Gawker cuts 19 editorial jobs: Economy, advertising blamed

Gawker Media is laying off 19 of its 133 editorial staff, according to a memo by publisher Nick Denton.

Denton blamed economic factors for the layoffs. He said that while Gawker's advertising sales are up 30% from a year earlier and clients in the entertainment and consumer electronics industries are "relatively well insulated," the credit crisis would impact advertising after Christmas. "2009 is obviously going to be exceptionally difficult," Denton said.

However, Denton added that Gawker is hiring new staff to boost several Gawker publications:

"One reason we're eliminating these positions is to reinforce the teams on the sites with the most commercial appeal—Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker and Gawker—and the properties such as Jezebel, io9, Deadspin and Jalopnik which are poised to join them.

Tne new recruit we're confirming today is Gabriel Snyder from W Magazine in Los Angeles who, as managing editor of Gawker.com, will continue the site's evolution into a national news and entertainment site. We are also hiring new contributors at Jezebel, Deadspin, Kotaku and io9."

The layoffs will reduce Valleywag's staff by 60%, according to Valleywag editor Owen Thomas. Denton also indicated cuts at Consumerist, and said that pageview bonuses -- which are given to writers for posts that generate lots of traffic -- would be suspended for the first quarter of 2009. However, he added that the base pay rate for editors and writers would be increased.