4 ms·

I absolutely despise Gawker. The stories they run and the stuff they do would normally mean that I would love for them to be run into the ground. At the same t

I absolutely despise Gawker. The stories they run and the stuff they do would normally mean that I would love for them to be run into the ground. At the same time, they are the only independent online media outlet left in the world. Every other company that once prided itself on being "independent" from the large media network owned by ancient billionaires has now received at least hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from them. Say what you will about the publishing of the tape (and I for one think it was a despicable action) it certainly showed Gawker's true editorial strength. They could do whatever the hell they wanted, publishing for the editorial integrity rather than to get pageviews. The idea of every single large online media outlet being at least partially owned by a small group of media companies owned by billionaires is horrifying. BuzzFeed has a great and fascinating new editorial unit, but they have 200 million reasons not to publish anything that goes against the mainstream media. Gawker is a horrible company, but I'm going to miss them. [edit] Wow, this is really being run into the ground with downvotes. If you disagree, please don't hesitate to let me know why, as I'm genuinely curious. My email's in my profile if you'd prefer to contact me there. Cheers!

tlrobinson 10y ago
Well, you could say Gawker also got "owned by a billionaire"...
rpgmaker 10y ago
HN is filled with people that immediately side with scumbag VCs.
- dang 10y ago
  Actually there are many more, probably an order of magnitude more, who immediately side against VCs. Such reflexes make for poor discussion regardless of which way the leading bit is flipped.
mhaymo 10y ago
Are you implying that Gawker's actions in this case were a twisted form of "editorial integrity", and not page-view-seeking? That is hard for me to believe.
ttctciyf 10y ago
I don't know if I agree with "the only independent online media outlet left in the world." Look, for example, at pando.com - given that Thiel is an investor there, their language about him ("unforgivable", "a tremendous hypocrite", "cowardly", etc.[1]) shows at least a degree of independence! https://pando.com/2016/05/25/peter-thiels-secret-attack-gawker-even-worse-his-support-donald-trump/ https://pando.com/2016/05/25/peter-thiels-secret-attack-gawk...
ohitsdom 10y ago
Not sure how you define "independent", but media will always be somewhat beholden to their benefactors (which today is advertisers). Gawker is not above this, see this story which impacted ad money (but was also extremely slimy). Interesting they have principles on a story topic if it hurts the $... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gawker-turmoil-2-editors-resign-pulled-story-article-1.2297873 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gawker-turmoil-2-ed...
Chris2048 10y ago
The lack of good, independant media outlets is a problem, but this is not a good solution. I do not agree that the value of Gawker outweighs the value in punishing its behaviour - it's not the fault of Gawkers victims that there are so few independant media, and it should have been Gawker that took more care in preserving itself.
nix0n 10y ago
> They could do whatever the hell they wanted, publishing for the editorial integrity rather than to get pageviews. I don't understand how this applies to a sex tape.
lukehorvat 10y ago
The only independent online media outlet left in the world? What an absurd statement.
- coryfklein 10y ago
  > they are the only independent online media outlet left in the world. [citation needed]
- owenversteeg 10y ago
  I should've clarified, I was referring to large media organizations. An independent media organization that has no viewers is not terribly useful. If you know of any independent online media organizations approaching the scale of Gawker, let me know, I'd love to hear about them.
rsync 10y ago
"[edit] Wow, this is really being run into the ground with downvotes." Don't discuss your own (down)votes. Don't interrupt the actual discussion to meta-discuss the scoring system.

tlrobinson 10y ago

Well, you could say Gawker also got "owned by a billionaire"...

rpgmaker 10y ago

HN is filled with people that immediately side with scumbag VCs.

dang 10y ago
Actually there are many more, probably an order of magnitude more, who immediately side against VCs. Such reflexes make for poor discussion regardless of which way the leading bit is flipped.

mhaymo 10y ago

Are you implying that Gawker's actions in this case were a twisted form of "editorial integrity", and not page-view-seeking? That is hard for me to believe.

ttctciyf 10y ago

I don't know if I agree with "the only independent online media outlet left in the world." Look, for example, at pando.com - given that Thiel is an investor there, their language about him ("unforgivable", "a tremendous hypocrite", "cowardly", etc.[1]) shows at least a degree of independence! https://pando.com/2016/05/25/peter-thiels-secret-attack-gawker-even-worse-his-support-donald-trump/ https://pando.com/2016/05/25/peter-thiels-secret-attack-gawk...

ohitsdom 10y ago

Not sure how you define "independent", but media will always be somewhat beholden to their benefactors (which today is advertisers). Gawker is not above this, see this story which impacted ad money (but was also extremely slimy). Interesting they have principles on a story topic if it hurts the $... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gawker-turmoil-2-editors-resign-pulled-story-article-1.2297873 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/gawker-turmoil-2-ed...

Chris2048 10y ago

The lack of good, independant media outlets is a problem, but this is not a good solution. I do not agree that the value of Gawker outweighs the value in punishing its behaviour - it's not the fault of Gawkers victims that there are so few independant media, and it should have been Gawker that took more care in preserving itself.

nix0n 10y ago

> They could do whatever the hell they wanted, publishing for the editorial integrity rather than to get pageviews. I don't understand how this applies to a sex tape.

lukehorvat 10y ago

The only independent online media outlet left in the world? What an absurd statement.

coryfklein 10y ago
> they are the only independent online media outlet left in the world. [citation needed]
owenversteeg 10y ago
I should've clarified, I was referring to large media organizations. An independent media organization that has no viewers is not terribly useful. If you know of any independent online media organizations approaching the scale of Gawker, let me know, I'd love to hear about them.

rsync 10y ago

"[edit] Wow, this is really being run into the ground with downvotes." Don't discuss your own (down)votes. Don't interrupt the actual discussion to meta-discuss the scoring system.