Yet it eventually produced some of the most path-breaking journalism of the early 21st century and spawned a vast community of journalists who have continued to produce work of the same quality. At various points founder and owner Nick Denton defiantly insisted that no one should confuse what Gawker did with journalism.

This was part of the strange beast that Gawker – and the stable of sites it created – was. In this case, I knew to a certainty that this particular libel situation was not one TPM ever would have found itself in. You published a sex tape.” Publishers see every libel suit and think there but for the grace of God. And yet tucked away in my head part of me was saying, “C’mon. As a publisher and strong supporter of press freedom, I supported Gawker’s position publicly and privately. The future of freedom of the press, he told me, was on the line with Gawker’s fate. He was very much preaching the Hulk Hogan lawsuit gospel. My friend was walking me through all of these developments. In preparation Gawker founder and owner Nick Denton had recently cut some deal with a Russian oligarch to give Gawker deep enough pockets to withstand an adverse judgment which they anticipated and hoped could be reversed on appeal. The Hulk Hogan lawsuit had been on the horizon for a long time before it actually came to trial. This reminded me of something I’ve been coming back to again and again with greater clarity and understanding its greater significance as the years have gone by.Īt some point in 2015 I was sitting at my desk in TPM’s New York office’s talking with a good friend who worked at Gawker. But he is actually part of a rising tide of neo-authoritarian thought in the tech world which argues that democracy has failed and must be replaced.

Thiel seems like an outlier in Silicon Valley because of his high profile support for Trump. I just started reading this Buzzfeed article about Facebook board member and Trump backer Peter Thiel’s relationship with racist fringe groups.

Donald trump gawker