Gawker

The once-feared and now-shuttered gossip website will be formally relaunched early next year, new owner Bryan Goldberg said in a memo on Tuesday. It’s not clear what exactly Gawker will be in its next iteration.

The Hispanic-focused TV network wants a minority investor to put $200 million into its Fusion Media Group.

Univision Communications Inc. said it will fight a new defamation lawsuit over a Deadspin story the company acquired last year when it purchased Gawker Media’s blogs in a bankruptcy auction. The plaintiff in the suit, Las Vegas oddsmaker RJ Bell, is being represented by Charles Harder, the same lawyer that successfully sued Gawker on behalf of Hulk Hogan and forced it into bankruptcy. Subscription required to read story.

Univision, which bought Gawker Media last month, believed that it was obligated to delete the posts because it did not assume Gawker’s liabilities, according to a memo.

In the few weeks since Gawker.com was forced to shut down thanks to billionaire Peter Thiel, the same lawyers Thiel funded on behalf of Hulk Hogan and others have taken on two new rich and powerful clients: Melania Trump, the wife of the Republican nominee for president, and Roger Ailes, the disgraced former Fox News chief.

In many Hispanic homes in the United States, Univision is a constant TV presence and a huge influence. Last week, though, Univision made news with a purchase far afield from that core: It bought Gawker Media’s sites — English-language, not especially concerned with Latino culture and oriented toward a young audience that is glued not to TV sets but to smartphones. What’s going on here? “The future is young, digital and diverse,” the company’s news and digital chief, Isaac Lee, said in his first interview since the successful bid at auction last week.

Gawker.com is shutting down, marking the final chapter for a pioneer in online media and one of the most controversial publishers on the web. Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, told the site’s staff that it will end operations next week, according to a post on its website. It’s unclear whether Gawker.com’s archives will still be available, it said.

Gawker Media, whose fierce independence afforded it an unsparing approach to web journalism that influenced news organizations across the internet and the wider media world, was sold to Univision for $135 million at auction on Tuesday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because it had not been made public.

Univision Holdings has offered to acquire Gawker Media, challenging a $90 million stalking horse bid from media company Ziff Davis in the auction for the U.S. internet publisher, people familiar with the matter said. Univision’s bid for Gawker illustrates how the U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster is seeking to expand its digital media properties, and is not shying away from a news brand that has often courted controversy to build a cult readership.

The New York company says in the filing that it has as much as $500 million in debt and up to $100 million in assets.

NEW YORK (AP) — The embattled online media company Gawker Media has hired an investment banker to explore its options, including a possible sale. Two months ago, Gawker lost a […]

Latin media powerhouse Univision is circling Nick Denton’s cash-hungry Gawker Media. Univision has discussed partnering or investing in the New York-based digital media outfit, which was racing to raise cash ahead of a whopping $140 million legal judgement against it last month.

Legal experts say whether wrestler Hulk Hogan’s win Friday in his sex tape case against Gawker will have any real implications for the news media largely depends on what happens next. Yet even if the decision against Gawker is upheld in appeals, several legal experts say, its effect on wider press freedoms is very likely to be limited.

The first contract designed and negotiated for a digital media company, Gawker, is described by the Writers Guild of America as unique. The contract, approved Monday, says editorial decisions must be made strictly by editorial staff, sets a minimum annual salary of $50,000 and ensures 3% yearly raises for staff members this year and for the next two years.

The network found and suspended the rogue employee who had filed anonymous posts at Gawker that ripped the organization, while FNC chief Roger Ailes blasted the site.

The news and gossip website Gawker posted a column on Tuesday from a person who it says is a “longstanding, current employee of Fox News Channel.”

Gawker, the popular blog based in New York, is going to court to investigate the relationship between Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.