It was surprising to hear the news last week that right-wing billionaire investor Peter Thiel has been secretly trying to destroy Gawker Media through proxy lawsuits. It was dispiriting, and less surprising, to hear the conversation that followed the revelation. The discussion begins, in most cases, with the premise that Gawker is bad. Even those who are rightly alarmed at Thiel’s unprecedented attack on an institution that he regards as “terrible for the Valley” usually feel the need to preface that conclusion with some form of “I hate to defend Gawker, but...”
It’s an understandable habit. Gawker Media has not put a lot of effort, over the years, into being likable. We have earned a long list of enemies.
But the notion that Gawker Media—the company, encompassing seven web sites, that Thiel is attempting to permanently silence—is best understood as a platform for spewing hatred, or for bullying, is at odds with our own experience. And we can’t help but conclude it is at odds with a lot of other people’s experience. If our lengthy published record of news, essays, investigations, satire, and criticism is “not journalism,” as the refrain goes, then why has so much of it been cited, amplified, and followed by our more respectable establishment peers? If we aim for nothing but cruelty, or nothing but clicks, why have our writers drawn so many of the finest (or most well-remunerated) writers in the rest of the business to engage with our work?
Journalism is as journalism does. Anyone moved to dismiss the million-plus stories that we have published over the years as nothing more than “gutter journalism” ought to account for the by-no-means-comprehensive sampling of posts below, which we have arranged along with examples of the contemporaneous reaction to, praise for, and impact of the work. There are countless other posts that could join them. This is what Peter Thiel is trying to destroy.
Mark Zuckerberg Asks Racist Facebook Employees to Stop Crossing Out Black Lives Matter Slogans
NBC News:
USA Today:
National Public Radio:
Newsweek:
Facebook Employees Asked Mark Zuckerberg If They Should Try to Stop a Donald Trump Presidency
Image: AP
New York Post:
Breitbart:
Fox News:
The Atlantic:
The Guardian:
The Hill:
Want to Know What Facebook Really Thinks of Journalists? Here’s What Happened When It Hired Some.
Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News
Illustration by Jim Cooke
Drudge Report:
New York Times:
New York Times:
New York Times:
Buzzfeed:
Sail (Far) Away: At Sea with America’s Largest Floating Gathering of Conspiracy Theorists
For Sale: A Video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Smoking Crack Cocaine
We Are Raising $200,000 to Buy and Publish the Rob Ford Crack Tape
$90,000 High and Rising: Rob Ford Crackstarter Update
Thank You: The Rob Ford Crackstarter Has Met Its Goal
The Rob Ford Crack Video Might Be “Gone”
A Pipe-Wielding Thug Stormed the Rob Ford Crackhouse, Seeking Video
Here’s Where Your Crackstarter Money Is Going
The Guardian:
Five months later...
New York Times:
The New Yorker:
“In 2013, his fame, long established in Canada, spread to the United States after Gawker, followed closely by the Toronto Star, reported the existence of a video depicting the mayor smoking crack. For six months, Ford denied the allegation, before finally admitting to using the drug “in one of my drunken stupors.”
Family Values Activist Josh Duggar Had a Paid Ashley Madison Account
The New Yorker:
Talking Points Memo:
The Overwhelming Blackness of Kendrick Lamar’sTo Pimp a Butterfly
New York Times:
How Bill O’Reilly Tried to Get His Wife’s Boyfriend Investigated By the Cops
“We’ve all heard about Billo and Fox Security, but this is ridiculous” — Keith Olbermann, ESPN
“To anyone who hasn’t seen Gawker’s awesome takedown of Bill O’Reilly, here’s Gawker’s awesome takedown of Bill O’Reilly” — Hadley Freeman, The Guardian
“Out of all the enemies Fox News has, you have to wonder if enemy #1 isn’t Media Matters, but Gawker” — Simon Owens, US News & World Report
“Fox News has been attacking Gawker on TV for days. The site believes this just-published Bill O’Reilly story is why.” — Brian Stelter, CNN
Bill O’Reilly’s Divorce Is So Ugly, God Got Involved
TV Guide:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Bill O’Reilly Accused of Domestic Violence in Custody Battle
The New York Daily News:
International Business Times:
“Surprised conservatives still watch Fox News. The non-family values network, run by Ailes, a guy married 3 times.” — Gabriel Sherman, New York Magazine
Court Transcripts: Bill O’Reilly’s Daughter Saw Him “Choking Her Mom”
Politico:
Mediaite:
Talking Points Memo:
“O’Reilly denies Gawker reports of abuse from sealed documents. Gawker gets the documents.” — Philip Bump, The Washington Post
“Maybe Bill O’Reilly could learn something from NBA players about parenting. Wonder what thuggish music he listens to?” — David Zirin, The Nation
Bill O’Reilly Loses Custody of Children In New York Court Ruling
The New York Daily News:
The Independent:
The Wrap:
Remember When Dr. Dre Bashed a Female Journalist’s Face Against a Wall?
Here’s What’s Missing From Straight Outta Compton: Me and the Other Women Dr. Dre Beat Up
New York Daily News:
Los Angeles Times:
How Worried Should You Be About the Zika Virus?
Hacked Emails Show Hillary Clinton Was Receiving Advice at a Private Email Account From Banned, Obama-Hating Former Staffer
The Washington Post:
Columbia Journalism Review:
New York magazine:
Source: Top Clinton Aides Used Secret Email Accounts at State Dept.
“This is the bigger story, because it demonstrates aforethought and a conscious decision to evade public detection.” — John Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine
“Gawker also FOIAed top Clinton aide Reines’ communications with reporters, only to be told they didn’t exist.” — Byron Tau, The Wall Street Journal
“Here we go. Gawker scoops Huma was using a personal Clintonemail.com account at State.” — Elliot Schwartz, Washington Free Beacon
Emails Show Politico’s Mike Allen Promised Positive Coverage of Chelsea Clinton
“Mike Allen scoop is like reporting straight out of the Hunger Games. transactional, fawning over elites” — Tom McKay, Mic News
“This is pretty bad. The interview would be ‘no surprises.’” — Byron York, Washington Examiner
“Mike Allen is just *incredibly* corrupt” — Ryan Cooper, The Week
Slate:
The Washington Post:
Newsweek:
Emails: Top Clinton Aide Secretly Wrote Item for Mike Allen’s Politico Playbook Newsletter
“This is shocking” — Michael Barbaro, The New York Times
“It’s that old journalism maxim, ‘When in doubt simply allow government officials to author material under your name’” — Michael Tracy, Vice
“Geez. What an embarrassment to the actual journalists who work at Politico.” — Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate
This Is How Hillary Clinton Gets the Coverage She Wants
“Great Gawker scoop: Hillary Clinton’s flak blackmailed (his words!) a reporter into positive spin on HRC speech.” — Emily Flitter, Reuters
“This is a scandal.” — Ali Gharib, The Nation
“Just completely fascinating.” — Alex Kantrowitz, BuzzFeed News
“I am sorry this is gross.” — Adam Goldman, The Washington Post
“Gawker doing good work exposing the seedy reality we call political ‘reporting.’” — Becket Adams, Washington Examiner
“Basically, Hillary Clinton’s PR team said ‘JUMP’ and media said ‘How high?’” — Robby Soave, Reason Magazine
“Daily Beast reporters: If you agree to terms like these, don’t bother coming to work the next day. Or ever.” — Noah Shachtman, The Daily Beast
The New York Times:
The Washington Post:
The Washington Post:
The New York Post:
The New Republic:
Inside Superstar Machine, Which Ex-Members Say Is a Cult Preying on New York’s Creative Women
Roger Ailes’ Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News
“The documents are a fascinating look in the construction of image building. Even back then, Ailes had his signature impassioned style, writing that they were responsible for the life or death of America.” — The Washington Post
“Gawker’s John Cook has unearthed a juicy White House memo—‘A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News’—that shows Roger Ailes and fellow aides to Richard Nixon plotting to disseminate Republican propaganda to local news outlets nationwide.” — Rolling Stone
“Gawker’s John Cook makes the case the Ailes’s ‘fair and balanced’ network comes from the same skeazy political scheming that lead to the Watergate scandal.” — The Atlantic Wire
“Roger Ailes’ ‘fair and balanced’ alternative to what he calls the liberal bias of other news outlets was far from an overnight success. In fact, according to documents obtained by Gawker, his idea for a conservative news source was conceived in 1970, when Ailes worked as a media consultant for then-President Richard Nixon.” — The Week
Every Time Travel Movie Ever, Ranked
The Horrible World of Video Game Crunch
The Pizza Party Where Everyone Got Fired
What Is Safe Sex? The Raw and Uncomfortable Truth About Truvada
I’m Marc Maron, and This Is How I Work
I’m Mike Rowe, Host of Somebody’s Gotta Do It, and This Is How I Work
I’m Astronaut Ron Garan, and This Is How I Work
Here’s Our Winner! ‘Redbook’ Shatters Our ‘Faith’ In Well, Not Publishing, But Maybe God
ABC News:
TMZ:
Photoshop Horrors Hall of Shame, 2000-2009
Glamour:
Los Angeles Times:
Why You Must See Unretouched Images, And Why You Must See Them Repeatedly
Connie Schultz, Creators Syndicate:
Over 4,000 BuzzFeed Posts Have Completely Disappeared
Politico:
Slate:
Poynter:
BuzzFeed Editor Caught Lifting Text From Yahoo! Answers
Politico:
Poynter:
CNN:
BuzzFeed Deletes Post Critical of Dove, a BuzzFeed Advertiser
“This is so bad. If you publish a post, there is NO excuse to pull it. Once it is up, there is no erase button.” — Daniel Roberts, Yahoo! Finance
Adweek:
Columbia Journalism Review:
The New York Times:
BuzzFeed Deleted Posts Under Pressure from Its Own Business Department
The New York Times:
The Wall Street Journal:
CNN:
Unmasking Reddit’s Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web
Days later…
CNN:
The Underground Website Where You Can Buy Any Drug Imaginable
Now You Can Buy Guns on the Online Underground Marketplace
Are Authorities Closing In On the Online Drug Market Silk Road?
The Atlantic:
Two weeks later…
NPR:
One month later…
Four years later…
New York Times:
How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His Brand
Who’s Funding Kevin Johnson’s Secret Government?
“I’m A Grown-Up Now”: The Teen Who Accused Kevin Johnson Of Sexual Abuse Speaks Out
Days later…
Yahoo! News:
The New York Times:
Slate:
An Investigation: Which Presidential Campaigns Have the Largest Gender Wage Disparities?
Marie Claire:
New York Magazine:
How to Build a Raspberry Pi Retro Game Console for $35
America Is Not For Black People
Photo via Getty
This Is the Interview About His Ancestor Ben Affleck Tried to Suppress
The Daily Beast:
Here’s How New Texas Public School Textbooks Talk About Slavery
The New York Times:
Is Shop Jeen’s Viral Success Story All Window Dressing?
Eight months later….
Buzzfeed:
“Brett Favre Once Sent Me Cock Shots”: Not a Love Story
Deadspin’s decision to publish what were said to be photographs of Brett Favre’s penis has become easy shorthand for reckless and invasive journalism. As Vanity Fair wrote, in a feature on Manti Te’o, “Deadspin itself sometimes seems devoid of any standards of taste or ethics—it has practiced checkbook journalism and has published alleged ‘dong shots’ Brett Favre reportedly texted to a woman.”
That account, though, skips over the fact that the penis photos were sent unsolicited, in an act of alleged workplace harassment of a New York Jets employee, and that the news of Favre’s behavior led other employees to speak up, and eventually file suit, accusing the NFL legend of persistent and aggressive misbehavior.
Good Morning America:
In the wake of a sex scandal that tarnished Brett Favre’s storied 20-year NFL career and cost him a $50,000 fine, two more women have come forward, filing a sexual harassment suit against the star quarterback.
Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole, both former massage therapists for the New York Jets, filed suit against Favre, the New York Jets and Lisa Ripi, a woman who hires massage therapists for the team, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York today.
New York Times:
Dead Monster Washes Ashore in Montauk
New York Magazine:
Who Wants to Remember Bill Cosby’s Multiple Sex Assault Accusations?
Newsweek:
Newsweek:
The Wrap:
BuzzFeed:
Eight months later...
Hannibal Buress Called Bill Cosby a Rapist During a Stand-up Set
Nine months later...
New York Magazine:
Five months later...
New York Times:
Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax
The Natural: The Trouble Portraying Blackness in Video Games
GQ New Zealand:
Is This the End of the Era of the Important, Inappropriate Literary Man?
Can Jason Whitlock Save ESPN’s “Black Grantland” From Himself?
How Jason Whitlock Is Poisoning ESPN’s “Black Grantland” Here Is The Insane Playbook For Jason Whitlock’s “Black Grantland” How ESPN’s Fear Of The Truth Defeated “Black Grantland”
Ebony:
Slate:
Newsweek:
New York Magazine:
Sporting News:
A Price of Games Journalism
MSNBC:
The Awl:
How Unauthorized Is the New Book About Harper Lee?
Be Suspicious of the New Harper Lee Novel
Paste:
International Business Times:
BBC:
BuzzFeed:
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend
Yahoo! Sports:
CNN:
USA Today:
Three months later…
CBS Sports:
Donating to Wyclef Jean’s Charity Might Not Be the Best Way to Help Haitians Right Now
NBC News:
Huffington Post:
Three years later…
New York Daily News:
This Is the Video CNN Will Play When the World Ends
The Guardian:
Married GOP Congressman Sent Sexy Pictures to Craigslist Babe
NBC News:
ABC News:
CBS News:
Fox News:
CNN:
A Letter From Ray Jasper, Who Is About to Be Executed
International Business Times:
Huffington Post:
RT:
Identify This Car Part And Help Catch A Killer
CNET:
Does This Video Prove That Police Arrested The Wrong Speeding Driver?
Detroit Free Press:
How The Feds’ $8 Million Roadblocks Secretly Tested Drivers For Booze
Big Breaks for Blowjobs: The Dark Underbelly of the Miss USA Pageant
