gawker

On the same day that he published a detailed missive about his dire predictions for the online ad market, Gawker Media overlord Nick Denton made public his decision to shut down Valleywag, the blog network's Silicon Valley gossip title. Valleywag was launched early in 2006.

Valleywag editor Owen Thomas will have his job folded into a column on the Gawker.com flagship title, a gossip blog focused primarily on the New York media industry. Denton explained in an e-mail to CNET News that Thomas will remain full-time and that the Valleywag brand (as well as Valleywag.com) will stay … Read more

The financial crisis strikes again: Successful New York-based blog network Gawker Media will be laying off 19 of its 133 editorial staffers, according to an internal e-mail from publisher Nick Denton. The company will be additionally suspending its bonus payments to writers and editors, but will be increasing their base pay and making some strategic hires at the company's most successful blogs.

"With the savings, we are increasing base pay and hiring 10 new people on the most commercially successful Gawker sites," Denton wrote in the e-mail. "But I know that's scant consolation for the … Read more

Welcome to the working week! We're back after a very relaxing Labor Day Weekend. We welcome Natali back to the office and catch up on some political news. Don't fret, we mostly just make fun of Palin's daughter's redneck boyfriend. Other stories from today include MySpace suckage, CraigsList prostitution busts, an Amy Winehouse mental health update, and a Justin PSYu Foundation report!

After an extended weekend, it's usually difficult to drag yourself back into the office, but it's easy when there's so much to talk about! First things first: how come nobody told … Read more

On the show today: Guest Alex Green shows us his Web site "GET OVER IT", Space Beer T-shirts, 404 Dark Knight Meetup Wrap-up, Pussy Natural Energy Drink, Monster of Montauk, and Seth Rogan on the pot.

Last night's 404 meet up to see the Dark Knight was a resounding success! Our buddies showed up well before the movie and we chewed the fat for awhile. Big thanks and much appreciation goes out to Issac and Matt (the Intern) for dropping by to say hi. We missed you in the theater dudes! No surprise or complaint here, but … Read more

This post was updated at 8:46 a.m. PDT.

New York blog czar Nick Denton, founder and publisher of Gawker Media, is selling three of the new-media company's properties: Idolator, Gridskipper, and Wonkette.

In an internal e-mail obtained by CNET News.com, Denton explained the sale: "To be blunt: they each had their editorial successes; but someone else will have better luck selling the advertising than we did."

When asked via instant message to comment on prices, Denton replied with "Nope!"

Music blog Idolator will be sold to Buzznet, the pop culture social-media site … Read more

In the tech world at large, Gawker Media video producer Richard Blakeley is better known for getting kicked out of events than organizing them himself--he's the guy who was served a lifetime ban from the Consumer Electronics Show after running around shutting off displays.

Around New York, however, people tend to regard Blakeley as a good-natured Randy Quaid lookalike rather than a controversial hardware prankster. So when he announced that he was kick-starting a series of monthly get-togethers called "Media Meshing," people jumped on the bandwagon. The inaugural event was held on Thursday night at a bar … Read more

The Britney-and-Brangelina crowd may shed a tear (or not): Gawker reported Thursday that the New York Post has closed down PageSix.com, the online arm of its famed gossip page, after just three months in business.

Citing tough economic conditions, PageSix.com Senior Vice President Jennifer Jehn confirmed the shutdown to Gawker's Nick Denton. "Given the difficulty in the economy, it was not the right time for this launch," Jehn reportedly said, adding that the decision would be accompanied by 18 layoffs.

Denton also pointed out that PageSix.com's traffic didn't exactly take off. Here'… Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--If you run a social media site, from a blog to a virtual world to a network like Facebook, you're going to have to deal with angry users, and that's a fact of life.

Such was the theme of the discussion at a South by Southwest Interactive panel on Saturday afternoon called "Social Network Coups: The Users are Revolting."

The all-female panel (a rarity in the tech world!) was moderated by Annalee Newitz, editor of the Gawker Media-owned science fiction blog IO9.com, and consisted of Jessamyn West of MetaFilter, Gina Trapani of fellow Gawker … Read more

Now this is kind of cool. Chris Mohney, editor of the Gawker Media travel blog Gridskipper, has compiled a guide to "New York blogger bars," a list of watering holes where members of the digital press have been known to go and blow their meager salaries on booze.

Like the blog's earlier guide to "Nerdy New York," it's fairly accurate. I've been to the majority of establishments on the list, and typically each visit was in the company of other bloggers and new-media journalists. (Believe it or not, I do hang out with … Read more