In a lengthy and kind of pointless story about ur-media gossip blogger Jim Romenesko, former New York Times editor Howell Raines basically blames the mild-mannered media reporter for the death of newspapers, sort of. Raines thinks Romenesko's nasty habit of reporting lay-offs, buy-outs, and paper closings makes everyone in the media feel so bad that they think print is dying and then it dies. Then "a young New York-based reporter at a major newspaper" says: "'I think Romenesko is what Gawker would look like if it had morals.'" We humbly disagree, young anonymous reporter. Jim (god bless him), with his endless stream of damning links presented with minimal commentary, is the amoral one. We pass moral judgment on all of you! (Also, though it is hard to remember now, there was a time when Jim Romenesko Was Not A Blogger.) [Portfolio]

We love our advertisers for helping us to retain control of the internet. They're the best! Thanks to: Adele, Arkadium, AT&T, Camp Camp, Glyde, Honda Fit, Jet Blue, MGM Grand Foxwoods, Nextbook, Nikon Coolpix, Showtime, T-Mobile, Three Olives, Windows Live Search. Interested in supporting the the boot-lickingest propagandists on the internet? Would you like to reach the de facto cultural elites? Then advertise with us!

Our advertisers also encourage you, this weekend, to wear loose-fitting clothing and drink plenty of fluids. Once again, we thank: Arkadium, AT&T, Camp Camp, Fuerzabruta, Glyde, HBO, Honda Fit, Jet Blue, The MANual, MGM Grand Foxwoods, Nikon Coolpix, Radiohead, Unscrew America. Hey, you should advertise with us too! Click here!

Choire compiled the ultimate Gawker Alumni Report. Go see what every former editor is doing right now! (Except, uh, Maggie?) (Update: Nevermind! Now it is comprehensive, except of course for the OLDE WEEKEND CREW) [Radar]

We love our sponsors. They feed and clothe us. They protect us from rampaging fat people. They are American Express, AT&T, Chili's, Dotspotter, Grand Theft Auto IV, Honda Fit, Jet Blue, MGM Grand Foxwoods, Nikon Coolpix, Oxygen Network, Style-Card.com, Tribeca Film Festival, Unscrew America. Become one of them.

Not long ago, a media reporter asked your day editor if he seriously doesn't like Greg Gutfeld. Because surely it's an act, all this mocking him! We send attention his way, he responds with an amusing attack on our commenters, we trash him again, everyone goes home to cash their tax refund checks and buy some $10 cigarettes. But the truth is, no, I don't really like Greg Gutfeld. He's not funny. And his two-dimensional controversialist routine is tired. Regardless of how much either of them mean what they say, Colbert does a wittier Bill O'Reilly. Gutfeld is a mediocre Morning Zoo Shock Jock. He seemingly used to be funny—some of his HuffPo posts were truly inspired. But his show is terrible and his "noxious gay-baiting even though he's friends with plenty of homos" routine is, once again, done better by Ann Coulter. So when Greg says, as he did to MediaBistro recently, that Gawker only trashes him because he refused to write for us, well...

For some reason we thought Richard was doing the sponsors post today but then he was all "what the fuck are you talking about, fuck off" (IT'S TRUE THIS IS WHAT HE SAID) so its up to us. On behalf of everyone at Gawker we humbly thank AT&T, Bravo, Chili's, Crown Publishing, Frommers, Fuerabruta, Hancock, Honda Fit, LG Scarlett, Mini, MGM Grand Foxwoods, Randomhouse, Unscrew America, VW for their support. Hey you! Advertise with Gawker! OH! And there's a contest. Details below!

The New York Post killed poor PageSix.com after something like ten internet minutes, but now we just discovered this weird new blog they have (we know it's new because it has a big NEW BLOG sticker on it) called, uh, POPWRAP. The internet is running out of names for things that are obvious clones of five other things! Anyway, if PageSix.com was their TMZ-killer, this is their scaled-back Gawker/Daily Intelligencer/maybe-Best Week Ever-copier. The whole damn thing is edited solely by one guy (like us, back in the golden era!)—former InTouch "lifestyle editor" Jarett Wieselman (ten posts today, Jarett—you can get it up to 12 by Monday!). Oh, wait, we remember that name! Wieselman was brought over from InTouch with Kathy Campbell to run PageSix.com. And then that imploded and now they've given him this. Anyway we didn't read very many of the "words" but the pictures look pretty and the headlines are suitably sarcastic-ish. Also there is a caption contest feature because bloggers are for some reason never happy with the captions photos come with. (So far: one comment on this one. Go help 'em out!) Now you have one more source for mildly irreverent takes on celebrity news. [POPWRAP]

Gawker Media Publisher (and acting Gawker Managing Editor) Nick Denton just sent word around that he's sold three sites. April Fool's! Except for real this time! Maura Johnston's Idolator, the music industry gossip and news site, goes to Buzznet—the "music-focused web and social

network" that recently bought Stereogum. Gridskipper, the urban travel site, goes to Lockhart Steele's Curbed network. And Wonkette, Ken Layne's political news site, is now Ken Layne's alone. If you're looking for official comment from us, we think all three sites will be better off under ownership by people who actually care about their respective topics (even though no one should ever buy blogs). Denton's internal email is below, because he's off this morning and why not beat the Observer to running it?

Wonkette founding editor Ana Marie Cox is a permalancer! She broke the news on Facebook and Twitter, natch. She's not leaving Time, where she's currently the Washington Editor for Time.com, but she's now a contractor instead of a staffer. She'll still blog it up for them at Swampland, as most Gawker Media alums are generally forced to do, but she now has "more freedom to write in other print outlets," according to Time. AMC says the change was her suggestion. Oh, and Gawker founding editor Elizabeth Spiers is now a contributor to Fortune. This news was broken properly, in a newspaper column, and not on an Internet thingy. (Spiers has a column in this week's Fortune about inflation and the price of steak. It's probably good and smart but we didn't understand any of it except the steak bit.)

"Did Eliot Spitzer get caught because he didn't spend enough on prostitutes?" Slate contributor Sudhir Venkatesh deserves credit for reporting that Spitzer's alleged $4,300 date was not premium pricing. But his generalizations are far too broad for such a diverse industry as Web-powered prostitution. Were I his editor, I'd have sent back these redlines:

pareene: omg sheila is in JAIL
nick: hunh?
nick: what?
pareene: ha! her mom just emailed me. she was picked up for drinking in public last night!
nick: and they put you in jail for that?
pareene: if they feel like it!
pareene: i mean usually no but it's not unheard of. she probably mouthed off.
pareene: ANYWAY we are not allowed to post about this, according to mrs mcclear
nick: well, someone is going to
nick: can sheila blog from jail?

Portfolio, which Condé Nast started because there were no other credulous business magazines, has a story on why media companies should buy blogs, which is of course entirely wrong. Here's why Gawker Media, TechCrunch, Boing Boing and every other blog making over a million dollars should never be for sale.

Doree's mom commented on her Tumblr! She reveals that Doree loved her Commodore 64, which was "discarded" by "wealthy neighbors." [The Doree Chronicles]

Richard— We appreciate your own personal commitment to talking about ethics in PR. I would even go so far as to say that you believe what you say, and say it in good faith, most of the time. But we're not gonna be taking down the post about your (alleged!) media training lying incident. And here's why:

Our much-vaunted, delightfully lecherous Gawker photog Nikola Tamindzic has launched a new photosite, Home of the Vain. It's no longer just nightlife photography! By way of introduction, he's showcasing never-before-seen half-naked photos of Josh and Emily, back when things were brighter. Josh frankly glistens, and Emily? Well, she always looks like a million bucks. (Meanwhile, Alex Balk lets us know that the best thing about his new job is the "respect I get from my co-workers.")

BREAKING UPDATE: DOREE BOUGHT JOSH THE FATEFUL CLAFOUTIS. OR HALF OF IT ANYWAY. [The Doree Chronicles, Related, Previously]

Former Gawker editor Joshua David Stein's Page Six Magazine story on the unhappy end of his not-quite-secret romantic relationship with former Gawker editor Emily Gould leaves neither of them looking particularly mature. It is, poetically, not available online. The best recap may be this one, from Karen, an "avid quilter" and "middle aged blogger." Former Gawker editor Alex Balk gives Barack Obama "the coveted Balk endorsement," because he hates baby boomers, dynasties, and women (j/k!). He also pens the ultimate Radar post. Former Gawker managing editor Choire Sicha interviewed Paulda Abdul, commented on the Stein/Gould affair via IM transcript, and started a band. Jessica Coen: still Tumblring. Update: The full story, with commentary, may be found here.

Doree is bored by The Wire's Baltimore Sun storyline. Choire is at a seafood restaurant in South Carolina. Emily is posting photos of her dog (and criticizing books about sad literary men). Balk is really sorry he hasn't updated in a while but it's been totally crazy at work!