Gawker: downsizing

Website Shrinks Self into a Twitter Stream

Ryan Tate — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:27:00 EDT

If failing print publications go online-only, what can struggling websites do, short of closing? Turn into microblogs, naturally. It seems to be working for AdWeak, the advertising world's own Onion.

The satirical publication has done websites, a blog — and now it's moved to Twitter, per a recent editor's note. The transition would seem to be a success — updates have been much more frequent since the posts started appearing on the microblogging service; AdRants proclaimed that the site had "returned triumphantly."

One could imagine this sort of thing happening to one of those websites that used to be an actual big-time newspaper, except that such a thing is almost too sad to contemplate.

(Top image via)

ForbesAutos.com Staff Laid Off, I Start Saying Nicer Things To Ray Wert, Nick Denton

Matt Hardigree — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:20:00 EST

Rumors have flown all week about Forbes planning to axe their Forbes Autos division. Those rumors look to be confirmed by Alley Insider, though a spokesperson refused to confirm or deny those rumors to us. Though the Forbes auto site has never been a major player in the automotive news business, it illustrates a reality: less automaker revenue means less ad revenue means less automotive outlets. This is especially true for an operation like Forbes.com, which sought to squeeze out more luxo-advertising bucks by creating their own custom content channels and putting themselves in a bad position come a down cycle. Oh, yeah, and it also serves as a reminder of how the Financiapocalypse could affect me, personally. Therefore, I've decided to say some nice things about my employers before I end up getting canned or made to feed the hamsters in our server farm for a salary of wooden nickels and all the sawdust I can eat.

Nice things about Ray Wert
1. You have nice hair.
2. The Burberry accessories do a great job of hiding your otherwise cheap wardrobe.
3. You're not the worst driver in the world, just the worst driver I've ever met.

Nice things about Nick Denton
1. I've never met you but I hear you smell like freshly minted silver dollars.
2. You publish Deadspin and this site, two places I spend a lot of my time.
3. You make wonderful charts.

Oh, and for the record, Ben badmouths both of you all the time.

[via Alley Insider]

New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis...

Maggie — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:15:48 EDT

New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis wouldn't disclose today where the $14-16 million in staff cuts will take place during the next three months. She did say: "Nearly every quarter we do have buyout expenses, this is not unusual—certainly not the largest that we've had. For every quarter, I have in front of me a chart that goes back to the first quarter of '06 and we've had buyouts in place in every quarter over the last seven quarters. We have an ongoing program of focusing on costs and efficiency. What we've said is we'll continue to focus on reducing costs, improving the efficiency of our business, taking into account our long-term goals, the quality of our journalism, and making sure our operation functions smoothly." Update: Ms. Mathis now says that "most of the reductions are associated with the consolidation of the two printing plants in College Point and Edison, NJ." But we don't understand why that would be the bulk of reductions in Q4; for one thing, the sale of the Edison plant closed way back during Q2.

'Times' To Eliminate $15 Million In Staff This Quarter

Choire — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:13:08 EDT

Um, whoa! Buried in the bottom of the 3rd quarter statement from the New York Times is this: "The following expectations are for the fourth quarter of 2007.... Staff reduction costs - $14 to $16 million. This range can vary significantly based on seniority and the timing of implementation." Hey what now? In the first quarter, when they shuttered the Boston Globe foreign bureaus, giving buyouts to 125 workers or so, they reported "Staff reduction costs of $7.8 million." In the second quarter, when workers were eliminated at the Edison, NJ, printing plant, they reported "staff reduction costs were $5.0 million." So presumably a good chunk of people are about to get canned. But who? Update: The Times claims that "most" of these costs are associated with the sale of the printing plants—one of which, as we already noted above, closed half a year ago. Hmm!