29 - You Have to Pick a Hill

Gawker.com is gone. Some people are upset, some people are dancing on its grave. Is there a right or a wrong perspective on Gawker's demise? Was its fate deserved because of its controversial and confrontational editorial style, or was Peter Thiel's cash-fueled vendetta an ugly harbinger of what could happen to the state of media if the powerful choose to litigate the free press into non-existence?

The hot Gawker takes have been flying left and right, and on this week's Hacks and Flacks, Andrew Grzywacz and I try to dig through it all. We acknowledge the contrasting reactions of the media and the general public toward Gawker's end, and discuss the possible implications for other publications. 

SHOW NOTES:

• Nick Denton on Gawker: "How Things Work"
• Max Read on Gawker: "Did I Kill Gawker?"
• Peter Thiel editorial: "The Online Privacy Debate Won't End With Gawker"
• Other billionaires suing the press: Poynter