Gawker is officially dead. More on this breaking story as we get it….

After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week. The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media’s six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his clandestine legal campaign against the company.

Nick Denton, the company’s outgoing CEO, informed current staffers of the site’s fate on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan will decide whether to approve Univision’s bid for Gawker Media’s other assets. The near-term plans for Gawker.com’s coverage, as well as the site’s archives, have not yet been finalized.

Just yesterday, CNN Money ran a story about Gawker employees urging new owner Univision to keep the flagship site open…

Hamilton Nolan, the longest-serving writer at Gawker.com, said that Univision “seemed like the best choice out of the options we had,” and he expressed happiness that the company agreed to pick up the union contract that Gawker Media employees successfully negotiated this year.

But Nolan also challenged Isaac Lee, Univision’s chief news, digital and entertainment officer, to validate his reputation as a defender of “fearless journalism.”

“We’ve heard a lot about Isaac Lee’s commitment to fearless journalism. He has a reputation for a guy who very much buys into the idea of fearless journalism,” Nolan said. “I hope he demonstrates that by keeping Gawker.com open.”

“I don’t think there’s any better way for Isaac Lee and Univision to show that they believe in that than not allowing a vindictive billionaire to eradicate our site off the face of the earth,” Nolan added, referring to PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel…

Univision obviously did not listen.

 

Media shills on salt overload…

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/766324700955967488

 

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