Widdicombe. 'Ben Widdicombe Exits Gossip Industry, Leaving Gaping Aussie Void,' runs the headline. Har har. There's only one problem: the Daily News gossip writer used to bed Jossip's wide-eyed young founder, David Hauslaib—and one could easily take his reference to Widdicombe's gaping void as the bitchy recollection of a former lover, rather than collegial ribbing.

Incidentally, Hauslaib also dated Patrick Healy, Hillary Clinton's persecutor at the New York Times, who was in turn the former boyfriend of Chris Rovzar, the ethereal young reporter who took over from Widdicombe at the News' Rush & Molloy column when the Australian gossip graduated to his own column. And that proves what, exactly? Only that New York's gay media subculture is even more incestuous than its heterosexual equivalent; the partner-hopping is simply less well examined.

Photograph, clockwise, from top left: Jossip's David Hauslaib; burnt-out gossip columnist Ben Widdicombe; Chris Rovzar, now at New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer; and Patrick Healy of the New York Times.

• The New York Post's and NY Observer publisher Jared Kushner's PR man Steven Rubenstein spoonfeeds NYP media columnist Keith Kelly super-fun-happy-times-yay-team item on New York Observer redesign and accompanying editor 'n' publisher lovefest. [NYP]
  
• No one likes Gary Pruitt, the head of Knight-Ridder buying McClatchy Co., any more, cuz he didn't make magical money come jackpotting out of newspapers.
  
• Gossip magazines move slower than tabloid TV, which moves slightly slower than the gossip internets! [NYT]
  
• Daily News columnist Michael Goodmanwin is a sign of the creaky tiredness of the tabloid itself. Also the cartoonists are suck. [VF]
  
• Have you guys been watching Jossip TV? It's like Jossip publisher David Hauslaib dressed up for gay prom and then got distracted by his video camera. [Jossip]

WHICH online gossip has friends worried? He's sent very nasty notes to random people out of the blue, and some say the teetotaller is back on the sauce.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Last night, Reuters hosted a panel entitled "Public Figures, Private Lives" to wallow in self-loathing about how much the media invades the personal lives of ostensibly public people. Panelists included First Amendment junkie Floyd Abrams, American Media den mother Bonnie Fuller, CNBC/MSNBC's Hilary Rosen, Splash News head Gary Morgan, and Slate's Jacob Weisberg, all skillfully moderated by Reuters's Paul Holmes. If you've stayed awake through that recitation of names, you might have also made it to the panel. Intern Stephanie and video-op Richard Blakeley went to the reception AND the panel (troopers!), producing the clip above (Bonnie Fuller considers herself a public figure!) and the incident report below.

Good to hear Bonnie, because you're in one now, somewhat. However, you are in Page Six today. Congrats. After the jump, a rundown on your panelist/combatants, and a little play-by-play.

Paul Holmes - The veteran Reuters reporter/panel moderator is also known as the lion tamer. Use your imagination for that one.

Bonnie Fuller - According to Nubian princess Gwyneth Paltrow, she is the devil. According to Holmes, she "peddles the magazine equivalent of crack."

Gary Morgan - The British-born paparazzi turned Splash News head provides the winning formula for tabloid sensationalism: beaches, bikinis, and babies.

Jacob Weisberg - The Slate dynamo also happens to be the person "least likely to be invited to dinner by George W." Maybe that's because George doesn't know who he is.

Floyd Abrams - Remember that old law professor that never gave anyone above an A-, because an A meant the class was too easy? Yeah, uh, well, you know ...

Hilary Rosen - The former RIAA Chairman was most likely placed for strategic gender equality. She also likes to use the term "prestige press," which most likely doesn't include us.

One of our many goals was to see what members of the press thought about Gawker invading the lives of the media elite. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to hear many replies; a reporter from the Post exclaimed "Oh no!" and turned away when she saw us lurking nearby.

Rosen pitted Brangelina vs. Bono, citing their charitable works and explaining that Bono doesn't receive any press for his doings. Well honey, if he impregnated Jennifer Aniston and flew her to Namibia to give birth to their love child, he would receive press too. It wouldn't be for his charitable work, but who cares?

The panel concluded that celebrities are partly to blame for their own troubles. Morgan explained, "There is a symbiotic relationship between the matches of evil. Everyone needs each other to push themselves forward." Bonnie agreed — "Celebrities make their private lives public to enhance their image and for monetary gain" — citing Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's ill-fated Newlyweds, since though it ruined a marriage, nevertheless boosted record sales. And that's all Papa Joe cared about anyway.

Seemingly out of nowhere (though very on-topic), a "publisher of several newspapers" offered to sell Bonnie photos of 104-year-old socialite Brooke Astor, allegedly obtained from one of her servants. Bonnie politely declined, saying the story would not be appropriate for Star's readership. Star does have standards!

The moral of the event is summed up concisely by Morgan's answer to the question of where to draw the line in coverage of private life: "When you get sued." Excelsior! And though we didn't stay to the very end of the panel, a spy reported the following exchange between Jossip's David Hauslaib and Bonnie Fuller:

David Hauslaib: I knew about Lance Bass being gay a long time ago.

Paul Holmes: Who?

Hauslaib: Lance Bass ... former 'N Syncer? Anyway, what are the terms by which Star outs a celebrity?

Fuller gave a long winded answer and basically said "We don't out people." (her answer wasn't interesting, just that the Jossip guy was really smug about know that Lance was gay "a long time ago").