Gawker traffic report for April
This memo was just sent to Gawker Media employees:
From: [Director of Editorial Operations] Scott Kidder
To: [Gawker Media editorial]
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 11:56 AM
Subject: April Numbers — site uniques and top 100 storiesSite-Wide Uniques and May Targets
Jezebel’s insane target beating streak continues — and they also took the top spot in the Top 100 Stories two months in a row!
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THE TOP GAWKER MEDIA STORIES IN APRIL
1. Your Vagina Isn’t Just Too Big, Too Floppy, and Too Hairy — It’s Also Too Brown (Jezebel)
2. SNL Explains the Nudity in Game of Thrones (Gawker)
3. A Complete Guide to ‘Hipster Racism’ (Jezebel)
4. What Happens When You Push the Button? (Gizmodo)
5. Announcing Our Newest Hire: A Current Fox News Channel Employee (Gawker)
6. Your Morning Ennui: Henri the French Cat Articulates the Pain of Existence (Jezebel)
7. Here’s a Picture of Bill O’Reilly With a Topless Woman Along With the Fox News Legal Threat Meant to Quash It (Gawker)
8. Behold the water slide so dangerous it was shut down immediately (io9)
9. Finding Goatse: The Mystery Man Behind the Most Disturbing Internet Meme in History (Gawker)
10. Worst People Ever Catch Foul Ball, Refuse To Give It To A Crying Child, Are Vilified By Michael Kay (Deadspin)
Gawker and Deadspin are fascinating phenomena. They collect very very little original news but dominate via clever analysis, framing, and most importantly, audience participation. What goes unsaid in all of this is the boring news collection done by Newspapers and the AP (via the Newspapers that solely own the AP via its unique collective structure).
Gawker and Deadspin clearly do well but one has to wonder if or when they will make the transition to mainly original news collecting. Or, as long as the AP does not charge for its product, if they even want to.
Hey, it worked for Paul Harvey on radio for decades.