So, okay, if I wasn’t convinced Conde Nast or some other major publisher will buy Gawker Media within the year, then maybe I wouldn’t imagine Lockhart Steele, Gawker’s new Managing Editor as a budding James Truman–but as he tells I Want Media “My goal is to read each of the sites every day for the big picture”–it’s hard not to hold that thought.
In the interview, Steele gives some great data about Gawker’s schedule of payments, minimum number of posts required, and establishment of themes or sequential narratives for blogs or sets of blogs. He says Gawker’s just introduced a new thing–incentivizing writers and paying extra based on traffic spikes–and not ebveryone likes it (yeah, right).
The interview is excellent–here’s a bonus quote:
“…blogging requires a reset of the mind. You write it up, then post it. Part of the reason I like blog writing is that it feels loose — and if it has a typo, who cares? As they say, “Blogs fact check in real time.” The idea being that you’re not afraid to just post stuff and then, if there are problems, people will let you know about it.”