Comments on: Gawker spins off Wonkette and other blogs http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/ Where TV Finds the Future Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:23:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: brett http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-885595 brett Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:27:25 +0000 http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-885595 Ken Layne is and always has been a complete prick: yet another of the many reasons not to read wonkette any more. It has sucked ever since the departure of Anal Marie Cox. Ken Layne is and always has been a complete prick: yet another of the many reasons not to read wonkette any more. It has sucked ever since the departure of Anal Marie Cox.

]]> By: Joe - fourhman.com http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884886 Joe - fourhman.com Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:27:38 +0000 http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884886 Not to mention encouraging commenters to flame each other. Every comment battle is another million reloads! Kotaku (the Gawker gamer channel) recently hit the limit on this, as an article on racism and gaming inspired a legion of asshat commenters to attack the speaker. Since then, Kotaku editorial asked the community if they need to trim down the number of approved commenters in hopes of raising the level of discussion. It will be interesting to see which path they choose... the million-moron-pageview path or the appeal-to-better-nature path. Not to mention encouraging commenters to flame each other. Every comment battle is another million reloads!

Kotaku (the Gawker gamer channel) recently hit the limit on this, as an article on racism and gaming inspired a legion of asshat commenters to attack the speaker. Since then, Kotaku editorial asked the community if they need to trim down the number of approved commenters in hopes of raising the level of discussion.

It will be interesting to see which path they choose… the million-moron-pageview path or the appeal-to-better-nature path.

]]> By: Lurker http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884884 Lurker Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:27:11 +0000 http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884884 I'll say it over here because I feel realtively safe from repercussions, but I'm really kind of sad to see Wonkette go. Ever since Ken Layne took over, virtually every story, except for a few reader submissions have come from just a handful of sources and everything has been about the joke. As long as she was in the Gawker stable, then there's always been the promise that someday the quality might actually return and the blog will be relevant again, but the spin-off appears to mean that it'll forever be just another frat-boy hang-out with the depth of Leno's monologue. I’ll say it over here because I feel realtively safe from repercussions, but I’m really kind of sad to see Wonkette go. Ever since Ken Layne took over, virtually every story, except for a few reader submissions have come from just a handful of sources and everything has been about the joke. As long as she was in the Gawker stable, then there’s always been the promise that someday the quality might actually return and the blog will be relevant again, but the spin-off appears to mean that it’ll forever be just another frat-boy hang-out with the depth of Leno’s monologue.

]]> By: Aaron http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884709 Aaron Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:23:23 +0000 http://www.lostremote.com/2008/04/15/gawker-spins-off-wonkette-and-other-blogs/#comment-884709 PBS' MediaShift has an excellent column on the effect of Gawker's pay-per-pageview compensation system. (Linked from my name above.) The gist of it: "Nick Denton is an old media dog dressed up in new media clothes." <blockquote>Paying a blogger or journalist based on page views puts the onus on the writer to get traffic and takes away from their main job of research and writing. Yes, we as freelance journalists should create work that has an audience, that people want to read, that resonates with the public. But there’s only one result of paying writers by page view: They will pander, sensationalize and go for short-term gain over long-term value. And it does damage the site’s reputation.</blockquote> I suppose the net result of that system is Gizmodo's now infamous CES prank. PBS’ MediaShift has an excellent column on the effect of Gawker’s pay-per-pageview compensation system. (Linked from my name above.) The gist of it: “Nick Denton is an old media dog dressed up in new media clothes.”

Paying a blogger or journalist based on page views puts the onus on the writer to get traffic and takes away from their main job of research and writing. Yes, we as freelance journalists should create work that has an audience, that people want to read, that resonates with the public. But there’s only one result of paying writers by page view: They will pander, sensationalize and go for short-term gain over long-term value. And it does damage the site’s reputation.

I suppose the net result of that system is Gizmodo’s now infamous CES prank.

]]>