Nick Denton

Gawker Launches Open Forums - Posted October 15, 2009
Gawker Media has unveiled a new feature across its nine blogs, creating a space where readers can leave comments and initiate discussions beyond the reach of moderators. Now, Gawker's blogs have a tip submission box at the top that is as large as the blog's logo, inviting readers to submit content... [FishBowlNY]

Party Bite: Eater Celebrates Relaunch - Posted October 7, 2009
Spotted Pig owner Ken Friedman and Lockhart Steele Lockhart Steele hosted a private bash for friends and foodies on the third floor of The Spotted Pig Monday night to celebrate the relaunch of his Eater site. The attendees included Gawker crew new and old: Nick Denton, Neel Shah, Elizabeth Spiers, Foster Kamer... [FishBowlNY]

What Will The Gawker Sex Tape Lawsuit Mean For Bloggers? - Posted September 24, 2009
First there was the not so scandalous sex tape featuring a three-way romp between married celeb couple Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart and former beauty queen Kari Ann Peniche that Gawker posted online last month. Then yesterday came reports that Dane and Gayheart had filed suit against Gawker, seeking $1 million in... [FishBowlNY]

One Last Thought On Robert Novak|Newsday Rejects Ad Chastising Parent Co.|Time Inc. Buys Detroit Home|More Reaction To Reader's Digest Ch. 11 News|Is Anyone Profiting From Gawker's Threesome Video? - Posted August 18, 2009
FishbowlDC: One final thought about Robert Novak's death today: "There's no question if you walked out of here and I dropped dead, my obit would probably have [the Plame affair] in the lede." New York Times: Cablevision-owned Newsday has rejected an ad by the Tennis Channel chastising the cable provider for not... [FishBowlNY]

WaPo Writer's Gawker Experience Raises Questions Of Fair Use - Posted August 3, 2009
We feel a bit guilty blogging about this right now, fearing that it will just add fuel to the fire raging over blogs (like this one) that draw information and quotes from stories in news sources like The Washington Post. But thanks to an article in the Post this weekend, the... [FishBowlNY]

At Gawker, Traffic Graphs Only Tell Part Of The Story - Posted July 28, 2009
Yesterday, Gawker's Nick Denton boasted about the tremendous revenue growth his company had experienced during the first half of the year, despite the recession. Denton also published some graphs showing weekly traffic at his company's sites since May 2007. All of them seem to be trending up or flat throughout 2009,... [FishBowlNY]

Denton: Gawker Revenues Actually Up 45 Percent This Year - Posted July 27, 2009
Earlier this month, Gawker Media overlord Nick Denton boasted about his company's success this year, telling Nieman Journalism Lab that ad revenues were up 35 percent during the first half of 2009. The unexpected success meant Gawker could reinstate its controversial pageview bonus system. But in a blog post today, Denton... [FishBowlNY]

Gawker Media Revenues/Pageviews Up, Bitter/Sweet - Posted July 27, 2009
Felix Salmon at Reuters reports: Nick Denton says that Gawker Media's revenues were 45% higher in the first two quarters of 2009 than they were in the same period last year; he also tells me that pageviews are up 40% June-on-June. Judging by his chart, profits (revenues less expenses) hit an all-time... [FishBowlLA]

With A 35 Percent Increase In Ad Revenues, Gawker Reinstates Pageview Bonuses - Posted July 10, 2009
Last year was a tough one for Gawker Media. But as publisher Nick Denton told Nieman Journalism Lab yesterday, the first half of 2009 has been better than expected. In fact, with a 35 percent increase in ad revenue during the first six months of the year, compared to 2008, Denton... [FishBowlNY]

Friday's RTCA Dinner Wrap Up|Meredith Titles Show Ad Growth In July|Gawker's Denton Says He's Not Bored|NYT's Pogue Takes Heat For Speaker's Fee|Dumenco Continues Anti-HuffPo Campaign - Posted June 22, 2009
FishbowlDC: Coverage of the Radio & Television Correspondent's Association Dinner, including reviews of keynote speaker John Hodgman. minOnline: Four of the top five magazines showing ad sales growth in July are Meredith titles: Fitness, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal and More. Flex rounded out the top five. Washington Post: Howard Kurtz interviews Gawker's... [FishBowlNY]

Denton, Newmark, Fuller, Twitter's Dorsey And WSJ's Murray Talk Media's Future - Posted June 3, 2009
We interrupt coverage of Mediabistro Circus to bring you news of another media panel going on at New York University today as part of New York's Internet Week. I Want Media hosted a panel earlier today featuring former Star magazine editor Bonnie Fuller, Gawker chief Nick Denton, The Wall Street Journal's deputy... [FishBowlNY]

Denton, Newmark, Fuller, Twitter's Dorsey And WSJ's Murray Talk Media's Future - Posted June 3, 2009
We interrupt coverage of Mediabistro Circus to bring you news of another media panel going on at New York University today. I Want Media hosted a panel earlier today featuring former Star magazine editor Bonnie Fuller, Gawker chief Nick Denton, The Wall Street Journal's deputy managing editor Alan Murray (left), Craigslist.org... [FishBowlNY]

'True' Confession: We Talk to Ad Sales All The Time - Posted May 28, 2009
We really don't do this often -- oh, screw it: I'm not even using that blog convention of the royal 'we' for this one. It's me, managing editor Rebecca Fox, speaking on behalf of my mediabistro.com editorial colleagues in a rare fit of first-person. I'm here to tell you something I... [FishBowlNY]

'True' Confession: We Talk to Ad Sales All The Time - Posted May 28, 2009
We really don't do this often -- oh, screw it: I'm not even using that blog convention of the royal 'we' for this one. It's me, managing editor Rebecca Fox, speaking on behalf of my mediabistro.com editorial colleagues in a rare fit of first-person. I'm here to tell you something I... [FishBowlNY]

Why I Followed Andrew Sullivan to the Financial District - Posted April 21, 2009
It's sort of fitting that my last FBNY post should be about The Atlantic dinner/conversation I attended earlier this evening, which featured Michael Hirschorn and Andrew Sullivan, since this post was actually my first foray into this whole blogging thing (and remains my top Google result). The talk — the... [FishBowlNY]

Defamer About to Be Defunct - Posted February 23, 2009
Peter Kafka off AllThingsD's Media Memo brings us this scoop: Here's what should be the last step in Nick Denton's slimdown of his Gawker Media empire: The blog network is taking its LA-based Defamer site and rolling it up under its central Gawker title. The site's existing writers will leave, to be... [FishBowlLA]

Should Yahoo Buy Gawker, The New York Times? - Posted January 26, 2009
So what's in store for Yahoo? New CEO Carol Bartz will be announcing the company's first quarter results tomorrow, and all signs point towards the numbers being less than spectacular. What's a CEO to do? Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster appears to have some suggestions: Why not buy Gawker?... [FishBowlNY]

What Surprised Michael Wolff Most About Rupert Murdoch May Also Surprise You! - Posted December 10, 2008
The party for Michael Wolff's much ballyhooed official Rupert Murdoch biography The Man Who Owns the News was held last night at the stunning penthouse of Milk Studios on the West Side and, not surprisingly, attracted a whole slew of media big wigs (every style of horn-rimmed glasses appeared to be... [FishBowlNY]

Layoffs at NBC, Putting Numbers to Print's Demise - Posted December 4, 2008
There is not a lot of good news to report this morning. TVNewser is reporting that NBC will be cutting 500 jobs, or 3% of its total workforce, at all levels of the company including television, film, and parks. The first round is apparently already underway. See TVNewser... [FishBowlNY]

Which Jezebels Went Part-Time; Denton on Gawker Cuts - Posted December 2, 2008
(L-R: Megan Carpentier, Tracie Egan, and Sadie Stein) In the wake of Gawker Media's latest layoffs, we're hearing more about what went down at the blog network. Sources with inside knowledge of today's cuts report that editors Megan Carpentier, Tracie Egan, and associate editor Sadie Stein are the Jezebel staffers who've been... [FishBowlNY]

New Staff Cuts At Gawker, Gizmodo and Jezebel - Posted December 2, 2008
FishbowlNY has confirmed layoffs and pay cuts for writers at the blogs Gawker, Gizmodo and Jezebel. Gawker editor Sheila McClear and Jezebel editorial assistant Maria-Mercedes Lara have been let go, Gawker weekend editor Alex Carnevale's month-to-month contract was not re-upped*, and three other editors at Jezebel are being made into part-time... [FishBowlNY]

Ex-Gawker Editor Speculates on Why Denton Shuttered Valleywag - Posted November 20, 2008
Over at the L.A. Times ex-Gawker editor (and recent Radaronline scribe) Choire Sicha is speculating as to why Nick Denton decided last week to shut down Valleywag and fold it into the main Gawker site. The short version is that in the not too distant future things may actually be... [FishBowlNY]

Morning Reading List, 11.14.08 - Posted November 14, 2008
Good morning Washington. Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line or let us know in the tips box below. We've got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump...... [FishBowlDC]

Nick Denton: Doom-Mongering the Future of Media - Posted November 12, 2008
Never one to let things lie Nick Denton held a "doom-mongering" summit of sorts at Gawker headquarters last night apparenty feeling that it was time for a "reality check" (more like a brutal intervention of sorts, actually) regarding how this economic downturn will affect the media world. The short version... [FishBowlNY]

Elizabeth Spiers' New (ish) Project: An Online Maxim for Women - Posted October 23, 2008
Elizabeth Spiers, who launched Gawker back in 2002 along with Nick Denton, and also had a hand in launching this blog (among others), is talking with WWD about her new project, something she is describing it as an online "Maxim for women." Per WWD:Her idea is to "cater to the... [FishBowlNY]

Morning Reading List, 10.08.08 - Posted October 8, 2008
Good morning Washington. Got a blind item, interesting link, funny note, comment, birthday, anniversary or anything of the sort for Morning Reading List? Drop us a line or let us know in the tips box below. We've got your morning mix of media Muesli after the jump...... [FishBowlDC]

Sharon Waxman Skewers Nick Denton, Internet - Posted October 6, 2008
Sharon Waxman takes aim at Snarker-in-chief Nick Denton (which we get) as well as the flight of talented journalists to the Internet (which we don't get). As she says: "And while I'm at it, let me publicly lament the flight of talented colleagues, Jeff Leeds of the Times and Gabriel Snyder, once of Variety,... [FishBowlLA]

Nick Denton: 'I Felt I'd Done My Job' - Posted October 6, 2008
Our sister site, Agency Spy has an interview today with Gawker's Nick Denton about the recent layoffs, hires and rehires. One of the most interesting aspects of the Gawker changes has been Denton finding a replacement for himself as managing editor. As Agency Spy has it: Matt: On your managing editor replacement, Gabriel... [FishBowlLA]

Gawker Lays Off 19 Editorial Staff Including Moe Tkacik - Posted October 3, 2008
Gawker had their own black Friday newsdump today. In a move that may soon become known as the Denton doctrine, Gawker head Nick Denton announced that he was preemptively laying off 19 members of the editorial staff, including recently hired Moe Tkacik, and suspending page view bonuses for the first... [FishBowlNY]

Gawker Media Lays Off/Hires People - Posted October 3, 2008
Nick Denton's Gawker Media is laying off 19 people and suspending the page view bonus model. Good news is he's also hiring 10 people. The only one named is LA's Gabriel Snyder to be the managing editor. As we say, it's an 'adjustment'. The full memo - the one not on Gawker of... [FishBowlLA]

As the New York Media World Turns - Posted October 1, 2008
Two different stories are floating around the very fishbowl-like world of New York media today (hey we didn't just pluck our name from a hat). First off, Radar is reporting that Gawker may finally have found the managing editor they've been looking for in Gabriel Snyder, formerly of the New... [FishBowlNY]

Denton Ready For "Fun" Feud With O'Reilly - Posted September 22, 2008
Authorities have zeroed in on who they believe hacked Gov. Sarah Palin's email account, and the 20-year-old (yes, 20-year-old) may soon be arrested. That should partially satisfy FNC's Bill O'Reilly, who has been one of the most vocal in calling for the arrest of the "hackers and those who posted the... [TVNewser]

Denton Ready For "Fun" Feud With O'Reilly - Posted September 22, 2008
Authorities have zeroed in on who they believe hacked Gov. Sarah Palin's email account, and the 20-year-old (yes, 20-year-old) may soon be arrested. That should partially satisfy FNC's Bill O'Reilly, who has been one of the most vocal in calling for the arrest of the "hackers and those who posted the... [TVNewser]

O'Reilly Thinks Nick Denton Should Go to Jail, and Other Stories of New York Media Doing the MSM's Job For Them - Posted September 22, 2008
No one is safe! Threat Level, the new go-to for all hacker stories, is reporting that a hacker has claimed to have infiltrated Bill O'Reilly's website and "purloined a list of subscribers to the site, which includes their names, e-mail addresses, city and state, and the password they use for... [FishBowlNY]

O'Reilly Thinks Nick Denton Should Go to Jail, and Other Stories of New York Media Doing the MSM's Job For Them - Posted September 22, 2008
No one is safe! Threat Level, the new go-to for all hacker stories, is reporting that a hacker has claimed to have infiltrated Bill O'Reilly's website and "purloined a list of subscribers to the site, which includes their names, e-mail addresses, city and state, and the password they use for... [FishBowlNY]

O'Reilly Blasts Hackers, Hackers Hack Him Back - Posted September 21, 2008
Wired is reporting FNC anchor Bill O'Reilly's personal Web site, BillOReilly.com, has been hacked in a response to his attacks on hackers and Gawker.com this week. "The attack was retaliation for comments that O'Reilly made on the air this week about web sites that published e-mails obtained from the Yahoo account of... [TVNewser]

Gawker Wanted: Denton Signing Off As Managing Editor - Posted September 2, 2008
After eight successful (there's a graph if you don't believe us) months Nick Denton is stepping down as managing editor at Gawker. Think you're up for the job? Here's what he's looking for:My permanent replacement needs to be plugged into both society gossip and mass culture. (I only faked... [FishBowlNY]

Jezebel Moe off the Radar, On to Gawker - Posted July 23, 2008
Stop the presses. Or moveable type. Or whatever. Radar has just informed us that Jezebel's Moe Tkacik is staying put. Sort of. According to Radaronline.com executive editor Alex Balk, who posted the news just a few minutes ago, Gawker lord Nick Denton has managed to convince Moe to... [FishBowlNY]

NowPublic Releases Randomly Assembled New York 'MostPublic' List - Posted July 21, 2008
We love lists. Especially ones that sort of tell us what we already know, except they randomly switch it around just to keep it interesting? Make sure we're paying attention? It's not clear. Anyway, with that in mind, we bring you NowPublic's — the "world's largest participatory news... [FishBowlNY]

Gridskipper Editor on Gawker Media: 'The Whole Pageviews Thing is a Fallacy' - Posted April 18, 2008
Yesterday we chatted up Gridskipper assistant editor Hunter Walker on IM to see what he had to say about life in the wake of Monday's sale of the site and fellow former Gawker Media properties Wonkette and Idolator. He let us know and raised us his take on where Gawker the... [FishBowlNY]

FBNY Dishes About All Things Gawker - Posted April 14, 2008
Our sister blog, Fishbowl NY, wakes up a lot earlier than us. It also works harder than we do, smiles less often and wears more black. But that's beside the point. FBNY has all the scoop about the Gawker sales, including this quote from Nick Denton "To be blunt: they each had... [FishBowlLA]

Gasp! Wonkette Is Sold! - Posted April 14, 2008
Politico.com reports that Gawker Media's Nick Denton is selling local blog Wonkette (as well as Gridskipper and Idolator). Why? "They each had their editorial successes; but someone else will have better luck selling the advertising than we did." Around town, we always hear "Wonkette's not what it used to be" but,... [FishBowlDC]

Vote for Time's Most Influential, and Please Let Nikki Finke Beat Perez Hilton - Posted April 4, 2008
Time has a poll--the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Go on, vote for Nikki Finke. We did. She's ahead of John McCain, Nicholas Sarkozy, and Vladimir Putin. Perez Hilton is at # 5, which is a sign of the end times. On the bright side, Nick Denton, at #204, beats Eliot... [FishBowlLA]

Morning Reading List, 03.03.08 - Posted March 3, 2008
Good morning Washington. One year ago we said goodbye to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and AP said hello (again) to Ron Fournier. It's the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, Jessica Biel and, yes, me, which is the closest I'll ever get to the lovely Biel. And to answer your questions: 1.) No,... [FishBowlDC]

Tionna Smalls Signs TV Deal - Posted January 29, 2008
Is that sound we hear Nick Denton gnashing his teeth? Atlas Media Corp. signed programming deals with Discovery Communications and Beyond Distribution for several new series, including Tionna Smalls --exclusive talent and reality series development deal for a series based on Tionna's life, times and career. When Denton decided to play... [FishBowlLA]

Morning Reading List, 01.23.08 - Posted January 23, 2008
Good morning Washington. Quickly navigate Morning Reading List: REVOLVING DOOR | NEWSPAPERS | TV | ONLINE MEDIA | MAGAZINES | RADIO | WEST WING REPORTAGE | JOBS You are calling it right now -- The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl. NEWSPAPERS Looks like lots of people are making this mistake. The George Washington University's... [FishBowlDC]

Grigoriadis Dissects Gawker, Finds Shriveled Heart - Posted October 15, 2007
Vanessa Grigoriadis gets back at Gawker for making fun of her wedding write-up. Writing in New York, Grigoriadis writes: Like most journalists, I tend to have a defeatist attitude about Gawker, dismissing it as the Mystery Science Theater 3000 of journalism, or accepting its vague put-downs under the principle that any press... [FishBowlLA]

Breaking: Denton's Valleywag Poaches Editor From Business 2.0 - Posted June 14, 2007
Denton: Less blogging, more tanning We just got word that Valleywag has a new editor in Owen Thomas of Business 2.0. Thomas, a former online editor for Time Inc., currently edits 2.0's Beta blog and — most importantly — worked on beloved late '90s site Suck.com. Valleywag has been edited by Gawker... [FishBowlNY]

Breaking: Lockhart Steele To Leave Gawker For Curbed - Posted May 21, 2007
EXCLUSIVE Longtime Gawker managing editor Lockhart Steele is leaving Gawker Media to devote his new media expertise to Curbed, the burgeoning real estate and food-focused blog empire, FishbowlNY has learned. Steele will leave Gawker at the end of June. Steele joined Gawker in February 2005. In an unusual twist, Gawker Media czar Nick... [FishBowlNY]

Candace Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle Filming Takes Over Balthazar - Posted March 12, 2007
Shooting for Sex And The City writer Candace Bushnell's latest TV adaptation, Lipstick Jungle, took over Spring Street bistro staple Balthazar overnight, forcing Nick Denton and other neighborhood regulars to look elsewhere for their morning bloody mary-and-brioche fixes. The NBC pilot, following the lives of three New York career women — hmm,... [FishBowlNY]

Gawker Fires Mohney, Rehires Sicha - Posted January 18, 2007
Gawker Media has fired Chris Mohney, the first-ever managing editor of its flagship, Gawker, six months into his tenure. Daily Intel, edited by former Gawker co-editor Jesse Oxfeld (and former mediabistro.com editor), has the scoop on his old digs: Gawker Media, Nick Denton's swaggering blog network, yesterday fired Chris Mohney, the managing... [FishBowlNY]