Gawker Editors Resign Amid Controversy

Gawker, the New York-based gossip site, has some staff vacancies this week after two editors resigned their positions in the wake of the publication of a controversial article.

USA Today reports that Tommy Craggs, executive editor of Gawker Media, and Max Read, editor-in-chief of Gawker, resigned their positions after a decision was made to pull an article they had previously edited and approved to appear on the Gawker website. The article, which appeared on the Gawker website Thursday, had alleged that Condé Nast CFO David Geithner had solicited sex from a gay porn star, something Geithner denied.

According to The New York Times, the article was heavily criticized following its publication and Gawker founder and CEO Nick Denton has stated that he regrets that it was published. The Gawker Media managing partners, including Denton, held a vote and by a 4-2 margin decided to pull the article from the Gawker website on Friday.

Wired reports that the move upset Gawker editors Craggs and Read, who expressed their frustration in their resignation letters that reflected the sentiments of a letter posted by Gawker editorial staff members over the weekend.

“That non-editorial business executives were given a vote in the decision to remove it is an unacceptable and unprecedented breach of the editorial firewall and turns Gawker’s claim to be the world’s largest independent media company into, essentially, a joke,” Read wrote.

Prior to his resignation, Read took to Twitter to defend the decision to publish the piece on the Gawker site. In what some might consider typical Gawker style, Read tweeted that Gawker would always choose to publish articles about top executives who commit adultery.

Craggs wrote that pulling the article down was a violation of the Gawker‘s founding principles and expressed his belief that Gawker Media no longer deserved the talents of the writers it employed.

“You are, you will always be, the best argument for a company that no longer deserves you,” Craggs wrote. “The impulse that led to Thursday’s story is the impulse upon which Nick himself built Gawker’s brand.”

Variety reports that Denton issued a statement in which he said the decision to remove the article from the Gawker website reflected the growth the company had undergone since its founding.

“Gawker is no longer the insolent blog that began in 2003. It does important and interesting journalism about politicians, celebrities and other major public figures,” Denton said. “It is the first time we have removed a significant news story for any reason other than factual error or legal settlement.”

In a memo sent to Gawker Media employees, Denton appeared to setting a new course in terms of tone and style for the Gawker.

“That post wasn’t what Gawker should stand for, and it is symptomatic of a site that has been out of control of editorial management,” he wrote. “Our flagship site carries the same name as the company, and the reputation of the entire company rests on its work. When Gawker itself is seen as sneering and callous, it affects all of us.”

[Image via Gawker Media]