Gawker has long delighted in thumbing its nose at journalism convention, and that’s fine. On the other hand it makes no bones about it being a journalism organization, and it certainly is. Flouting convention is one thing. Allowing a death-row inmate to whitewash the facts of his case, and his role in a grisly murder, without any vetting is another matter altogether.
Yeah I hate Gawker as much as the next person but I did learn in the piece on the Rob Ford saga I posted yesterday -- no link, phone -- that being amoral Gawker had a lot of leeway and their breaking of the story directly allowed the Toronto Star to run a real, sources story under the cover of legal protection. So that's interesting.
No, that's erosive. It's also covered heavily in Ryan Holiday's Trust Me I'm Lying as "Trading up the Chain." Here's the thing: Drug abuse by mayors is nothing new. the difference is, back when we had a real 4th estate, shit happened in a logical, defensible matter. Allegations are made, cops investigate, justice is served. Under the Gawker model, allegations are made, pageviews are clicked, mud is slinged, lather rinse repeat.
Ah shit I read that article, I'll admit I didn't give a second thought to whether or not the man was being truthful when he claimed that he didn't actually commit the murders. Thanks for the update!
I don't trust gawker as far as I can throw their servers.