Resumes are being accepted to fill a sudden vacuum in the self-proclaimed “drug ring” that is Gawker. On Friday afternoon, at the end of a long Gawker post about palling around with the n + 1 crowd – who happen to be publishing a long think-piece on Gawker in their new issue – editor and cewebrity Emily Gould abruptly announced that managing editor Choire Sicha was to resign. And she would be joining him. Now a third editor, Josh Stein, will be rambling on as well.
Stein insists the reasons for his resignation are “kind of personal” but not entirely isolated from Sicha’s decision, who along with Gould “taught [him] a lot about blogging”. Gould tells the Times that she quit in part because of the new Gawker compensation system, which no longer pays writers per post but according to how many page views their posts get. As a result, Gould says, “You get focused on being sensational and even more brain candyish than Gawker was to start with.” Gould also seems finally fed up with working at a place where caustic cynicism is the alpha and omega – she concludes her post by agreeing with n + 1’s take on Gawker as a “reprehensible bully.” (Could it also be that Jimmy Kimmel struck a nerve with his cautionary vision of Gould’s future arrival in hell being posted on Gawker Stalker?) Ultimately, with one book published and plenty of publicity already, Gould seems sufficiently well branded to survive the jump.
As for Sicha, he’s currently looking for a new job because he’s tired of managing, telling the Times of his epiphany that writers have all the fun. This is his second time quitting Gawker, having returned to the site after a hiatus at The New York Observer. Gawker publisher Nick Denton is taking the desertions in stride and framing it as an “opportunity to accelerate the transformation of Gawker from cute blog to fully-fledged news site.” Potential agents of said transformation can submit resumes here, but should be forewarned they’ll be vying for the job against the cutthroat genitals of former editor Alex Balk, who recently withdrew but wants to fill the latest void.
Photo of Choire Sicha by Blaise K, photo of Josh Stein by Skidder.
