General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGawker's last week. Is there an alternative to PayPal/THIEL?
Careful with comments about a-hole THIEL or he might come after us/our Free Speech. So, yes, it's a real question, is there an alternative to PayPal or just use Debit/Credit cards?
And we know that some fellow DUers strongly object to "gossip" posts here. The objections starting from years ago being: Spit spit *gossip!1*; We're better than this; This makes DU suck; Delete your post how dare you, etc.
First of all, the farewell post from Gawker (below) contains their statistics showing 10K posts about news, and some 3K each for all kinds of topics, with the category for "Gossip" being (only) 3K on its own.
But really *first* of all should be that the meaning of "gossip", which, repeating here still after all these years, is not "UNtruth". Look up the definition and the etymology: It does not equate with "untrue." It can be largely embarassing, also something preferred to be kept secret, perhaps salacious sometimes, but not *not* true. Very often, what was being whispered about yesterday is the hard news headline tomorrow.
If there's an answer to the PayPal question, don't forget to post it!1 Thanks.
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http://gawkerdata.kinja.com/closing-the-book-on-gawker-com-1785555716
[font size=5]Closing the Book on Gawker.com[/font]
As you may have heard, this week marks the end of gawker.coms operations. If you didnt read it here, you may have read about it in the bushel of eulogies that our colleagues at other publications have produced over the last few days. ....
********** (READER COMMENT: ) Where will the generic media and political posts live now? I always came to Gawker for the generic news and the sub-sites for specific stuff...
************ (Gawker ANSWER: ) Spread over Deadspin and Jezebel, given where the writers are going. I guess?
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blogslut
(37,955 posts)UTUSN
(70,497 posts)I am sad. I didn't always like what they posted but I appreciated them for skewering virtually everyone, including their own industry.
Fortunately there is one Gawker site that got away and I will go there even more than I did before. I might even give them money.
Wonkette
UTUSN
(70,497 posts)********QUOTE*******
http://www.mediaite.com/online/%e2%80%8bdear-%e2%80%8bgawker-readers-commenters-tipsters-%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8band-writers%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b%e2%80%8b-might-we-interest-you-in-something-a-little-different%e2%80%8b/
[font size=5]Dear Gawker Readers, Commenters, Tipsters and Writers , Might We Interest You in Something a Little Different?[/font]
.... So this has inspired us to actively court that audience . In fact, we are now looking to hire at least one new writer who could do original media reporting/gossip in a Gawker-esque style in its best sense of fearlessly taking readers behind the scenes of the media world . So if you always aspired to write for Gawker (or even umm are now) please apply for the position here.
And like Mediaite, Gawker also has had a vibrant comment section teeming with a mix of witty, biting and sometimes just obnoxious regular commenters who we hope will consider spending some time sparring with our regular crew of partisans, belletrists and trolls.
To be clear theres no dancing on the Gawker grave here. Despite some fundamental differences in how we do business, no one on the editorial or business side, has ever expressed a modicum of glee in Gawkers demise at the hands of Peter Thiel. Nor will we ever seek to recreate Gawker here at Mediate. But they did a lot of things we would be proud to add to our mission. They also created a devoted audience we would be crazy not to seek out (as well as the tipsters. . . here is the link for you!)
So in the spirit of a good comment thread we look forward to reading below all the reasons Gawker readers would never, ever set eyes on a site like Mediaite. PS you are welcome to return to remind us again and again.
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Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)melman
(7,681 posts)and I don't see Thiel as a villain in this. Sorry.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)I won't miss them one bit. And Thiel's actions are no threat to the 1st Amendment.
mythology
(9,527 posts)The government didn't censor Gawker. They had scummy business practices, crossed the line and got spanked for it.
MinM
(2,650 posts)Gawker.com is out of business because one wealthy person maliciously set out to destroy it, spending millions of dollars in secret, and succeeded. That is the only reason.
The strange and embarrassing thing about being the target of a conspiracy, an actual conspiracy, is that it undermines ones own understanding of the world. It is true that Gawker was always a publication that took risks. It had bad manners and sometimes bad judgment. Occasionally, it published things that it would regretjust as, for instance, the New York Times has published things that it regrets.
What Thiels covert campaign against Gawker did was to invisibly change the terms of the risk calculation. The change begins with the post about Thiels sexual identity in a homophobic investor culture, the post Thiel now cites as the inspiration for his decision to destroy Gawker. It was solidly protected by media law and the First Amendment, as were the other posts that, as Thiel wrote, attacked and mocked peoplespecifically, his cohort of rising plutocrats in Silicon Valley. Hurting rich peoples feelings is, in principle, not a punishable offense...
http://gawker.com/gawker-was-murdered-by-gaslight-1785456581
It's not necessarily a free speech issue but it does set a terrible precedent when scumbags like Peter Thiel or Frank VanderSloot can shutdown those they disagree with.
The Hogan case was legitimate and he won. Gawker lost. They're not victims.