Teh Internets In Other Inter-Tubes
posted by on October 6 at 12:00 PM
This past Friday night, Gawker Media founder Nick Denton announced he was laying off 19 editorial positions on his blogs, and cancelling his bonus plan, which had something to do with the number of comments each post received. Denton cites a probable dearth of future ad sales as the reason for the layoffs.
One of the editors he laid off was Moe Tkacik, who was one of Gawker Media’s big up-and-comers. Tkacik had just moved from Jezebel to Gawker’s main site. Denton, of course, is the genius who sold Wonkette, which was the best thing Gawker Media ever produced, in the middle of an election year.
And then Tina Brown, who either destroyed The New Yorker or made it relevant again, depending on who you ask, is back with her take on the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast. The first thing I saw on the Daily Beast when I just now looked it up? Chaos. It’s all black and red and there are a bunch of very confusing layout decisions. The second thing I saw on The Daily Beast when I focused on one black and red square? A story titled “When Did John McCain Become Mad Max?” by Tucker Carlson. Looking a little closer, there’s something about Jeremy Piven (gross!), a contribution from Bill Clinton (grosser!), and a bunch of other incredibly boring articles that take forever to load. I’ll check back on The Daily Beast periodically, to see if they improve their website design, but right now, this looks like as big a failure for Brown as Talk Magazine was, back in the day.
Wow, the let Moe go? The most original writer they had? i bet there was some dispute there.
Wrong! Screenhead was the best thing Gawker Media ever produced.
Nick Denton is an idiot. Moe was the only reason to tour Jezebel when she was there. Defamer is the best thing Gawker Media has produced. If you ask me (a moron who finds The New Yorker unreadable), Tina Brown had no effect on The New Yorker, and people who clip their nails at a bar--where I am right now--are disgusting. Oh, and you're sexy beyond belief.
Tina Brown is smart and savvy, but she cannot tear herself away from celebrities. Look who's writing for her blog -- Tucker Asshat, Christopher Buckley, Laura Bennett from Project Runway for chrissakes. It's a Manhattan cocktail party, just like the New Yorker was when she was there. And heavy on the Republicans (though Manhattan Republicans are not like other Republicans much).
I see what you mean by 'Manhattan cocktail party,' but even still, Tucker Carlson doesn't fit in there. Even if you're shoving him in like butt rape.
LOL @ bloggers thinking they are viable and sustainable business
I gave the Daily Beast 10 seconds to load. It didn't. I won't be back. In this form it probably won't, either.
@6
Gawker also hous[ed] Sheila, the twat who was always shrieking about how all corporate bloggers should be either sustaining or demanding [more] pay. Shiela has acted as nothing more than a violin for the people who think that blogging 5 to 10 to 15 items a day should be able to make a living off of it. Even though most bloggers have a full-time job completely unrelated, or their blogging is an unpaid addition to that full-time job.
Fuck Gawker.
@6
Gawker also hous[ed] Sheila, the twat who was always shrieking about how all corporate bloggers should be either sustaining or demanding [more] pay. Shiela has acted as nothing more than a violin for the people who think that blogging 5 to 10 to 15 items a day should be able to make a living off of it. Even though most bloggers have a full-time job completely unrelated, or their blogging is an unpaid addition to that full-time job.
Fuck Gawker.
You should check out the screed Moe posted on Gawker today, it's pretty awesome. I'd be mad, too, if I got laid off thirty seconds after being convinced not to accept another offer.
I liked Moe a lot, and I think it's ridiculous to lay off 19 people while saying you're going to hire 10 more. I don't think anyone got laid off at Jezebel, but they aren't hiring on who they need to there, either.
Though they did start Weekend Jezebel this weekend, and that's pretty fucking awesome.
Before this announcement they actually laid a few more people off. I should know, I was blogging for Gizmodo when they changed their mind and decided there wasn't room for another full timer. Thus, I'm fucking off over to Cnet. But the bonus structure wasn't about comments, it was about clickthroughs. You got a base salary and then a bonus based on how many individual page views your collective posts received. So if your posts in a month were, say, 1,230,239, you'd get that times whatever your bonus rate was.
@6: Actually, it is. Blogging bought me my BMW and pays for my exceptionally large apartment, so fuck you.
@12
That doesn't mean you deserve it. One of the reasons our economy is fucked is because of a gross number of marginal people getting paid for marginal things, so fuck you.
@12 - the key word @6 stated was 'sustainable'. The point being you will not be able to sustain your current lifestyle, very soon. Plus, you're clearly high on your own fumes (yes, I mean farts).
a BMW!! Whooa too kewl for school! And apparently too kewl for a brain
@13
Since when is the media marginal? Media is media, blogs are just the latest version. Don't forget, television was considered marginal once, too.
And blaming the economic fuckpile we're in now on bloggers? In a blog comment? C'mon.
@14
Even sustainable businesses have to lay people off once in awhile. It's part of growing a business. And I'm not high on my own farts, I'm hungover. They're different.
I think the key word was one. Well at least you have your BMW, big apartment and marginal friends.
Matt was only at Gizmodo for 2 months or so, I believe. It didn't pay for his BMW, his large apartment, or his marginal friends. (Who aren't marginal.) In other words, he had plenty of work beforehand, and as you can see, he still does, because he moved on. Moe will too. And like Matt, she'll do well, and neither should have to answer to the likes of you. Like, ever.
And for the record, Matt is awesome. I think.
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