We were wondering why Valleywag, the Silicon Valley gossip site some people hate and others love, wasn’t reading as witty as usual. We saw author Nick Douglas (pictured here) at Web 2.0 last week — suggesting he was back from vacation — but the site’s posts remained distant.
Now we have confirmation he is gone, with editor Nick Denton (pictured below) taking over, and posting the following:
Nick Douglas, the kid we plucked from college to launch Valleywag, will be a great journalist. And we will look stupid for letting him go. (To reach Nick Douglas, send email to popsnap at gmail dot com.) But, to helm the site, we’re now looking for someone with, ideally, some background in reporting. An old-media career, useful in the sparkling new world of blogs. Who would have thought? We’re also in the market for a junior writer, who could be anyone from purebred blogger to frustrated publicist. Expressions of interest, or leads, to denton@valleywag.com, please. Oh, yes, I forgot to say, I’m Nick Denton, and I’m standing in on Valleywag till we find a permanent replacement. This is the beat I covered at my last gig as a reporter. Okay, so I was bored running a business.
We followed up in IM with Denton, to ask for more. Denton said: “I felt the site could be more….more popular, more authoritative, more like other gawker sites such as Defamer.” Huh, we responded, hadn’t Douglas developed a strong voice? Denton continued: “Yeah, Nick’s a talented writer, and will go a long way — and I’m not saying that. But we’re not that nurturing an environment…and he’s very young. Bottom line is that Nick was doing pretty well — Alexa rank heading up, etc — but I want Valleywag to be up with our flagship sites, like Gawker, Defamer and Wonkette. There are so many good stories here.”
By the way, check out this interview with Douglas at 10 Zen Monkeys we read the weekend before last, which suggested Douglas was looking at his next move…
Word is, Wired is looking at him, for potential hire.
We’ve emailed Douglas to see if he wants to talk.
7 Comments
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Curt said:
Man. Nick WAS that site to me. Funny, totally fearless, mean and nice at the same time. I’m not sure what’ll happen. But wherever Nick goes, I’ll sure read him.
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Charles Miller said:
“Man. Nick WAS that site to me.”
Seeing as he provided almost all the content, Nick was the site, period. If you get rid of Nick, change the editorial policy and even change the layout, the only link the new Valleywag has left to the old is the URL.
Denton has a big job ahead of him building what is effectively an entirely new site, and the only thing he has going for him are the residual eyeballs from the old site… who went there because they liked what Nick Douglas was doing.
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Greg said:
Yup, as founding editor, he was indeed THE site. No matter what else he does, he should immediately start his own gossip blog and take his audience with him. Yes, he’s young and a bit sloppy in his reporting, but hey, it’s just a blog afterall ;-)
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guy said:
Greg,
You are right, he was young, a bit sloppy, fearless and kinda had a ‘don’t give a shit’ attitude which is why he was so great. valleywag used to be the first place i went to in the morning and now it just won’t/can’t be the same. sounds like those frickin morons at gawker canned him. chalk that up there with semel bringing tom cruise to work. denton blew it.
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Ben Baker said:
Guy, (my brother’s name too),
VW was also my first place to go in the morning; it won’t be anymore. Nick - do your own thing! You have the ready-made following. I’ll click an ad or two for you. -
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4 Trackbacks
5:33 am
Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation and the Web » Blog Archive » Blog Looks to “Old-Media” Reporters for Growth said:
[...] Matt Marshall caught up with Nick, asking about the sudden shift: [...]
5:13 pm
The Rotted Brain Podcast » Rotted Brain #10 11/14/06 - A Pre-emptive Ass Beating said:
[...] 1. Man Claims Take-Out Taco Contained Drugs (Link) 2. Valleywag Guy Nick Douglas Gone and Valleywag gets facelift (Link)(Link) 3. Car Salesman’s Quick Draw Foils Robbery (Link) 4. Google Launching Customize Home Pages Targeted at Business Users (Link)(Link) 5. Get cheap movies legally! In China… (Link) 6. If you are looking for a urinal for your house that’s shaped like a woman’s lips… Too late (Link) [...]
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targetsuccess.info » Blog Archive » Latest news said:
[...] Naturally, a gaggle of tech blogs are salivating at the news. “Valleywag, now with less wag,” quipped Good Morning Silicon Valley. “Word is,” whispered Venture Beat , “Wired is looking at him, for potential hire.” SiliconValley Watcher, for its part was magnanimous toward the axed editor: “Nick Douglas did a fine job with ValleyWag although by the time he left he had burnt quite a few bridges/contacts.” One thought for publisher Denton: maybe the reason Valleywag has not commanded quite the mindshare of the other Gawker properties is simply that the supply of tech blogs far outstrips the demand… [...]
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The Rotted Brain Podcast » Rotted Brain #10 11/14/06 - A Pre-emptive Ass Beating said:
[...] 1. ‘Sexist’ Urinals Auctioned for Over $7K (Link) 2. Fox to sell low-cost DVDs in China to combat piracy (Link) 3. Google Apps provides personalized home pages for groups (Link) 4. Car Salesman’s Quick Draw Foils Robbery (Link) 5. Valleywag guy Nick Douglas gone — Will Wired snag him? (Link) 6. Man Claims Take-Out Taco Contained Drugs (Link) Listen Now: [...]