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| Gawker's bid to give $200,000 to Canadian drug dealers hits slight snag | Gawker's bid to give $200,000 to Canadian drug dealers hits slight snag |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The effort by news site Gawker to bust Toronto mayor Rob Ford for allegedly smoking crack is crack journalism work. Toronto is Canada's biggest city. Canada has a $680bn trade relationship with the United States. We can't have them high on crack. | The effort by news site Gawker to bust Toronto mayor Rob Ford for allegedly smoking crack is crack journalism work. Toronto is Canada's biggest city. Canada has a $680bn trade relationship with the United States. We can't have them high on crack. |
| The spangers Gawker has deployed outside New York subway stops to raise money to buy a video purportedly showing Ford crack-smoking, however, smell bad and obstruct pedestrian flow. We exaggerate; Gawker has not deployed spangers. But the website is begging for money from the public to supplement its news gathering budget, so it can afford to pay off the drug dealers who own the video. | The spangers Gawker has deployed outside New York subway stops to raise money to buy a video purportedly showing Ford crack-smoking, however, smell bad and obstruct pedestrian flow. We exaggerate; Gawker has not deployed spangers. But the website is begging for money from the public to supplement its news gathering budget, so it can afford to pay off the drug dealers who own the video. |
| It's not a traditional news-gathering technique. It's the kind of thing that causes ethicists of journalism to stroke their chins at double-speed and could outright kill the more delicate newsroom ombudspeople. Gawker doesn't care about all that. | It's not a traditional news-gathering technique. It's the kind of thing that causes ethicists of journalism to stroke their chins at double-speed and could outright kill the more delicate newsroom ombudspeople. Gawker doesn't care about all that. |
| What Gawker might care about, however, is its reputation as a street-smart media machine, and the present episode has so far not burnished that. | What Gawker might care about, however, is its reputation as a street-smart media machine, and the present episode has so far not burnished that. |
| For starters, the drug dealers appear to have disappeared, taking the video – the big payoff – with them. Gawker editor John Cook on Thursday notified potential contributors to the crowd-funding campaign, called Crackstarter, that Gawker may no longer be able to deliver the goods. | For starters, the drug dealers appear to have disappeared, taking the video – the big payoff – with them. Gawker editor John Cook on Thursday notified potential contributors to the crowd-funding campaign, called Crackstarter, that Gawker may no longer be able to deliver the goods. |
| "The last time we established contact with the people who are in possession of the video was this past Sunday, and we have not been able to reach them since," wrote Cook, who knows the video exists because he enterprisingly traveled to Canada to see it for himself. "… If you are considering contributing, you should be aware that our confidence that we can get a deal done has, on account of the foregoing, diminished since we came up with this idea." | "The last time we established contact with the people who are in possession of the video was this past Sunday, and we have not been able to reach them since," wrote Cook, who knows the video exists because he enterprisingly traveled to Canada to see it for himself. "… If you are considering contributing, you should be aware that our confidence that we can get a deal done has, on account of the foregoing, diminished since we came up with this idea." |
| The faith of thousands of Gawker readers who have collectively contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the effort is on the line. As of midday Friday, the Crackstarter had raised $163,000 toward its goal of $200,000, which is how much the drug dealers want for the video. More than 6,000 individuals had contributed. Gawker says that if it raises the $200,000 by the deadline, 11.59pm Monday, but is unable to obtain the video, "every penny" of the money will be given to "a Canadian non-profit that helps people suffering from addiction". | The faith of thousands of Gawker readers who have collectively contributed tens of thousands of dollars to the effort is on the line. As of midday Friday, the Crackstarter had raised $163,000 toward its goal of $200,000, which is how much the drug dealers want for the video. More than 6,000 individuals had contributed. Gawker says that if it raises the $200,000 by the deadline, 11.59pm Monday, but is unable to obtain the video, "every penny" of the money will be given to "a Canadian non-profit that helps people suffering from addiction". |
| Many readers of Gawker may personally be gratified at having contributed to charity. But a lot more would probably rather see mayoral crack-smoking footage. | Many readers of Gawker may personally be gratified at having contributed to charity. But a lot more would probably rather see mayoral crack-smoking footage. |
| Next, for a media conglomerate such as Gawker, the money in question would seem to be rather – how to put this – small. If Gawker's editors deem the story worth $200,000 to break – as they patently must, for the only alternative is they take their readers for fools – couldn't they find it in their budget? David Karp farts $200,000. Jonah Peretti just pulled $200,000 out from behind this gentleman's ear. Nick Denton needs to pass the hat? | Next, for a media conglomerate such as Gawker, the money in question would seem to be rather – how to put this – small. If Gawker's editors deem the story worth $200,000 to break – as they patently must, for the only alternative is they take their readers for fools – couldn't they find it in their budget? David Karp farts $200,000. Jonah Peretti just pulled $200,000 out from behind this gentleman's ear. Nick Denton needs to pass the hat? |
| (Beyond what it says about Gawker, the episode points to the relative innocence of Canadian politics. In its first week, Crackstarter barely cracked $150,000. How fast do you think the internet could come up with $200,000 to buy a video of a mayor of a comparably sized US city – Rahm Emanuel, say – smoking crack cocaine? [Rahm Emanuel has never done that.] Faster than you can say "Sheldon Adelson is urinating on America's gift to the world its open democracy.") | (Beyond what it says about Gawker, the episode points to the relative innocence of Canadian politics. In its first week, Crackstarter barely cracked $150,000. How fast do you think the internet could come up with $200,000 to buy a video of a mayor of a comparably sized US city – Rahm Emanuel, say – smoking crack cocaine? [Rahm Emanuel has never done that.] Faster than you can say "Sheldon Adelson is urinating on America's gift to the world its open democracy.") |
| Finally, the Crackstarter campaign looks hypocritical, because, as the site's own commenters have pointed out, Gawker has given the full Gawker treatment to well-heeled Kickstarter users. (Crackstarter uses Indiegogo.) In a post last month tagged "crowdfarcing", Sam Biddle of the Gawker subblog Valleywag made fun of actor Zach Braff's Kickstarter campaign to run his new movie. | |
| "Kickstarter has the potential to make some very neat stuff happen for people of modest means who need a little boost for a good idea," Biddle wrote. "But for every lazy, exploitative, Give-This-Successful-Person-Cash-Just-Cause campaign, the startup loses credibility and gains a legion of rolled eyes." | "Kickstarter has the potential to make some very neat stuff happen for people of modest means who need a little boost for a good idea," Biddle wrote. "But for every lazy, exploitative, Give-This-Successful-Person-Cash-Just-Cause campaign, the startup loses credibility and gains a legion of rolled eyes." |
| Here's hoping the drug dealers start returning Cook's middleman's calls, and we get to see the evidence and judge for ourselves whether Toronto mayor Rob Ford smokes crack, an allegation he has called "ridiculous". | Here's hoping the drug dealers start returning Cook's middleman's calls, and we get to see the evidence and judge for ourselves whether Toronto mayor Rob Ford smokes crack, an allegation he has called "ridiculous". |
| Or one big lucky day may be coming up for an unnamed Canadian charity. | Or one big lucky day may be coming up for an unnamed Canadian charity. |