Wonkette

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Wonkette
File:Wonkette logo.gif
Type of site
Blog
Created byNick Denton, Ana Marie Cox, Choire Sicha, Alex Pareene, David Lat, Ken Layne, John Clark Jr, Jim Newell, Megan Carpentier, Sara K. Smith, Josh Fruhlinger
URLwww.wonkette.com
CommercialYes

Wonkette is a blog that details the goings-on of the political establishment in Washington, DC and the U.S. generally.

The site typically posts approximately 20 items daily during office hours (EST) Monday through Friday. Taking a sarcastic tone, the site focuses heavily on humor, gossip, and the downfall of the powerful, as well as more serious matters of politics and policy. While liberal in outlook, the site is critical of Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.

The Bloggies at SXSW selected Wonkette as Best Political Blog in 2005 and 2006. Wonkette was chosen as a top political blog by Vanity Fair and Real Simple in 2008.

The name of the site is a play on the slang word 'wonk', meaning a 'zealous student of political policy'. [1]

History

Ana Marie Cox, a former editor at suck.com, was the founding editor. Under her tenure, Wonkette became known for its sharp, sarcastic, intelligent voice, and for its mixture of heady political discourse with repeated references to gin and anal sex. The blog gained national media attention after Cox publicized the story of Jessica Cutler aka "Washingtonienne", a former Hill staffer who wrote on her blog about her affair with a member of former Senator Mike DeWine's staff. Cox announced her retirement as Wonkette's editor on January 5, 2006 in order to promote her book, "Dog Days".

After the publication of "Dog Days," Cox began blogging at her personal website. The site includes biographical information about Cox as well as information about her novel but also includes her off-the-cuff blog entries, written in much the same style as she used at Wonkette.com. She occasionally contributed to Wonkette.com until she joined the staff of Time magazine to contribute a D.C. feature in the magazine and write for Time's blog.

Changes in Personnel

Cox was succeeded on Wonkette by David Lat, the author of Underneath Their Robes, a blog about the federal judiciary, and Alex Pareene, a 21-year-old dropout from New York University and Gawker intern/guest editor in New York who moved to DC for the Wonkette position.

In June 2006, Lat announced his decision to leave Wonkette. His slot was to be filled by guest editors until August 2006, when Gawker blogger Ken Layne joined as permanent guest editor. Layne became West Coast bureau editor officially before the November midterm elections. Wonkette reached its highest traffic during the midterm elections due to scandal coverage of Mark Foley and other incumbents involved in corruption, sex-abuse and bribery scandals.

In October 2007, Pareene announced that he would be leaving the site in order to work for Gawker Media out of New York City and Layne left the site shortly afterwards as well. John Clarke, Jr. - formerly of the New York Times and Variety - briefly took over as the site's editor mid-October, with Jim Newell, formerly of IvyGate, and Megan Carpentier, formerly the anonymous author of the "Ask a Lobbyist" column, serving as associate editors. Layne returned as Wonkette's managing editor in January 2008.

Within weeks of his return, Layne replaced associate editor Megan Carpentier with new editors and contributors.

Elise Rosen and Justin Charity were the last Gawker Media interns to contribute to the site.

Columns by Princess Sparkle Pony and the Comics Curmudgeon are regularly featured, along with video produced by Liz Glover. Former interns include Nick Mueller and Lauren Spohrer, now at Columbia University. Guest editors include Reason Magazine editor Nick Gillespie, Reason reporter David Weigel, Princess Sparkle Pony blogger Peter Huestis, DCeiver editor and Huffington Post writer Jason Linkins,

On April 14, 2008 Gawker Media announced that it was selling Wonkette and that Layne would remain managing editor and part owner. Gawker Media head Nick Denton attributed the sale to "hunkering down" before another dot com downturn and the internet bubble bursts: "And, even if not, better safe than sorry; and better too early than too late..."[[2]]

The current editors are Ken Layne, Sara K. Smith and Jim Newell.

References

  • Bosman, Julie (2004-04-18). "First With the Scoop, if Not the Truth". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-03-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

Cox era

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