When it rains it pours. Which means that when it's sunny and boring, you sometimes get sun showers. Two things to splash around in for a second:
1) Gawker posted something which made us laugh.
2) The entire senior editor staff and a few art folks were fired from the Village Voice.
The black list reads:
Darren Reidy
Ed Park
Jorge Morales
Elizabeth Zimmer
Bob Christgau
Minh Uong
LD Beghtol
Tina Zimmer
We really wish these people had been more important so we would have something to say about them. Then again, if that were the case …. well, then it's likely we wouldn't even be in this predicament.
The Dean is Dead [Gawker]
Masthead [Village Voice]
• The New York Times' Kurt Eichenwald needed therapy as a result of talking to children who had been molested. Yeah. That's tough. Almost as tough, as, you know, being victimized by a pedophile. [OTM]
• Hotel Chatter solves the case of the dirty brown shirt man blowing lines at the Soho Grand. Oh, Adrian Grenier. If only we had shown up in time to save you. [Hotel Chatter]
• We can't wait for Sean Preston's first sentence, "Mommy, I can see your thong." [Mollygood]
• Gawker shocks us by returning to the media beat. [Gawker]
• Cosmo Girl! is much more hip than regular TV. They are launching Internet TV. Like, fabulous! [WWD]
Well, we guess it was inevitable. How Jim Romenesko and Mediabistro had the news before we did may be a sign that we are among the reasons Sploid wasn't sold off. We, like most people, didn't really read the site, though we did sort of take comfort in knowing it was there. And when Nick Denton and Lockhart Steele announced last month that Sploid was on the buy or bust block, we sort of had a feeling the era would quickly be ending.
Just like YouTube, Lebanon, Joe Lieberman, newspaper circulation and airline travel, Sploid is being demolished.
It is a great victory for bullshit peddlers everywhere … if they had any idea Sploid existed.
And though we weren't the greatest fans, the death of a blog is always a bit more heart wrenching than the death of a mag. Even when it's Denton's. Do yourself a favor and read the re-cap of Sploid, the blog without a blog, just so you don't look like a moron when you're at a party and the family is all gathered around spewing weird words like Sicha and Chicago.
It's a very educational essay. For instance, we just learned that their demise stemmed from week one, when they were compared to the the Drudge Report.
Goodbye Forever [Sploid via Mediabistro]
We were really into this New York magazine piece today about how New Yorkers are supposed to pretend they don't care about talking to celebs. We especially appreciated the anecdote about a regular Joe whose kid just happened to start playing with Conan O'Brien's kid in the sandbox. (Do they really still have sandboxes?) Well, like we were saying, we were really enjoying this article … until we hit the Gawker Stalker coverage.
No offense to the Gawks, but for New York to start covering the Stalker map now after CNN and George Clooney and everyone else under the sun have already had full out spoon-in-the-mouth spasms over it — let's just say it's a little disappointing.
Though, we did like their little paparazzi interviews and the map they put together themselves of "where to spot a celeb." They even tell you where you can find "nobody cares about me" celebs like Sara Jessica Parker and Julianne Moore. Oh, and speaking of Moore, she was also quoted on Page Six today:
Moore also says she prefers life in New York. "There's less pressure in New York. Nobody bothers me there. It's not a one-industry town."
Well, nobody bothers her yet. But New York seems to be doing everything in its power to put a stop to that immediately.
White Knuckles [Page Six]
Star Map [New York Magazine]
We knew it wouldn't take too long for someone to scoop up high profile former Gawker editor Jesse Oxfeld. It seems only natural that after disceting media and culture for the New York gossip blog, a magazine like, uh, New York, would grab him up.
With this week's byline serving as an indication, the New York Observer confirms Oxfeld will be joining the developing web team over at NYM.
"I'm hugely excited for it," said Oxfeld by phone today. "That's not spin or a line. It's a magazine that I've always wanted to work for."
"I've known a lot of folks at New York magazine for a long time," he said. "In fact, I was at July 4th fireworks at a New York staffer's place. That's where I met Ben Williams, who is running their web project."
Just goes to show, it really is right place, right time, right friends with summer houses … seriously, though, we're happy for Oxfeld. We've sorely missed his particular brand of subtle humor and have no idea what's happening with Radar since he's been gone from the Internet bubble.
Jesse Oxfeld to New York Magazine [Michael Calderone, The Media Mob]
• Donald Trump's magazine might not be workin' out so well. Though, in light of claims that his good friend Jeffrey Esptein is a pedophile rapist, a little non-mag launch doesn't look so bad. [NYP]
• Nick Denton's employees attempt to show the world they actually are necessary. [Gawker]
• How can you have a fashion story about how cool skulls and bones are without mentioning Jared Paul Stern's clothing line? Well, no matter. JPS doesn't want any more meaningless press from the Times anyways. [ETP]
• In this video of Lindsay Lohan walking around we even get to see her for about three seconds. And that's plenty of time for her to say "fine, thank you." [X17]
• David Hasselhoff was reportedly too drunk to board a flight at London's Heathrow airport. His publicist claims that he was just sick from taking too many pills. We're sure he was probably"exhausted" as well. [TMZ, AP]
Everybody makes mistakes. Even the home to shake-downs, DUIs, and crazy emailing rants, Page Six, makes a mistake now and again. Like when they labeled Tinsely Mortimer's photo yesterday Tinsley Martinez instead. Oops!
Well, the folks over at Gawker thought it was funny (and it more or less was) to point out how wrong that "nobody deserves this kind of ethnicity." Actually, their exact quote was,
To fuck up a fancy white girl by slapping some brown on her? Oh hell no.
Of course, it was meant in jest. We're sure they didn't really mean to offend anyone other than the uppity milk-skinned people who would rather die than be called anything that ends in "ez." The problem is, the girl she's standing next to, Fabiola Beracasa isn't Italian or some other more ethnic version of white. She's Latina.
The only big glitch of their own is that Fabiola Beracasa, the glamorous girl posing with Tinsley in the picture is Spanish-speaking, Venezuelan bred society leader. Not only does she proudly bear that ethnicity, she’s powerfully climbing on our list, currently at grand #4.
Hmm, you think maybe Bercasa is one of the select few who would not only deserve but embrace "that type of ethnicity?" And one would inherently think that if Page Six couldn't fathom a high society party where a Mortimer and a Beracasa could coexist, you'd think they'd have renamed the Spanish one Berger or something.
Gawker Confuses Ethnicities [Social Rank]
• WSJ staffers furious at editorial page editor Paul Gigot for not having their backs. Though that would require a spine. [NYO]
• Martha Stewart's return to magazine's is paying off, while TV Guide's attempt at a revamp is failing miserably. How miserably? OK! mag is starting to look like a good investment. [FBNY]
• Most reporters wish they had the freedom of a Gawker Media editor. Or at least Jack Shafer does. [Slate]
• As if there needs to be a contest to determine New York's Hottest Gay Journalist. [Left Behinds]
• Nearly all of Hearst's new tenants are moved in, which means Cathie Black can wear her crown without any irony. [NYO]
• After teasing us with a homepage tab, the New York Times finally unleashes "My Times" — the RSS reader for the elitist caste. [Gawker]
What's notable about Radar's website resurrection isn't that Maer Roshan is heavily vested in ensuring you know he still exists, but that Gawker is covering it. Asks the trickle of emails this morning already destined for the Trash Bin: Isn't that fired editor Jesse Oxfeld's territory?
Popping up in yesterday's Times Corrections:
The David Carr column in Business Day last Monday about cost cuts at Gawker Media, a blogging company, erroneously included a Web site on a list of sites where editors were moved to new jobs or replaced on June 30. The changes occurred at Gawker.com, Gizmodo.com, and Gridskipper.com; no editors were moved or replaced at Wonkette.
Or, if you've been following this story, you read that as: Nick Denton's insinuation that he got rid of Wonkette's David Lat as part of his restructuring is a steaming pile of shit. Lat left of his own accord and gave notice a month previous. Then he slapped Denton across the face, huddled between Liz Spiers' thighs, and hoped for a brighter tomorrow. Carr, meanwhile, should be bitch slapped himself for eating up Denton's drivel.
Corrections [NYT]
Related: All Gawker Whacker coverage
Don't think we didn't spot Gatecrasher's footnote over the weekend:
Former Gawker.com editor Jesse Oxfeld will have a desk at Us Weekly from next week on, I hear
Expect the ink to already be drying.
New York Minute [Gatecrasher]
With nearly 1,200 of you crawling to our ballot box, the votes are in from our Gawker Whacker poll. With Nick Denton ousting Jesse Oxfeld and realigning his flagship title to have more mass appeal (and then today giving Gawker.com a pretty makeover), what did you all have to say? For starters, ya'll thought Oxfeld sucks less than Jessica Coen, though Denton seems to be getting all the real sucking action. As for most of you? You've probably already skipped this item.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part IV: Wherein A Fake Oxfeld Hunts For Jobs
Related: All Gawker Whacker coverage
Appearing yesterday evening on Craigslist, a not-so-conspicuous job hunt:
Former blog editor seeks new opportunity
Reply to: XXX@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-07-02, 5:16PM EDTEditor of Gawker.com, a very popular media blog, seeking a new opportunity. I'm an experienced writer/editor with both Internet and mainstream media experience. Please email me for more info.
Thank you.
So we asked Jesse Oxfeld: Is this yours? "ha. no. not at all. of course not." So it's a hoax? Of course. The real Jesse Oxfeld would only post a for-hire ad on Mediabistro.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part III: Where The Officials Deliver Their Missives
Related: All Gawker Whacker Coverage
So what're you waking up to this morning in the latest round of Gawker Whacker saga? Well there's David Carr's piece in the New York Times, which was posted late last night. Not much to be said about the rolling heads 'round Gawkerville – "putting two of his sites on the block, reorganizing others and laying off several people" was how he put it – with focus instead placed on Denton's new game plan, which is, to be fair, his old game plan: make money by staying current. How very Madonna. The best part of Carr's item: all-Denton, all the time, and nary an outside source — or even pretending he spoke to one. And blogs are skewed.
Elsewhere, Gawker managing editor Lockhart Steele sent out a missive to staffers, which reads in part:
More than anything, I think the moves are driven by our belief that Gawker needs to remain in a state of constant revolution. Resting on our laurels, and getting lazy, becomes easier as the company matures. Yet, so many of our titles are still in their infancy in terms of what their potential audience size, impact, and editorial could be. Look at our biggest traffic sites — Gizmodo, Gawker, Fleshbot, Defamer, Kotaku, Deadspin, Lifehacker, just for starters. Each amazing in its own way. And each capable of being two, five, ten times bigger than it is now — not just in traffic, but in influence, buzz, and significance. I'm also excited by the buzz around some of our newer titles, like Consumerist, and some ideas we have for new sites. [...]
Regarding Screenhead and Sploid: both sites have been among our favorites, and the bloggers behind them true pros. But if we're to keep our focus, we need discipline to invest more in our hits, cultivate our smaller sites with rising buzz, and develop new titles, like our forthcoming music title. And, yes, part ways with a site when it's not working out for us.
To be clear, by "focus" Lock means "minting cash like a bankrupt Argentina."Meanwhile, Denton will be posting his own Dear John Letter on his blog, which will read in part:
[I]t's easy enough to start a site; increasingly tough to attract attention. Readers tend to give new Gawker sites an initial look at the very least, and we do cross-promote. But each site ultimately stands alone, and succeeds on the uniqueness of its proposition and the quality of the items. There are no sure things.
And back on the Lower East Side, Jessica Coen starts up her first week in quite sometime without Movable Type neighbor Oxfeld. As for the notion that the site is going more mainstream, we understand "broader" is the buzz word. So when a New York Daily News features editor gets whacked, you're going to have to look somewhere else to read about it.
Lastly, let's not forget about our favorite feature, the Gawker Whacker poll.
A Blog Mogul Turns Bearish on Blogs [David Carr, NYT]
Shakeup At Gawker Media: Jesse Oxfeld Out; Shuffle Across Blogs; Two Properties Up For Sale [Rachel Sklar, ETP]
With all the news we're breaking about Jesse Oxfeld's ousting from Gawker, we thought it would only be fair to ask for your reaction. Like guests on Meet The Press, the options are few and obvious.
If you haven't a clue what any of this is about, perhaps you should read Part I and Part II of our Gawker Whacker coverage. Briefly: Gawker boss Nick Denton got rid of editor Oxfeld, but is keeping Jessica Coen on staff. Meanwhile, he's bringing on two new guys to recast the flagship title as a mainstream entertainment destination.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker: Nick Denton Fires Jesse Oxfeld, Shutters 2 Titles
Earlier: Gawker Whacker, Part II: Denton Wants Mainstream Appeal
Exclusive
Because when you begin chatting about the chattering classes, the flood gates of gossip open — which means we've already received our fair share of updates regarding Jesse Oxfeld's ousting at Gawker and Nick Denton's additional slashings. As you recall from our exclusive report earlier today, Gawker honcho Denton dismissed Oxfeld without warning on Friday. Denton, we're told is also going to close two of his titles: Screenhead (made extinct by YouTube) and Sploid (while sporting some impressive CSS, was made extinct by news junkies' continued preference for The Drudge Report and, well, YouTube).
So why is all this happening? Because Denton – who has long touted Gawker's media insider vantage point – wants to take his flagship title more mainstream (read: mainstream = more pageviews = more ad dollars). And that means there's no place for Oxfeld's endless Radar magazine updates and masthead shake up chronicling. Instead, Gawker needs new blood: enter TMFTML/Alex Balk and Gridskipper's Chris Mohney. But while Balk is taking over what's technically Oxfeld's empty Aeron, the real news is Mohney's role: top dog.
After two-plus years helming Gawker, co-editor Jessica Coen is getting a new superior to answer to. In additon to managing editor Lockhart Steele breathing down her neck, newcomer Mohney will techically be Jessica's overseer. And you can imagine how pleased she is with that back stab. (Surely Jessica squelches her tears with hosting duties for the Star channel's Looking For Stars.)
As for readers, they can likely expect an Us Weekly-ization of Gawker, sans bright yellow serif fonts. (Whether Denton will remake Mark Lisanti's Defamer as a bland Hollywood gossip sheet instead of insider studio rag is yet to be determined.)
Now, when it comes to closing Screenhead and Sploid, Denton is looking for a buyer before he's ready to shut them down. But there's a short timeline: one month. If a cheque isn't endorsed by the end of the July, both sites will go under. And so, too, will their staff: "Dong Resin" at Screenhead and Sploid's Ken Layne and Scott Ross will be out of work. And that's not all of Denton's pink slipping: Gizmodo's John Biggs – who joined Denton's stable in April 2005 after founding editor Peter Rojas defected for a future windfall at rival Engadget – is being shown the door as well. (Blogebrity says someone from Wired will be filling in.)
It's also worth noting Oxfeld is the first of Gawker's four editors to leave involuntarily. So what'd Jesse have to say about all the new revelations? "Your account is inaccurate, reckless, and defamatory. I was at most moderately hammered when I arrived at the Magician Friday night." And he has been all weekend.
And remember, there's something to look forward to tomorrow: the New York Times will have its own item about all this.
Update: Nikki Finke weighs in on her favorite email sparring partner. From her item we learn David Carr is penning the piece (where, oh where, is Kit Seelye's byline where it should be?), though if that's true, perhaps Carr should actually touch base with Oxfeld.
Earlier: Gawker Whacker: Nick Denton Fires Jesse Oxfeld, Shutters 2 Titles
Bonus: Now you can vote!
Exclusive
In the hum-drum purr of industry hirings and firings, the rise and fall of beauty editors, research associates, and even senior editors can never compare to tingling we get when it's a media reporter finding a new home. Or, as it so happens in this story, when it's a media reporter in the guillotine.
Sometime Friday, Gawker co-editor Jesse Oxfeld was informed he was no longer welcome at Nick Denton's Movable Type login screen. That's right: Oxfeld's out. Finished. Kaput. His axing came as a complete surprise to the Brill's Content-Editor & Publisher-Mediabistro vet, who, we hear, showed up "completely hammered" at The Magician on Friday night, where the typical blogger suspects (Liz Spiers, Lindsay Robertson) were gathered, to drown his sorrows. Like Bonnie Fuller, Oxfeld's contract was up at the end of June — except his wasn't resigned with a fat bonus.
Jessica Coen, meanwhile, stays on and will be joined on Monday by the editor of Denton's travel title Gridskipper, Chris Mohney – who infamously got his job by fellating Denton with Gawker-obsessed blog Gawkerist – and former anon-a-blogger Alex Balk (aka TMFTML).
Meanwhile, Denton is also said to be closing two titles from his blog stable: College Humor wannabe Screenhead and Drudge Report imitator Sploid — though we're not sure if Screenhead editor "Dong Resin" or Sploid's Ken Layne are gone too, or they'll be absorbed into Gawker's many folds. These would be the second and third blogs Denton closed, following gambling site Oddjack's sale months ago.
And for those who don't believe anything till you read it in the Times, look for an item on Monday. The only mystery yet unsolved: How Andrew Krucoff's name didn't come up in any of this.
Update: The story continues here.
Bonus: Now you can vote!
War in blogland has begun. Gawker's founding editor, Elizabeth Spiers, has snatched a blog editor from former boss Nick Denton. David Lat, who jumped at the chance to blog for Denton at Wonkette, will be joining Spiers as she expands her empire to include a law blog. (Paging Melissa Lafsky!)
Before joining Wonkette, Lat ran a little law blog of his own called Underneath Their Robes, until he was sold out by Jeffrey Toobin in the New Yorker last year. As surprised as we were that Denton picked off an outed blogger, we guess getting press without giving press is always a plus for the Gawker Media mogul.
Last week, when Gawker commented that "coporate blogger" was codename for "working for Spiers," we didn't exactly get it … but with the news that Spiers will be adding two more sites to her company (a fashion blog along with her law venture), it's all coming together. Still, can blogging really get any more corporate than the empire of Denton.
LAT PULLED [Sara James, WWD]
Earlier: Cox to leave Wonkette
As yesterday wrapped, Gawker reported that Spin editor in chief, Andy Pemberton was officially out at the mag.
As WWD predicted this morning, Andy Pemberton has been booted from his brand-new gig as Spin’s EIC … He’d produced only one issue, but, as a tipster points out, said issue “was indeed a giant shitball.†No word on a replacement.
Rumors of his booting began swirling yesterday morning, when WWD suggested that higher ups were not happy with his "first few issues" of Spin. So, where there three issues or only one? (Since Women's Wear did report he's been the EIC since February, we're going to guess he probably worked on more than one issue, but only fully produced one?)
Now that we have none of that cleared up, let's move on to what Pemberton has to say about his departure from Spin.
Oh, he says he's not actually leaving Spin, he was just going to the beach. Now we get it. The rest of this mixed up mag gossip, in which the only question we answer is "how big of a shitball is Pembo?" … after the jump.
CONTINUED »
We read Blogebrity for the same reason Kirsten Dunst reads Star. We just like to see what's happening "in the community." And to make sure nobody's talking about us. God forbid, press is like the worst.
Well, that's Nick Denton's "how to get more press" motto, anyway. And when one of his scrub employees sent this photo in of him with Jason Calacanis, we were pretty psyched.
Denton and Calacanis (Weblogs Inc. founder) should be enemies … or at least competitors. But here they are, strolling the streets of New York. The only thing we could love more would be a photo of Rupert Murdoch and Mort Zuckerman clinking glasses of scotch at Elaine's.
CAUGHT ON TAPE: Calacanis and Denton together in NYC! [Kyle Bunch, Blogebrity]
Editorial Director
