Gawker Chief Nick Denton Says He Has A Cure For Internet Trolls
Gawker owns Kinja, a collaborative "discussion platform" that rides underneath its blogs. It's intended to take the meanness out of anonymous commenting by creating a semi-moderated community.
Denton offered the example that if a company is seeking coverage on Gizmodo, Gawker's gadget news blog, they should simply stop by the office.
Yes, the Gawker office in the physical world. They'll work with you on how to best harness Kinja, he says.
"Come to Gawker and sit down with our writers. We'll get you worthwhile coverage and protect you from Internet trolls. In exchange, you should have something worthwhile to show off," he said.
When asked about revenue growth, Denton declined to be drawn. He admitted sales were up 30% over the year before but didn't put dollars numbers on that. Instead, he insisted that growth was not one of Gawker's objectives. The entire company exists "to expose," he said repeatedly, referring to the "bull----" that he believes infects the startup world.
Denton had particularly harsh words for tech news sites, like Business Insider. Most of the tech startups and app companies we cover are "meaningless," he insisted.
Gawker is the high-brow gossip sheet covering media, entertainment, politics and technology.