Nick Denton: Don't Believe the Blog Hype

Posted on May 8, 2005

Nick Denton, who runs the Gawker network of blogs, sounds rather negative about the impact of blogs in a recent New York Times article. Gawker Media publishes some of the most popular blogs including Wonkette, Gizmodo and Gawker.

At a time when media conferences like "Les Blogs" in Paris two weeks ago debate the potential of the form, and when BusinessWeek declares, as it did on its May 2 cover, that "Blogs Will Change Your Business," Mr. Denton is withering in his contempt. A blog, he says, is much better at tearing things down -- people, careers, brands -- than it is at building them up. As for the blog revolution, Mr. Denton put it this way: "Give me a break."

"The hype comes from unemployed or partially employed marketing professionals and people who never made it as journalists wanting to believe," he said. "They want to believe there's going to be this new revolution and their lives are going to be changed."

Denton also said in the Times interview that the iwantmedia.com interview where Gawker Media's Managing Editor Lockhart Steele said their bloggers are paid $2,500 a month was "misreported and was supposed to be off the record." The Times said iwantmedia.com disputes this claim. Denton also told the Times they have a couple other blogs planned and he thinks 17 might be a good number to stop at.

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