Wonkette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| URL | www.wonkette.com |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Blog |
| Created by | Nick Denton, Ana Marie Cox, Choire Sicha, Alex Pareene, David Lat, Ken Layne, John Clark Jr, Jim Newell, Megan Carpentier, Sara K. Smith, Josh Fruhlinger |
Wonkette is a political satire and gossip blog that details the goings-on of the political establishment in Washington, DC and the U.S. generally. It posts multiple times daily, Monday through Friday, with limited weekend posting.
Taking a sarcastic tone, the site focuses heavily on humorous breaking news, rumors, and the downfall of the powerful. It also deals with serious matters of politics and policy. While liberal in outlook, the site is critical of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
The name of the site is a play on the slang word wonk, meaning a 'zealous student of political policy'.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Launch and history
Wonkette was established in January 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Its founding editor was Ana Marie Cox, a former editor at suck.com. Under her tenure, Wonkette became known for its sharp, sarcastic, intelligent voice, and for its mixture of heady political discourse with repeated references to gin and anal sex.[2]
Cox rapidly established a large reading audience and media notice for the site. The blog gained further national media attention after Cox publicized the story of Jessica Cutler aka "Washingtonienne", a former Hill staffer who blogged about her affair with a member of former Senator Mike DeWine's staff.[3]
Cox announced her resignation as Wonkette's editor on January 5, 2006 in order to promote her book, Dog Days.
[edit] Changes in personnel
Cox was succeeded on Wonkette by David Lat, the author of Underneath Their Robes, a blog about the federal judiciary, and Alex Pareene, a young New York University student and Gawker intern/guest editor in New York who moved to DC for the Wonkette position. (Pareene has since become the day editor of Gawker.)
In June 2006, Lat announced his decision to leave Wonkette. His slot was to be filled by guest editors until August 2006, when Gawker blogger Ken Layne joined as permanent guest editor. Layne became West Coast bureau editor officially before the November midterm elections. Wonkette reached its highest pre-2008 traffic during the midterm elections due to scandal coverage of Mark Foley and other incumbents involved in corruption, sex-abuse and bribery scandals.
In October 2007, Pareene announced that he would be leaving the site in order to work for Gawker Media out of New York City and Layne left the site shortly afterwards as well. John Clarke, Jr. - formerly of the New York Times and Variety - briefly took over as the site's editor mid-October, with Jim Newell, formerly of IvyGate, and Megan Carpentier, formerly the anonymous author of the "Ask a Lobbyist" column, serving as associate editors. Layne returned as Wonkette's managing editor in January 2008.
Within weeks of his return, Layne replaced associate editor Megan Carpentier with Sara K. Smith, who marked her anniversary at the site in February 2009. Newell, Smith, Layne and videographer Liz Glover covered the Denver DNC and St. Paul RNC conventions for the site. Newell and columnist Josh Fruhlinger covered Barack Obama's inauguration in Washington.
Columns by Princess Sparkle Pony and the Comics Curmudgeon are regularly featured, along with video produced by Liz Glover. Guest editors include Reason Magazine editor Nick Gillespie, Reason reporter David Weigel, Princess Sparkle Pony blogger Peter Huestis, DCeiver editor and Huffington Post writer Jason Linkins. Current interns include Juli Weiner, editor of Columbia's literary magazine The Blue and White, and Malaka Gharib, a contributor to The Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera English and Brightest Young Things.
[edit] Present arrangements
On April 14, 2008 Gawker Media announced that it was selling Wonkette and that Layne would remain managing editor and part owner. Gawker Media head Nick Denton attributed the sale to "hunkering down" before another dot com downturn and the internet bubble bursts: "And, even if not, better safe than sorry; and better too early than too late..."[4]
In addition to managing editor Ken Layne, Wonkette currently employs two associate editors: Jim Newell and Sara K. Smith. Under this group, the blog has shifted its jokes to frequent Truck Nutz references[5] and mainstream media outlets like CNN, the New York Times and Politico, when they are perceived as missing opportunities for substantive political analysis by attempting to get "scoops" or simply covering the actions of others in the mainstream media.[6][7] It also launched Wonkabout, a D.C. culture guide, on February 12, 2009, which features a weekly brunch column by Brunch DC creator Michael Herman.[8]
[edit] Awards and accomplishments
The Bloggies at SXSW selected Wonkette as Best Political Blog in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Wonkette was chosen as a top political blog by Vanity Fair and Real Simple in 2008. Wonkette won the Best Liberal Blog category in the 2008 Weblog Awards and is nominated in the humor, politics and group-blog categories in the 2009 Bloggies.
[edit] References
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED6133AF935A15754C0A964958260
- ^ Bosman, Julie (2004-04-18). "First With the Scoop, if Not the Truth". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E6DA123BF93BA25757C0A9629C8B63. Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
- ^ Rosen, Jeffrey (2004-12-19). "Your Blog or Mine?". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/magazine/19PHENOM.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22Jessica%20Cutler%22&st=cse&oref=slogin. Retrieved on 2008-07-29.
- ^ http://wonkette.com/379275/yes-we-can-wonkette-goes-solo
- ^ Wonkette: "Big $ale On Truck Nutz At McCain-Palin HQ!" 12/11/2008 http://wonkette.com/404913/big-ale-on-truck-nutz-at-mccain-palin-hq
- ^ "Politico’s SCOOP Reveals Journalists Talk To Each Other, With Covert Digital Marxist iGroupthink Thing" http://wonkette.com/407061/politicos-scoop-reveals-journalists-talk-to-each-other-with-covert-digital-marxist-igroupthink-thing
- ^ Wonkette: "CNN’s Ed Henry Writes Worst Article In American History" 3/25/2009 http://wonkette.com/407264/cnns-ed-henry-writes-worst-article-in-american-history
- ^ "Introducing Wonkabout" http://wonkabout.com/406166/introducing-wonkabout-the-dc-guide/?from=wonkette_post
