Hey Gawker, Get a Life

I'm a week behind on this but I still think it's important to discuss the "Gawker/Editorial resignation" issue that hit recently.  Apparently Gawker posted an article about "a married male executive's futile attempts to hire a gay escort", as reported in The New York Times on 7/21/15.  

Gawker's founder, Nick Denton, took the story down. Editors Tommy Craggs and Max Read, quit in protest claiming Gawker was founded as a media gossip site and had always covered the lives "unapologetically and often mercilessly" of the people who work in and run the industry.  The Times then goes on to write: "The inflammatory post was now at the center of a debate over journalistic integrity".  

I am NOT shooting the messenger here (NYT), but how can anyone even put the words "journalistic integrity" and "Gawker" in the same sentence?   This is a classic story of a start-up that chooses a path, gains steam, grows up, and now answers to big time brand advertisers.  Denton was quoted in the Times saying, "If the post had remained up, we probably would have triggered ad losses into seven figures."

Now the staff of Gawker is upset because Big Cheese Nick is compromising the integrity of the Gawker mission.  "Nick has a long road ahead of him in terms of gaining back the trust of editorial employees," said Lacey Donohue, the executive managing editor of Gawker Media, "if he ever does."

We've already spent too much time on this but when I read stories that talk about "journalistic integrity", I get excited.  Unfortunately with this one, I got bummed out.
1. Nick: Get a life.
2. Lacey: Get a life.
3. Tommy: Get a life.
4. Max: Get a life.
5. Brand advertisers who support Gawker: wake up, get a life.
6. New York Times who gave WAY too much space covering this: Get a life.

Out!