Gawker Media

Gawker Media

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Added Oct 11, 2012 at 01:13PM EDT by Don.

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About

Gawker Media is a blog network based in New York City, owned and founded by Nick Denton. The network originally consisted of eight blogs, including Gawker, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, io9, Kotaku, Jalopnik and Jezebel. In 2016, the company closed its flagship publication Gawker.com after filing bankruptcy in the wake of Hulk Hogan's sex tape lawsuit.

History

[this section is currently being researched]

The original Gawker gossip blog was launched in December 2002 by former British journalist Nick Denton, who ran the website from his apartment in the Soho neighborhood of New York City. The company was first incorporated in Budapest, Hungary, where it maintains a small office with several programmers. In August 2003, Spiers left Gawker to write for New York magazine and her position was replaced by art dealer Choire Sicha. In August 2004, Denton promoted Sicha to the newly created position of editorial director for Gawker Media and hired Jessica Coen, a film studio assistant, to replace Sicha. In mid-2006, Coen left Gawker to work for Vanity Fair and was replaced by Emily Gould. In 2008, an office space was set up for Gawker employees in the Nolita neighborhood of New York City.[2] On October 3rd, 2008, the Gawker rumor blog Valleywag[6] published a memo from Denton announcing the layoff of 19 of the 133 editorial positions at Gawker Media.

Spin-off Sites

In late 2002, Gawker's first sister site Gizmodo was launched as a technology news blog under the editorship of Engadget cofounder Peter Rojas. In November 2003, the sex-oriented blog Fleshbot was launched. In 2004, Denton launched the left-leaning political blog Wonkette, the celebrity gossip blog Defamer, the news aggregator blog Kinja, the car culture blog Jalopnik and the videogame blog Kotaku. In 2005, geek lifestyle blog Lifehacker and the sports news blog Deadspin were launched. In January 2008, the sci-fi blog io9 was launched. According to Wikipedia,[5] Gawker Media sold the sites Idolator, Gridskipper and Wonkette on April 14th, 2008.

Gnosis Hack

All of the blog network's source code and over one million of Gawker Media's commenter accounts were released by the hacker group Gnosis on December 11th, 2010. On December 13th, the computer security blog Naked Security[35] reported that spammers had compromised "hundreds of thousands" of accounts on Twitter to promote an acai berry diet (shown below). The spam messages were posted by accounts that had been using the same password for both Gawker and Twitter.


: I lost 9lbs using acai! RT This! http://-, com 20 minutes ago via web Reply View Tweet : Lost 10lbs using acai berry! RT This! http://com 20 minutes ago via web Reply View Tweet I lost 9lbs using acai! RT This! http:/.! Com 20 minutes ago via web Reply View Tweet

Homepage Redesigns

On February 7th, 2011, all of the blogs in the Gawker Media network were updated with a new design and layout (shown below, right). The same day, the news blog Mediaite[37] published a post titled "Working Out the Glitches: How Are You Feeling About Gawker's Redesign?", which quoted several criticisms of the design by notable figures in the tech industry.


S OFTENA WKER ANEW YORK MORE-THAN-DAILY Paris Hilton sick of NYC, moving to LA in fow months 30 essentials halleng At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. Got a tip for us on the new thing? Send it to edror20amket.com. The lower Manhattan, the better Levin, go hang yourself I hadn't realized Tina Brown former editor of the New Yorker and Talk -had started her New York diary for the Times of London. It stumbles along charmingly enough, until Tina gets onto the subject of Jerry Levin -the corporate wraith she spotted haunting the Four Seasons Restaurant the other day Segue into a vicious email from Robert Hughes, Time's art critic, which Tina leaks. The email is to Levin. entertainment links DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW FOOTBALL? Zagat THEN TAKE OUR CHALLENGE Fandanac How can I convey to you the disgust which your name awakens in me? The merger with Warner was a catastrophe. But the hitherto unimagined stupidity, the blind arrogance of your deal with Case simply beggars description, How can you face yourself knowing how much history, value and savings you have thrown away on your mad, ignorant attempt to merge with a wretched dial-up ISP? I don't know what advice Nsdav you have to offer, but I have some for you. Buy some rope, go out the back, find a tree and hang yourself. If you had any Howard Stem honour you would. Reuters Moncove Sotham Gazette AP Newstracker 010wins Columbia PICK PRO OR COLLEGE GAMES FOR A CHANCE AT GREAT PRIZES Paris Hilton sick of NYC, moving to LA in a few months At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. Levin, go hang yourself I hadn't realized Tina Brown former editor of the New Yorker and Talk -had started her New York diary for the Times of London. It stumbles along charmingly enough, until Tina gets onto the subject of Jerry Levin the corpo rate wraith she spotted haunting the Four Seasons Restau- rant the other day. Segue into a vicious email from Robert Hughes, Time's art critic, which Tina leaks. The email is to Levin.:  :   GAWKER treatment. tints GET THIS LOOK. click here SEPHORA.COM O2 Paris Hilton sick of NYC, moving to LA in a fow 30 months Got a tip for us on the new thing? Send it to editor gawker.com. The lower Manhattan, the At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet dita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. Source: Nonstop Paris to LA (Page Six) ▼ Zanet 5:30pm, Gossip Levin, go hang yourself I hadn't realized Tina Brown .. former editor of the New Yorker and Talk had started her New York diary for the Times of London. It stumbles along charmingly enough, until Tina gets onto the subject of Jerry Levin the corporate wraith she spotted haunting the Four Seasons Restaurant the other day Segue into a vicious email from Robert Hughes, Time's art critic, which Tina leaks. The email is to Levin. How can I convey to you the disgust which your name awakens in me? The merger with Warner was a catastrophe But the hitherto unimagined stupidity, the blind arrogance of your deal with Case simply beggars description, How can you face yourself knowing how much history, value and savings you have thrown away on your mad, ignorant attempt to merge with a wretched dial-up ISP? I don't know what advice you have to offer, but I have some for you. Buy some rope, go out the back, find a tree and hang yourself. If you had any honour you would Source: Lunching in New York (Tina Brown) 5:30pm, Gossip SEPO2 Paris Hilton sick of NYC, moving to LA in a few 29 months At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, con- setetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua (Page Six) 5:30pm, Gossip Levin, go hang yourself I hadn't realized Tina Brown .. former editor of the New Yorker  :   GAWEE VALLEYWAG cityfile ogin e Search Party CrasherIs It Possible to Another Opah Married GOP Who Stole Paris Make Dangerous Lover Comes Congressman Hilton's Birthday Reporting Safe? Forward Cake Becomes Folk Hero gossip media AOL Buys Huffington Post for $3a5 Million breaking huffingtonpost Sent Sexy Pictures to reportersinperil exclusive oprahwinfrey Craigslist Babe exclusive scandal ■i@浅W7 K 11 RI EA indude # bofore tag: ips, estalker, #crosstalk, gawkerdating, elc Got a tip fr us? Share x55%people New York, 12:03 PM Fri Feb 18 47 posts in the last 24 Country Folks Don't Get Much Internet Country living is dial-up internet living, in America! More 11.34 AM By Hamilton Nolan Get Gawker in your inbox email address Join GAWKER TEAM 11:18 AM 5,148 à By Maureen O'Connor 5 Party Crasher Who Stole Paris Hilton's Birthday Cake Becomes Folk Hero A man says he stole Paris Hilton's fancy birthday cake, and offers photographie proof. Lindsay Lohan goes clubbing, then home with Samantha Ronson Ashlee Simpson parties until sunrise with sk8er bois TCIFriday gossip. Mare Tip Your Editors ips@gawker.com Tipline: 646-214-813 Editor-in-Chist Remy Stem Email | Twitter o Steve Jobs, MarkZuckerberg Wined and Dined by Obama 117 AM 290 15O Hamilton Nolan Email I Twitter:  :   043 O FRIDAY AUGUST 13, 8:20AM When Flight Attendants Get Mad, They LATESTON GAWKER Fart In Your Face STABNNGS-Times Square Tin Man' Stabs Ticket Seler with Screwdriver MOST POPELAR STORY In the wake of Steven Slater immortalieing imself with spectacular dis attendant rebellion, we call our attentiee to another act ed REVENGE AND NOW SHES DEAD Britsin's dest Saoker, Auntie Winn, Dies at so2 of flight ARRESTS New York Governor David Paterson's aide David Johnson was arrested d-light attrition: "cropdusting. and charged with assault and five other when flight attendants walk down eense yestenday an airplane aisle and fart in seated passengers faces MERS Are you following Gaw ker oa Facebook? CAPTALISM-Wall Street Bonuses Are Looking What Should the P---- Flght Good Again Attendant Do Next? Steven Slater Start the Fight That Led toHis E? OPEN CAPIION- The Quest for the LowerTwo Thirds of That Guy's Shorts Continoes PRANKS ILIOBS FROMHEI scray. Ral-d Vampire Bats Attack Soo In Peruvian Vilage iLAMAZINGAMER ·L DAPIATIONS- The Office Is Going to China VIDELOH-Andenion Cooper Gts Testy Over Crazy Representatives Terroe Babies Theory SPACE If you're somewhere away feem city lights, go outside There is a meteor shower. Child Plays Dead on Your Most Google Street View,Spectacular 'I Quit'America's Most Horrifies a Nation Stories Paul Narang Is PIC OF THE NIGHT hee Minotes Later, The Guy On The Right Was Decapitated Eligible Man sS-Jennifer Aniston Totaily Burns This guy is handing his earReily by Celing Hlim a Good Dad on the 'L'train in Chicago to women for dating purposes, tipster informed us today. The guy in question is Paul Narang Dasinessman, Republican. AndJersey Shore, Week 3 eligible male. Let's meet him, shall OJECT RUNWAY Live Blogging Projeer Ranuay. Share Your Mest Spectaculr e Quit Stories Coogler's Creepy Deone QUITTExS P---- JetBQue Fight Albendant Just WantsHisJob Back ERSEY SHORE-LIve Bogging Week 3

On February 17th, TechCrunch[38] published an article titled "Gawker's Gulp Moment: Big Redesign is Driving People Away," featuring Quantcast data showing a large drop in traffic following the redesign. On April 20th, The Atlantic[36] published an article titled "Gawker's Traffic Numbers Are Worst Than Anyone Anticipated," which reported that the redesign had cut traffic by more than half. On February 2nd, 2012, the tech news blog The Next Web[39] published a post titled "Remember That Gawker Redesign? A Year's Worth of Data Says it Worked," reporting that the network received a 10 million increase in monthly unique visitors compared to the previous year.

Features

As of October 2012, Gawker Media is comprised of eight daily weblogs specializing in different beats: its flagship blog Gawker, sports blog Deadspin, consumer tech blog Gizmodo, videogame blog Kotaku, software blog Lifehacker, sci-fi and futurist blog io9, automobile blog Jalopnik and women's interest blog Jezebel.

Daily Content

Gawker Media's flagship blog typically publishes anywhere from 30 to 50 posts a day, covering a wide range of topics like celebrity and media industry gossip, news media criticisms and other news stories that are relevant to the New York metropolitan area. While most stories are originally written by its staff writers, it also syndicates content from the sister blogs and occasionally features various firsthand reports and tips submitted by its readers.

Gawker Stalker

Gawker Stalker is a weekly round-up of celebrity sightings in New York City submitted by readers. Since its launch in April 2003, the feature has grown into one of the most popular article topics on the site and drawn heavy criticisms for celebrating celebrity stalking. Its notoriety peaked in March 2006 with the launch of an interactive Gawker Stalker map, which provides real-time coverage of celebrity sightings on a custom Google Maps platform.


Hybrid \ \ Wood Tob Acad Map Satellite Anderson Cooper m Technica Instit 750 AVENUE OFTHE AMERICAS Mar 7th, 2006 @ 12pm Anderson Cooper practically stalked me while I was walking up 6th Ave. from 23rd to 27th. He walks briskly. He had on a blue baseball cap but his silver mane was still visible. Also shockingly visible: his chicken legs, clad in Sears-brand jeans. elsea Chelsea School / / \Saint Columba School W 26th St Institute For Mental Health Wlliam T Harmi- School CAWKER chnology E 27th St Henry School ro SUNY Onege 12 school. Baruch College W 15th S Google* School for Film

Auction

On August 15th, 2016, Gawker was placed for auction as a result of the company filing for bankruptcy after the $140 million judgement against them in a lawsuit with Hulk Hogan. That day, The New York Times[59] published an op-ed written by German-American entrepreneur Peter Thiel, who claimed to have helped fund Hogan's lawsuit because Gawker violated his privacy by outing him as a homosexual in 2007.

"In 2007, I was outed by the online gossip blog Gawker. It wasn’t so many years ago, but it was a different time: Gay men had to navigate a world that wasn’t always welcoming, and often faced difficult choices about how to live safely and with dignity. In my case, Gawker decided to make those choices for me. I had begun coming out to people I knew, and I planned to continue on my own terms. Instead, Gawker violated my privacy and cashed in on it."

Univision Acquisition

On August 16th, The New York Times[58] reported that the American media company Univision, best known for its Spanish language television network, won the auction with a bid of $135 million and would be acquiring all seven Gawker sites. The article included a statement by Denton, who revealed that the company's staff would remain employed under the new owners:

"I am pleased that our employees are protected and will continue their work under new ownership -- disentangled from the legal campaign against the company. We could not have picked an acquirer more devoted to vibrant journalism."

On August 17th, Gawker[60] published an article titled "Fate of Gawker.com Remains Unclear After Univision Acquisition of Gawker Media," reporting that Univision had not determined if it would be taking the site Gawker.com along with the other Gawker Media properties.

Closure of Gawker.com

On August 18th, 2016, Gawker[61] published an article announcing that their flagship site Gawker.com would be shutting down the following week, while the other six Gawker Media websites would remain active under Univision. That day, articles about the closing reached the front page of the /r/news,[71] /r/technology[63] /r/KotakuInAction[72] and /r/upliftingnews[64] subreddits. Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan tweeted "They messed with the wrong guy brother," which gained over 11,300 likes and 8,300 retweets in five days.[62] Additionally, the @FreedomofPress[78] Twitter feed condemned German-American entrepreneur Peter Thiel for destroying the site (shown below, right).


Hulk Hogan @HulkHogan They messed with the wrong guy brother HH 3:32 PM - 18 Aug 2016 わ 8.320 p 11,365 Freedom of the Press @FreedomofPress Follow Peter Thiel has successfully created a blueprint for billionaires to destroy any news org they don't like. Awful. gawker.com/gawker-com-to-.. 1:17 PM - 18 Aug 2016 573間431

Also on August 18th, The Young Turks uploaded an episode titled "Gawker Shuts Down After Devastating Lawsuit" to YouTube (shown below, left). In the coming days, several news sites published retrospective articles about the news site in lieu of its imminent closing, including USA Today,[65] Slate,[66] NBC News[67] and RT.[68] On August 19th, NY Mag[73] published an article by former Gawker Editor-In-Chief Max Read titled "Did I Kill Gawker? Or was it Nick Denton? Hulk Hogan? Peter Thiel? Or the internet?", which claimed that Gamergaters were among the most effective enemies Gawker had made over the years. Meanwhile, YouTuber Chris Ray Gun uploaded a parody of the 1995 punk song "Stuart and the Avenue" by Green Day titled "Gawker is Dead" (shown below, right).



On August 21st, Gawker[69] published an article by staff writer Josh Laurito titled "Closing the Book on Gawker.com," noting that over 202,000 posts had been published on the site, written by over 420 different "people, groups and bots." On August 22nd, Gawker[75] published an article titled "Gawker Was Murdered by Gaslight," accusing Peter Thiel of using his money and influence to end the blog. Shortly after, co-founder of the conservative news site The Federalist posted a reworded portion of the article, gathering upwards of 2,600 likes and 1,900 retweets in the first 24 hours (shown below).[77]


Sean Davis @seanmdav Follow I did @Gawker a solid and fact-checked its latest foray into revisionist fabulism gawker.com/gawker-was-mur clickable Gawker always said it was in the business of publishing e stories. Here unanimous iury is one last true story: You live in a country where a bilionaire can put'a smut farm tun by sociopaths bil u udge, jury, and ade cant凞fllatacourtndividual writer court ut of business. A can pick off an individual writer (an attorney defended you in court) and leave that person penniless your editor testified under oath that he'd publish a video of a 4-year-old being r---- If ou need to fire that editor and immediately beg for forgiveness peoplé who publish illegally filmed private sex tapes The law will not protect yei. There is no freedom in this world but power and money RETWEETS LIKES 1,964 2,700 4:49 PM - 22 Aug 2016

That same day, Gawker[74] published it's final farewell post by founder and CEO Nick Dention titled "How Things Work," which discussed the history and end of the blog. Meanwhile, author Ryan Holiday published an article on Medium,[70] praising the closing of Gawker.com and calling for the end of the conservative news site Breitbart as well. Additionally, the blog Advertising Age[76] published an article titled "Never Mind Peter Thiel. Gawker Killed Itself," which argued that Gawker ultimately caused its own demise. Also on August 22nd, The Rolling Stone[79] published an article titled "Legacy of Snark: Why Gawker Mattered," claiming that "all the wrong people" were celebrating the website's closure.

Thiel's Court Filing

On November 22nd, 2017, the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP filed a federal complaint[80] on behalf of Peter Thiel against their client's exclusion from the sale of Gawker.com, along with the site's social media channels and 14-year archive. In the complaint, Thiel's lawyers took issue with plan administrator William Holden's marketing of the site using its possible legal dispute with Thiel as a selling point. That day, BuzzFeed[81] published an article titled "Peter Thiel May Be Looking to Buy Gawker.com," which reported that some were speculating Thiel could purchase the site in order to delete its entire archive.

Controversies

Violentacrez and Adrian Chen

On October 10th, 2012, Redditor violentacrez, known for moderating more than 400 subreddits[6] including the banned /r/Jailbait, deleted his account after posting a now-removed goodbye thread[7] in his personal subreddit. Soon after, the link to his farewell was shared in /r/SubredditDrama[8], where it received 620 points and nearly 500 comments. Around the same time, /r/violentacrez was taken over by several new users, affiliating themselves with the Something Awful forums and /r/ShitRedditSays, reclaiming it as a place to smoke out users who post pedophilia-related commentary.


violentacrez subscribe 1,472 readers 0-74 users here now BY ORDER OF SOMETHING AWFUL: This sub has been re-dedicated to calling out the pedophiles and p--- apologists on reddit. Post in mensrights? Thats nice, benned. created by [deleted] a community for 3 years

Later the same day, Redditor POTATO_IN_MY_ANUS[9] submitted a self post[10] to SubredditDrama alleging that violentacrez had been doxed by Gawker writer Adrian Chen, who planned to reveal the user's personal information in an upcoming story after he had been added as a moderator to /r/CreepShots, a subreddit where users shared scandalous photos of women they had taken without the subject's knowledge. In chat logs posted by POTATO_IN_MY_ANUS, violentacrez stated that he was concerned a Reddit administrator provided Chen with his real name and a personal photo. On October 5th, violentacrez offered to delete his account in exchange for Gawker to not go to press with the information and they declined.


-] from [deleted] sent 5 days ago There's a lot with my real name on it. permalink report block user mark unread reply ] to violentacrez sent 5 days ago If you were demodded from Creepshots, would that stop the article from being published? permalink reply C- from [deleted] sent 5 days ago I doubt it. Hell, I offered to delete my entire account, no go. permalink report block user mark unread reply

The same day, Redditor CreeperComforts[11] reportedly received a private message[12] (shown below) from a user named HelloJK stating that they knew the users identity and he had 48 hours to shut down /r/CreepShots. This message came around the same time Jezebel[13] published an article about the Predditors[14] Tumblr which launched in September 2012 to seek out public personal information about /r/CreepShots posters. Though the doxing of violentacres and CreeperComforts were not explicitly related, the timing led many commenters[15] to believe these events were tied together. However, a /r/ShitRedditSays post subtitled "The Admins Sure Doxxed The Ball On This One[16] may allude to the subreddit being involved in finding CreeperComforts' identity.


- from sent 3 hours ago I'm going to have to bow to their requests. Sorry, not worth the trouble It's over. from HelloJK sent 4 hours ago Hello Please don't go to the trouble of denying your identity. We have archived a great deal of evidence to confirm it. Today you have a choice between two options. Option 1 *Shut down r/creepshots. *Unmod all the other moderators. *Delete every submission. *Delete your own creepshots from Imgur. *Leave only one post up: a public apology from you to the women of Toronto and to women in general for what you've been doing. The apology should acknowledge that r/creepshots is a vile subreddit because it normalizes perverted behavior. *After a day or so, make this account moderator. Make the subreddit private. Remove yourself and delete the CreeperComforts account. *Never post creepy pictures online again. *Just don't take creepy pictures anymore Option 2. Use your imagination We advise you to choose option 1. Clean up your mess, change your behaviour, and move on with your life. You have 48 hours to decide. permalink report block user mark unread reply

In response to these two stories, Redditor karmanaut[17] suggested to the private DefaultMods subreddit[18] that all moderators temporarily ban links from Gawker network sites to persuade them away from personal attacks on moderators. Multiple subreddits[19] cooperated including /r/Politics[20], /r/MensRights[21], /r/WoW[22] (World of Warcraft), /r/Borderlands[23] and /r/Cinemagraphs[24], among others. On the other hand, /r/CircleJerk[25] banned any link that was not from the Gawker network. Adrian Chen responded by tweeting[26] that Reddit is banned from linking to his blog posts, threatening Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedowns. On October 11th, several news media sites picked up on the story including The Daily Dot[27], Politico[28], BetaBeat[29], the Atlantic Wire[30], the New Statesman[31] and New York Magazine.[32]


comments :Ban on Gawker Links v (self, defaultmods) 18 |submitted 10 hours ago by kann an aut search reddit You may have seen recently that Violentacrez deleted his account due to blackmail threats from this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2012 Adrian Chen over at Gawker. If you haven't seen it, there is more information here. Chen was fishing around reddit for VA's personal information and planning to publish a story with all of his info. As a mod who often makes controversial decisions, I am extremely concerned about the precedent that this would set. It would basically legitimize personal attacks against moderators. shortlink: http: //redd. it/119oyt I would like to restrict all posts from gawker (and affiliated sites) in hopes of persuading them to not to resort to such despicable tactics here is a list of their submissions to Reddit points (90% like it) 20 up votes 2 down votes http://www.reddit.com/domain/jezebel.com/new/121 http://www.reddit.com/domain/jalopnik.com/new/13] http://www.reddit.com/domain/kotaku.com/new/(41 http://www.reddit.com/domain/gizmodo.com/new/同 http://www.reddit.com/domain/gawker.com/new/l6] http://www.reddit.com/domain/lifehacker.com/new/171 http://www.reddit.com/domain/deadspin.com/new/l8] http://www.reddit.com/domain/io9.com/new/(91 If you would like to enlist your subreddit's help with this issue, please discuss it with your fellow moderators. Presenting a (mostly) united front is the only way to make them actually care about d the issue This would be fairly simple to accomplish by setting the automoderator to blacklist submissionsi from these sites; Deimorz would be the user to contact about setting up that bot Please let me know if I can help or convince you in any way uTOr access or ms karm a naut

Tarantino Script Leak

On January 11th, 2014, Hollywood news site Deadline[45] picked up on a rumor that Quentin Tarantino has completed a draft of a script for his Western follow-up to Django: Unchained, tentatively titled The Hateful Eight, and begun the feedback process with a handful of actors. Then on January 21st, Deadline[42] reported that the director has decided to shelve the project altogether after learning that his script was leaked online by an unknown source. Outraged, Tarantino named several suspect actors whom he had shared the script with and expressed no desire to continue onward with the project:


"I'm going to publish it, and that's it for now. I give it out to six people, and if I can't trust them to that degree, then I have no desire to make it. I'll publish it. I'm done. I'll move on to the next thing. I've got 10 more where that came from.
[43]

On January 23rd, Gawker featured a link to a copy of Tarantino's 146-page leaked script in a post titled “Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script,” which brought in nearly 250,000 views in less than a week. A few days later, on January 27th, The Hollywood Reporter[46] broke the news that Tarantino has filed a copyright lawsuit against Gawker for publishing a link to the leaked script. According to the complaint submitted to the U.S. District Court in California, Gawker allegedly facilitated the illegal dissemination of Tarantino's unproduced work by knowingly linking to the leaked file and refusing to remove the post after repeat demands and submissions of DMCA notices. Later that same day, Gawker responded to the director's legal challenge with a lengthy post speculating various reasons and motives behind Tarantino's legal action, as well as why it believes his complaints won't likely hold in court from a legal perspective, since Gawker was not the initial source of the leak. The post ended with the quote "we'll be fighting this one."

Condé Nast CFO Outing

On July 16th, 2015, Gawker[47] published a story by staff writer Jordan Sargent featuring an alleged text conversation between a homosexual adult film star and an executive at the publishing company Condé Nast, suggesting that the actor was being offered $2,500 for sex. Many criticized Gawker for outing of a gay man who happened to work at a rival company. On the following day, Nick Denton had the article removed from the website. On July 20th, Gawker's executive edtior Tommy Craggs and editor-in-chief Max Read resigned from the company, arguing that editorial decisions should only be made by editorial staff.

Hulk Hogan's Sex Tape Scandal

In April 2012, a 30-minute sexually explicit video in which former professional wrestler Terry Gene Bollea, better known by his stage name Hulk Hogan, is shown engaging in sexual intercourse with Heather Clem, the wife of radio personality Todd Clem, engage in sexual intercourse began circulating online. On October 4th, Gawker released a one-minute clip from the video titled “Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed is Not Safe For Work but Watch it Anyway" (shown below).


GAWKER Even for a Minute, Watching Hulk Hogan Have Sex in a Canopy Bed is Not Safe For Work but Watch it Anyway 13598 3 AJ. Daulerio Filed to: NSFW 10/04/12 2:15pm Update: The video posted here has been removed pending litigation. See here for details. If you'd like to watch it elsewhere, you may do so here. A Judge Told Us to Take Down Our Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Post. We Won't. Yesterday the Hon. Pamela A.M. Campbell, a circuit court judge in Pinellas County, Fla., issued an... Read more

On April 24th, 2013, Bollea sued Gawker for the post, and demanded they take the tape down. The site initially refused, citing their first amendment rights as journalists in the public interest, but a judge later required them to remove it. On July 6th, 2015, a civil trial against Gawker Media convened in Florida. On March 18th, 2016, a verdict was delivered awarding Bollea $55 million in compensatory damages and $60 million for emotional distress.

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing

On June 10th, 2016, Gawker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a judge denied the company's request for a stay pending the verdict of an ongoing appeal, demanding they provide a $50 million bond.



That day, Recode[48] reported that IGN's parent company Ziff Davis entered a $100 million binding offer to purchase the Gawker Media properties Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, Jezebel and Gawker. Meanwhile, various posts about the bankruptcy filing were submitted to the /r/gaming,[50] /r/The_Donald,[51] /r/news,[52] /r/SquaredCircle[53] and /r/KotakuInAction[49] subreddits, where many viewers posted celebratory GIFs featuring Hulk Hogan (shown below). In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the story, including Recode,[54] The Wall Street Journal,[55] The New York Times[56] and The Daily Beast.[57]



Traffic

Gawker received more than 20,000 visitors per day and 500,000 page views per month by May of 2003.[3] In November that year, Denton reported that the site was receiving 30,000 visitors per day and over one million page views per month. By December 3rd, 2007, the site was averaging ten million page views per month. In a memo published by Valleywag[33] in October of 2008, Denton reported that Gawker received over 274 million pageviews for September that year.

Search Interest

External References

[1] The Week – Gawker's blog empire 5 highlights from The New Yorker story

[2] New Yorker – SEARCH AND DESTROY

[3] N Plus One – Gawker 2002–2007

[4] New York Times – A New York State of Blog

[5] Wikipedia – Gawker Media

[6] Reddit (cache) – Reddits violentacrez moderated as of 10/01/12

[7] Reddit – Well, guys, my work here has come to an end (invite needed)

[8] Reddit – Violentacrez, reddit pimp and source of much drama, has deleted his account.

[9] Reddit – Overview for POTATO_IN_MY_ANUS (unavailable)

[10] Reddit – The real reason why Violentacrez deleted his account: Adrian Chen, Gawker Media, Creepshots, PM's and real-life doxxing.

[11] Reddit (via Wayback Machine) – Overview for CreeperComforts

[12] Reddit – /r/creepshots has been removed due to doxxing of the main mod.

[13] Jezebel – How to Shut Down Reddit’s CreepShots Once and for All: Name Names

[14] Tumblr – Predditors (unavailable)

[15] Reddit – Comment thread comparing the two doxxing incidents

[16] Reddit – [META][IMPORTANT] /r/creepshots mod blackmailed into shutting down the sub a.k.a. The Admins Sure Doxxed The Ball On This One

[17] Reddit – Overview for karmanaut

[18] Reddit – /u/karmanaut behind the gawker domain bans (invite needed)

[19] Reddit – /r/BanGawker (invite needed)

[20] Reddit – An announcement about Gawker links in /r/politics

[21] Reddit – The follow domains will no longer be allowed to post in /r/MensRights.

[22] Reddit – r/WoW Announcement: Kotaku may no longer be submitted to this subreddit.

[23] Reddit – [Announcement] Regarding Gawker Media submissions

[24] Reddit – /rCinemagraphs announcement: Gawker media links may no longer be submitted to this subreddit

[25] Reddit – An announcement about Gawker links in /r/circlejerk

[26] Twitter – @AdrianChen's ban

[27] Daily Dot – Redditors declare war on Gawker Media

[28] Politico – Internet wars: Reddit v. Gawker

[29] BetaBeat (via Wayback Machine) – Reddit Readies for Brewing ‘Inter-Website War’; Major Subreddits Ban Links to Gawker Media

[30] Atlantic Wire – Redditors Stand Up to Gawker to Protect Child Pornography

[31] New Statesman – Reddit blocks Gawker in defence of its right to be really, really creepy

[32] New York Magazine – Reddit Blacklists Gawker in Defense of Creepy Pictures

[33] Valley Wag (via Wayback Machine) – Valleywag cuts 60 percent of staff

[34] New York Times – Valleywag to Fold Into Gawker.com

[35] Naked Security – Acai Berry spam attack connected with Gawker password hack, says Twitter

[36] The Atlantic – Gawker's Traffic Numbers Are Worse Than Anyone Anticipated

[37] Mediaite – How Are You Feeling About Gawker’s Redesign?

[38] Tech Crunch – Big Redesign Is Driving People Away

[39] The Next Web – Remember that Gawker redesign? A year’s worth of data says it worked

[40] Defamer – Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script

[41] AnonFiles – Quentin Tarantino Script

[42] Deadline – Quentin Tarantino Shelves ‘The Hateful Eight’ After Betrayal Results In Script Leak

[43] Defamer – ​Quentin Tarantino Throws Temper Tantrum After Script Leak

[44] Gawker – ​Quentin Tarantino Sues Gawker Over Link to Script He Wants Online

[45] Deadline – Quentin Tarantino’s New Script: Creating Buzz, And Another Turn For Bruce Dern?

[46] Hollywood Reporter – Quentin Tarantino Suing Gawker Over Leaked 'Hateful Eight' Script

[47] Gawker – Conde Nasts CFO tried to pay

[48] Recode – Heres what Ziff Davis has to say about its plans to buy Gawker Media

[49] Reddit – Gawker Files for Bankruptcy

[50] Reddit – Kotakus parent company Gawker Media files for bankruptcy

[51] Reddit – Gawker Files foor Bankruptcy

[52] Reddit – Gawker Has Filed for Bankruptcy

[53] Reddit – Gawker Media files for bankruptcy

[54] Recode (Vox) – Gawker files for bankruptcy

[55] The Wall Street Journal – Gawker Files for Bankruptcy

[56] The New York Times – Gawker Filing for Bankruptcy

[57] The Daily Beast – Gawker Files for Bankruptcy

[58] The New York Times – Gawker Is Said to Be Sold to Univision in a $135 Million Bid

[59] The New York Times – The Online Privacy Debate Won’t End With Gawker

[60] Gawker – Fate of Gawker.com remains unclear

[61] Gawker – Gawker to End Operations Next Week

[62] Twitter – @HulkHogan

[63] Reddit – Gawkercom to End Operations Next Week

[64] Reddit – Gawker to end operations next week

[65] USA Today – Five of Gawkers most controversial stories

[66] Slate – Gawker Is Dead

[67] NBC News – Stalking Scientology and Sex

[68] RT – Todays gossip tomorrows memories

[69] Gawker – Closing the Book on Gawkercom

[70] Medium- Gawker’s Era Is Over (unavailable)

[71] Reddit – Gawker to end operations next week

[72] Reddit – Gawker to End Opeations Next Week

[73] NY Mag – Did I Kill Gawker?

[74] Gawker – How Things Work

[75] Gawker – Gawker Was Murdered by Gaslight

[76] AdAge – Never Mind Peter Thiel Gawker Killed Itself

[77] Twitter – @seanmdav

[78] Twitter- @FreedomofPress

[79] Rolling Stone – Legacy of Snark

[80] DocumentCloud – Thiel's Objection

[81] BuzzFeed – Peter Thiel May Be Looking To Buy Gawkercom

Recent Videos 5 total

Recent Images 46 total



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