THE DAY GAWKER TORE ITSELF APART, from Lloyd Grove of the Daily Beast, who also formerly worked for Condé Nast, whose CFO’s life was upended by Gawker last week. Grove writes, “When the history of Gawker Media is someday recorded—and perhaps presented as a case study in flawed judgment at whatever journalism schools might still exist—the events of July 20, 2015 will likely be memorialized as the Monday Morning Massacre:”
At a meeting at the office today, Monday, according to New York magazine, Craggs and Read spoke about their reasons for leaving, which was to protect “a sacred principle,” according to a source in the room.
Craggs said that the stakes were large: Denton wanted to turn Gawker into a “tamer Vox.”
The meltdown over Thursday’s article has become his “Reichstag fire,” Craggs told staffers. Another source told New York magazine, by that Craggs meant “this was the pretext by which he can Vox-ify Gawker.”
Another source told the magazine, “Nick has decided Gawker should be Vox but a little edgier.”
And the reverse could also come to pass:
Vox's Chris Ziegler drives a billboard on a truck past the burning offices of Gawker Media, offering jobs: https://t.co/jkT1NLKqQx
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) July 20, 2015
gawker media peeps: many of you are awesome and if you're having a crappy day we'd love to talk to you. DM me or http://t.co/tdaPLh6gB5
— Chris Ziegler (@zpower) July 20, 2015
As Cathy Young wrote on Monday at Real Clear Politics, Gawker may be a son of a bitch, but “for the left, Gawker was ‘our son of a bitch.’”
RELATED: Tim Blair spots Gawker’s “Boss Bewildered.”