WebProNews

Toast: Gawker Media Dumps Three Blogs

Nick Denton gave Wonkette, Gridskipper, and Idolator their walking papers in paring his blog network down to an even dozen.

Paying Writers Based on Traffic

It may be a new year, but we’re still talking (well, some of us are anyway) about an old issue: namely, the idea of paying writers based on the traffic they get. The focus of the debate right now is Gawker, where Nick Denton has apparently started paying his bloggers based in part on how many views their posts get. This one has been around for awhile, but now it’s official thanks to a memo on (Gawker-owned) Valleywag.

More Blogs & Journalism Discussion

Scott Karp makes a good point in a post about Nick Denton taking the helm at Gawker again (something I also wrote about on earlier). It’s pretty much the same thing I’ve been saying over and over when I talk to companies — including media companies — about blogs and social media. Let me say it again: Blogs are just a publishing system.

Denton Himself Takes Over Gawker

According to the one-man investigative team known as Brian Stelter — formerly known as the guy behind the blog TVNewser, who beat the pants off most of the media reporters at the major dailies while he was still in school — the new editor of Gawker is none other than the founder of Gawker Media, the secretive and unpredictable Nick Denton himself. Stelter says he has it confirmed through several sources.

Douglas' Termination Memo

For those who like nothing better than a little behind-the-scenes corporate intrigue in the blogosphere, the guys over at 10 Zen Monkeys have some more deets on the sudden departure of Nick Douglas from Valleywag - where he was replaced by another guy whose initials are N.D., and whose name rhymes with Nick Denton (for an earlier installment of the Nick Douglas saga, scroll down a few posts).

Valleywag's New Look and New Focus

Nick Denton's not too pleased with the path Nick Douglas was taking Valleywag, so he's kicked him out, changed the look of the site and announced a new focus on more hard-hitting news.

10 Zen Monkeys Post About Nick Douglas

10 Zen Monkeys is out with a post chroniciling the latest in the Nick Douglas / Valleywag "change in employment" situation and they do a pretty good job giving us the story so far.

Nick Douglas Gone From Valleywag

Et tu, Nick Denton? It appears that young Nick Douglas, the brash young gossip-monger behind Valleywag, has left the building.

Gawker Moves Hint At Ad Downturn

An assortment of personnel moves and the dumping of a pair of poorly performing blogs under the Gawker Media umbrella will take place for a series of reasons, the first being a fear of an advertising downturn.