Background:
Elizabeth Spiers: Former editor of
Gawker (huge in the blog world), current writer at
New York Magazine and author of said magazine's blog,
The Kicker.
Choire Sicha:
Gawker's current editor
Jen Chung:
Gothamist's writer/editor
Nick Denton:
Gawker's publisher
Felix Salmon: Writer for
Memefirst
Let the Drama begin!
As seen on Gawker:
The Death of The Kicker
The absence of certain irregularly-updated web-only content is the first visible sign of the new regime of Adam Moss over at New York mag. Ah, The Kicker: the mag's weblog written by Elizabeth Spiers, Gawker editrix emeritus, seems to be no more. We imagine that now Elizabeth floats in the digital matrix of New York like a virus, looking for editorial sections to destroy using the evil programming with which we filled her cyborg head. Should we set her on detonate and send her towards Amy Sohn's cubicle?
As Seen on Gothamist:
The Kicker Kicks It
Gawker notes that The Kicker is no more over at New York magazine's website, NYMetro.com. Instead when you click on The Kicker's URL, you are asked to rate restaurants, bars, and stores. Perhaps due to the new Era of Moss at New York, it's a sign that blogs, while useful and sometimes powerful, are maybe not as critical as once thought for traditional newspapers' and magazines' websites. Another issue was the fact that Elizabeth Spiers didn't post that often; she was kept busy, as she was hired as a writer, not just a blogger, working on stories. Blogs do keep debates healthy and lively, so it'll be interesting to see how other publications try to meet make blogs work (if they even try) within their scopes.
Fittingly, the cover story for New York is Are You Bipolar?
As Seen on Memefirst:
The Kicker, RIP
I'm late to this game: both Gawker and Gothamist have noted that if you try to visit The Kicker, you'll find instead a page called "Rate It!". But the redirecting is actually quite complicated: if you try to visit recent individual entries from The Kicker (as featured in its RSS feed), you'll wind up being asked to rate different stores. Here's the list:
Original headline Redirects to:
Dear Graydon David Yurman
Haitian Revolution: Limited Upside Potential David Saity Jewelry
Jayson Blair Conversation Starters Dave's Army & Navy Store
Even in the world of blog redirects, it would seem, Graydon Carter is infinitely classier than Jayson Blair. Hell, Haitian revolutionaries are infinitely classier than Jayson Blair.
As seen on Elizabeth Spiers:
Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Dear people who know me personally, have my cell phone number and my email address (some of whom have even referred to themselves as my friends) yet apparently still can't be bothered to contact me for verification because it would ruin the scoop on your blogs**:
New York Metro experienced technical difficulties this weekend and the primary URL for The Kicker is not resolving properly (nor are several of the other pages.)
The Kicker has not been shut down.
That's not to say that The Kicker won't be shut down. It may; it may not. Today was Adam Moss's first day and we haven't talked about it yet.
** I'll let Felix and Gothamist off the hook a bit here, because they were re-reporting, but Choire and Nick have no excuse...
Fight! Fight! There's nothing Standard Deviance loves more than blog drama.
