“And despite his quest to shut down Gawker, he has donated a million dollars to the Committee to Protect Journalists”.
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Gawker Media’s six other sites are Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku and Lifehacker.
Nick Denton, Gawker’s outspoken founder and a former Financial Times journalist, for now does not plan on going to Univision. Gawker.com attracted some 18 million monthly US visitors every month. It was the first news site to report that Rob Ford, the Toronto mayor, smoked crack on video, and then raised money online to buy from a source a video that showed Ford’s actions.
But among its brethren, Gawker.com always tended to command the spotlight.
For now, Denton added, the site “will live on in legend”.
The site’s snarky and frequently vulgar style was influential throughout publishing.
Gawker was also known for take-downs that set a tone for the broader culture and defined a sense of cool, like Tom Scocca’s attack on “smarm ” and the feel-good, “no haters” mentality that he felt was infecting the internet. Long a bastion of independent (and often controversial) journalism, Gawker was forced to go to auction after being bankrupted by a $140 million lawsuit involving the wrestler Hulk Hogan, who argued his privacy was invaded after the gossip websitepublished a sex tape in which he appeared.
Denton earlier this month filed for personal bankruptcy protection in a bid to stop his assets from being seized because of the judgment.
Oxford University-educated Denton started Gawker.com out of his NY apartment in 2002 with the stated mission of putting “truths on the internet”. “I can understand the caution”, he continued. Founder Nick Denton told staffers Thursday afternoon that Gawker.com will come to an end next week.
“We’re all operating under the assumption that they’re shutting it down”, one staffer told CNNMoney, just before heading into the meeting.
The sale agreement submitted to the court includes a clause that allows Univision to decide to exclude Gawker.com from the deal, up to three days before the acquisition closes.
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Thankfully many employees will likely shift to other sites.
