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Gawker (Kotaku parent) Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Ziff Davis (IGN) wants to buy
- Thread starter Jonboy
- Start date
SlipperyFishes
Banned
His post today was indictative that a great injustice has been caused towards the company. Pretty sure his stance hasn't changed there.
Yes?
When a journalist gets a scoop in the field that they are covering it, they don't sit on it. Just like Ariel Helwani talked about recently when reporting on Brock Lesnar signing with the UFC, which got his press credentials revoked.
They also gave us great stuff like the story about Destiny's troubled development.
Honestly, I haven't cared for Kotaku that much myself, but to act like they haven't been doing actual journalism in the past few years is just flat out wrong and screams of willful ignorance. People like Jason Schreier and Patrick Klepek have been doing a great job for a while. Credit should be given when it's due.
Whether you have a problem with Thiel bankrolling Hogan's lawsuit or not, or specifically with his motivations for doing so, the bottom line is that IF Gawker hadn't crossed the line posting the video in the first place, and then proceeded to piss on said line in their response to the court order to take it down, Thiel wouldn't have been able to fund their demise. So yeah rather than pointing fingers, next time just
orthodoxy1095
Banned
In the context of this industry, yes.
Press Sneak Fuck and Scoops actually get some work done. And have yet to do anything "Gawker-ish" as far as I know.
Wuthering_Heights
Banned
Man, that would be delicious.
Nepotism also extends to include friends.
But he does have good content, he will land on his feet.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
For real? I've been applying to them recently. Might not have gotten a reply back due to this.
they're hardly the victims. the victims would be the man they publicly outed (thiel) and the people whose sex tape they published without consent (hogan). not to mention the countless other slimy shit that's been going on there for years.
gawker employees have been knowingly complicit. it's not like gizmodo & jezebel staff, schreier et al. didn't know what was going on. they've stayed with the company for the YEARS that this has been happening, making money to further finance and taking money generated from said behavior. it sucks that people will lose their jobs but i'd rather that than gawker proceed unchecked doing what they've been doing.
Huge Succeeded
Banned
Bummer about Kotaku. overarching Gawker content, I can live without, but Kotaku is good shit.
in the context of the gaming industry, sure. I'd love to hear how you think it isn't
in the context of the gaming industry, sure. I'd love to hear how you think it isn't
Why wouldn't it be? There's nothing inherently "journalistic" about playing along with publishers. If anything, bending to their whim is what ensures you'll never rise above the level of enthusiast press.
IGN bought assets from Gametrailers. They will have Kotaku. Full on global takeover. America 2.0
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
Best of luck to all the Kotaku staff. I can't say I've read too much of the other Gawker websites, but I hope that if it comes to it, everyone lands on their feet.
The possibility of a Davis takeover might be great for them (in terms of not stopping work).
The possibility of a Davis takeover might be great for them (in terms of not stopping work).
PHOENIXZERO
Member
I know I'm way behind on this but it wasn't the article but the clips they included with it, had it just been a story about the sex tape this would've never happened.
Pathfinder
Member
Not sure if this has been posted here yet (sorry if it has been), but Gawker has posted an official article about the Bankruptcy.
http://gawker.com/gawker-media-is-filing-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-will-1781763729
Looks like they'll continue to operate and the staff will be fine. They'll just be under the wing of Ziff now.
http://gawker.com/gawker-media-is-filing-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-will-1781763729
Looks like they'll continue to operate and the staff will be fine. They'll just be under the wing of Ziff now.
Oh God Why
Banned
That buyout... it's like jumping out of a burning airplane, opening your parachute, thinking your gonna be alright, and then you look down and realize your gonna land in a lava pit.
Gentleman Jack
Member
Hard to believe people wanna tapdance on Kotaku's grave because they reported that sequels to video games were coming out before an official press release.
Game publishers are our friends, we should respect their wishes. I love to buy products. Get hype for E3! Let's spread positivity!
Giolon
Member
But they ruined all those meticulously crafted PR plans!
NinjamicWZ
Banned
If anything can make Up At Noon watchable, go for it.
migh_and_highty
Neo Member
Few years ago kotaku was exclusively my gaming news fix. I rarely go on there anymore apart from linked articles, because I just find news more relevant elsewhere and often better written. Gawker love em or hate em, can't deny they have no morality or ethics principle and being sued was just inevitable. Just pay the man gawker, then restructure and focus on writing quality articles, not bait
DAREALGUMMY
Member
Does Hulk Hogan hold the record for bringing more companies to Bankruptcy over Trump?
Game publishers are our friends, we should respect their wishes. I love to buy products. Get hype for E3! Let's spread positivity!
Knock it off, as this thread has already demonstrated, companies are not just those at the very top. A consumer's "right to know" is an excuse by Kotaku to generate ad revenue on the consumer's "want to know". You don't think leaks affect devs? Just as we're talking about how lowly kotaku employees don't deserve this?
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Mhm, I don't know why people are surprised that Totilo phrased his note the way he did.
Patrick and Schreier are good people~ But some of the people working there need to get over themselves. Outting people isn't in the interest of anyone but the outers.
Gentleman Jack
Member
EA and Bethesda will have to survive this relentless assault of free promotion for their games.
Xisiqomelir
Member
Totilo retweeting this garbage is :/
Leaks can and will happen. As far as I know Kotaku is one of the biggest sites to do their own investigating just to blurt out unnanounced games. I'm not saying that this is some ridiculous "spoiling" of an announcement, but rather just co-oping an announcement and doing it first to get ad rev.
Weirdly enough I think kotaku's reporting on the scorpio and gb's reporting on neo is appropriate. There is a "need to know" for consumers.
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
Yeah, hoping Patrick, Jason (though I disagree with him at times) as well as the rest of the staff end on their feet.
Totilo though....
Too many times echoing the party line, when that party line was a hill that imo, absolutely isn't the place to plant your flag and die on.
Totilo though....
Too many times echoing the party line, when that party line was a hill that imo, absolutely isn't the place to plant your flag and die on.
Outrun
Member
He is a Real American
Well everyone seems to hate Gawker for what they do, so there you go, America: you're about to get a version that's a toe-the-line, cookie-cutter, generic news site just like all the rest of Ziff-Davis' sites. Congratulations.
That's the part that gets me the most: all these people white-knighting for Ubisoft.
All they did is break some news—true news!—before the company wanted it out there. Why should a news organization be beholden to PR concerns?
That's the part that gets me the most: all these people white-knighting for Ubisoft.
All they did is break some news—true news!—before the company wanted it out there. Why should a news organization be beholden to PR concerns?
Xisiqomelir
Member
IANAL, but I believe AJ "Child pornography of 4 year olds would cross the line, but child pornography of 5 year olds? That would be fine" Daulerio was held personally liable by the court. And he hasn't been a Gawk employee for years. Chapter 11 isn't going to save his ass (and nothing of value will be lost).
Oh God Why
Banned
From reading the statement from the Ziff Davis CEO, it seem that they want to acquire Gawker Media and keep all of their sites running independently. That would imply that sites such as Kotaku would keep doing what they were doing before and if the buyout happens (I'm also not taking into consideration any possible restructuring or staff leaving if the buyout were to happen).
But to what extent would that be too? If Kotaku were to leak something to the public (Fallout 4 for example) and get blacklisted by the publisher like they've and gotten done in the past, could that possibly extend to IGN, since both sites are now owned by the same publisher? I don't think a site like IGN would like to incur publishers' wrath like Kotaku has done so in the past.
But to what extent would that be too? If Kotaku were to leak something to the public (Fallout 4 for example) and get blacklisted by the publisher like they've and gotten done in the past, could that possibly extend to IGN, since both sites are now owned by the same publisher? I don't think a site like IGN would like to incur publishers' wrath like Kotaku has done so in the past.
SaintMadeOfPlaster
Member
Reminder that just because somebody doesn't like Kotaku and doesn't feel bad about the site potentially dying doesn't mean that they're happy that people are losing their jobs.
RealityCheque
Banned
Ask 1up how that tune usually goes....
Gentleman Jack
Member
We are still talking about whether or not reporting on the existence of a video game before the corporate machine can maximize preorders by controlling all of the announcement timing qualifies as journalism right? Because so far nothing you're describing really discredits the idea, nor does it sound like an indictment of the ethics of organizations that use their sources to leak that information. If a journo can get that info out to people who want it (and we want it!) then yes, they deserve that ad revenue. I don't understand your objection to them running ads next to a story that effectively says "Publisher known for annualizing franchises is about to announce a sequel, get your info here first." I mean, should they not monetize their ability to get such scoops? Why? Hurt feelings? Somone's deeply warped definition of "Ethics?"
Skyball Paint
Member
I am more comfortable with a rich man being able to get revenge on a shitty tabloid because the stars aligned just right, than the posting of sex tapes without consent being protected by the first amendment.
You tell me that the sky is falling on the free press when a billionaire is able to destroy the New York Times for exposing that he eats babies.
You tell me that the sky is falling on the free press when a billionaire is able to destroy the New York Times for exposing that he eats babies.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
I wonder about two things: Are they even allowed to put themselfs up for sale now that they owe Hogan 140 million? What's to stop them from selling the company for just pennies? And second: Will a potential buyer have to pay those 140 million because they are the new owner?
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Exactly.
I don't mind Kotaku, and glad they will seemingly be sticking around for the most part in the same form. Used to be my main go to site back in the day when it was invite only to post, and Brian Ashcraft invited me. When they opened it up to anyone can post, Witzbold and I were the two final choices for main moderation.
I stopped visiting to post after I left for contract work that took me away from gaming for a few years, and when I came back it changed completely with account systems, Crecente & McWhertor had left, and it just was not the same as far as 'community'.
Gawker CEO on the other hand, he can get fucked. Imposing on people's privacy with the guise of 'journalism' is some bullshit self serving crusade.
I think it all shakes out when a developer cuts friendly ties with them, which is the risk they run by running with the story. The thing that I object to is when they turn to their own readership to pity them for "just looking out for our readers, we only thought you should know!" They did it then and they're doing it now. They rolled the dice and they lost. It shouldn't be on the readership to pity defend them.
MegaManTrigger
Banned
I think that's a oversimplified way of looking at things. In what world is finding out someone's sexuality, or posting a sex video of a celebrity representative of journalism as you described in the bolded? If anything, what Gawker did constitutes tabloid BS at its finest. Furthermore, consent is particularly important when you take into account the ramifications of what the revealed news could do to one's reputation as it pertains to their career. That's the reason why we have the lawsuit in the first place. Gawker went above and beyond in trying to report both news simply because it did so without giving a shred of damn about the consequences. Doubly so, when they blatantly ignored a judge's orders to take down the sex tape.
To branch what Gawker is doing as part of journalism is insulting to the field of journalism. Especially considering that there have been journalists with a much tougher job doing actions such as exposing government scandals, illegal actions by prominent figures in society, and the list goes on. These acts are far more worthy than the asinine things that Gawker did, especially when you're talking about making positive impact despite pissing off the 1%, and not focusing on the most mundane things like someone's sexuality or who had sex with who.
Not sure what you're getting at with regards to smaller outlets.
Gentleman Jack
Member
I've never said that Kotaku should be pitied for being blacklisted by publishers, nor have I suggested others take it easy on them. I'm mostly responding to the childish attitude in this post that suggests game leaks don't count as journalism when they very obviously do, and to your later suggestion that there's anything wrong at all with monetizing a scoop.
Totilo name dropping Peter Thiel is a dumb head-scratcher, I agree on that. He gains nothing from that opening paragraph.
Pathfinder
Member
The bankruptcy protection procedure is supervised by the court, so they won't be able to do anything blatently underhanded. Everything will have to be approved.
Not only that, Ziff won't have to pay close to 140 million once the case is done going through approvals. I'm guessing they'll end up paying less than 40 after all is said and done.
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