Two Wheels Sad

"Chris Clarke" (shiftsandgiggles) 04/19/2016 at 11:25 • Filed to: two wheels bad, lanesplitter.

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Once again Gawker has screwed the pooch. So long Sean and one of the most read motorcycling websites on the internet.

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handyjoe > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:33

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Booo!

vondon302 > handyjoe 04/19/2016 at 11:38

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Hisss and Boooo . Good luck Sean we’ll miss you.

Scott > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:39

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That’s sad to hear, I hope it did not have to do with complaints about his reviews? While I was not always pleased, my displeasure had to do with the fact he seemed to be a one man show, not a good way to provide good content. They really need to hire 3 or 4 more writers like him, that can fill in a broader spectrum of views. Getting rid of the most prolific writer is the worst choice they can make.

My bigger fear is that Jalopnik, and its associated sites do not fit in with the views of much of the rest of Gawker media, and when it comes time to tighten the budget, areas that do not fit in well, will get axed first. If that is the reason, better fear for much of the rest of the Jalopnik related sites too.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:39

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This makes me sad.

MUSASHI66 > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:41

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With Gizmodo becoming nothing more than an extension of Gawkers ultra left wing views and lack of any solid technology news, cross posting of crappy Jezebel articles, click-bait Jalopnik FP articles, Tyler leaving, Sean being canned, why the fuck am I still here?

Birddog > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:42

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Definitely a crap move. Sean was the best thing on the Jalopnik FP since Wes Siler was around.

zeontestpilot > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:42

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I think the real question is why they let him go. And should we expect more people to be let go?

pauljones > Scott 04/19/2016 at 11:44

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It has more to do with profitability than anything else. Jalopnik has grown a great deal in the past five years, but it remains one of the smaller sites (at least when compared to Jezebel, Gizmodo, and Deadspin). That being said, it remains a profitable site - profitable enough to continuously justify its existence.

Sub-blogs, though are frequently a different story. Jalopnik in particular seems to have the hardest time cultivating successful subblogs for one reason or another.

In the odd event that Jalopnik does get shuttered, there is a fair chance that it will not necessarily shutter Oppositelock, as every effort has now been taken to divorce the two.

Honeybunchesofgoats > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:45

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I was all proud of Jalopnik for giving Tyler a proper send off. Usually when someone leaves GM, they go straight down the memory hole and the departure is never addressed.

Now they go and do this.

shop-teacher > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 11:47

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I was really sad to hear this. I’m not even into motorcycles, but I enjoyed reading his articles.

MUSASHI66 > zeontestpilot 04/19/2016 at 12:06

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Maybe...

interstate366, now In The Industry > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 12:13

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I only go on the FP for DeMuro articles anymore.

Wacko > interstate366, now In The Industry 04/19/2016 at 12:16

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you do know he also writes for TTAC

MUSASHI66 > interstate366, now In The Industry 04/19/2016 at 12:16

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I love Doug, but he is a one-trick pony. His stuff is getting old slowly but surely. After reading his book, and all the articles he did here and on TTAC, only thing to look for is what new funky comparison he did.

jimz > Chris Clarke 04/19/2016 at 12:31

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I need to get on twitter.

jimz > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 12:34

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That’s not fair, Gizmodo has some good writers. Maddie Stone has solid credentials.

jimz > Wacko 04/19/2016 at 12:34

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he sort of phones it in there.

jimz > pauljones 04/19/2016 at 12:35

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yeah, it amazes me sometimes. A “vigorous” comment section on a Jalopnik article might have 200 replies. On Gawker, Jezebel, and Giz I’ve regularly seen reply counts in the thousands. And that’s on stuff which isn’t really that controversial.

jimz > shop-teacher 04/19/2016 at 12:36

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yah. it’s encouraged me to stay with it. I believed in it when Patrick came in with the promise to make motorcycle journalism not suck, and I’ve got to believe this decision was made over his head.

MUSASHI66 > jimz 04/19/2016 at 12:41

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Not her fan, but whatever - if I have to work hard to separate wheat from chaff, what difference does it make. The whole gawker network is going down the drain, rapidly. Of course, this is just my opinion

jimz > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 12:50

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Annalee Newitz is another good author, but she jumped ship a bit ago and went to Ars Technica.

MUSASHI66 > jimz 04/19/2016 at 12:55

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I used to read I09 a lot before - even had a star there before Kinja. She is gone, Sean is gone, Tyler is gone, C.A Pinkham left when they turned of Kitchenette (only thing on Jezebel worth reading).... now we have car haters writing on Jalopnik (for another perspective, I guess?), political posts everywhere (very subjective and one sided), and I am just waiting for them to bring Jesus Diaz back before I delete all Gawker bookmarks.

jimz > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 12:58

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well, I’m of the mind that Pinkham was an insufferable asshole. But I don’t see “car haters writing for Jalopnik;” since I know you’re referring to Alissa Walker she writes for Gizmodo and some of her articles get “shared” to Jalopnik. I don’t know who in the hierarchy decides what articles get cross-posted where.

shop-teacher > jimz 04/19/2016 at 12:59

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I also think it was made over PG’s head, or I want to think that anyways. I feel like something must have happened that we don’t know about, in order for them to pull the plug so suddenly and cryptically.

MUSASHI66 > jimz 04/19/2016 at 13:03

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When I am on Jalopnik and reading an article about cars, I guess I really don’t pay attention to see if it was cross posted. I have no idea who thinks we need to read her articles on Jalopnik - clearly the person in charge does it simply because people will click on it, and comment with angry comments, and that = clicks, and that = revenue.

Pinkham...I guess I simply enjoyed the stories on Kitchenette, and he didn’t write them - they were user submitted. I tried following the stories on Wonkette, but that site is a fucking disaster, and the new stories are just so fake sounding now.

jimz > shop-teacher 04/19/2016 at 13:05

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Honestly I think it probably just comes down to traffic. Web sites live on page and ad views. When the latest story about a “heteronormative cis-gender-queer Transylvanian polyamorous zoo-keeper” gets millions of page views and thousands of comments on Gawker or Jezebel, and a motorcycle review gets a couple thousand page views and maybe 50 comments on Lanesplitter, you have to prioritize what you spend your money on.

as much as I don’t care for the buff-book print rags, I still subscribe to the digital editions of Cycle World and Motorcyclist. As light as they are on criticism, at least I can still look at and read about bikes.

jimz > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 13:10

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When I am on Jalopnik and reading an article about cars, I guess I really don’t pay attention to see if it was cross posted.

look above the headline before you click on it, they don’t make it obvious but it’ll be in small gray text.

I have no idea who thinks we need to read her articles on Jalopnik

*shrug* not to sound like a wannabe white knight, but I have no problem reading opposing viewpoints. even if they don’t really change my mind, I still might end up with something new to think about. I think the world would be a better place if we all would stop acting like disagreeing is tantamount to an insult.

avens > pauljones 04/19/2016 at 13:21

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On that note, Hulk Hogan will almost surely run wild on Gawker, being awarded $115M or any other hefty sum in court, which will mean either the closing of Gawker itself or at least of its least profitable website, Jalopnik.

Gawker is foreseeing that, thus Sean is only the first casualty of more to come related to Jalopnik.

“We” (i.e. not me) could act in anticipation as well, creating a backup of Oppositelock and related blogs; or create a second site, even in the case it might mean losing the previous content due to legal or technical reasons. To me at least Oppo is hosted by Gawker rather than being a part of it, so “we” should jump ship instead of sinking with Gawker.

JustAnotherG6 > jimz 04/19/2016 at 13:24

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same here

shop-teacher > jimz 04/19/2016 at 13:28

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Somebody last night said that Lane Splitter is the most read 2-wheel blog on the ultranets. Take that for what it’s worth, because I don’t know if that’s actually true, but they didn’t replace Sean. They just gave him the boot with no one else at the helm. LS had zero posts from Thursday until Monday night. That’s what makes me think there was some sort of ... upset, for lack of a better term.

interstate366, now In The Industry > MUSASHI66 04/19/2016 at 13:49

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Yeah, he is getting a bit formulaic. Still, it breaks up the monotony a bit. My thoughts scrolling through a typical FP day: “don’t care, don’t care, I get it Patrick you have a vendetta against Virginia, don’t care, NPOCP...eh...”

WiscoProud > avens 04/19/2016 at 13:59

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You can save money by closing a non-profitable website, but selling it is the only way to make money from a profitable one. A sale of Jalopnik to one of the other big automotive sites might be the best hope. I have little faith in Gawker getting through the appeals process in one piece.

pauljones > avens 04/19/2016 at 18:17

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I doubt it. Hulk Hogan’s interest in all of this was little more than to take Denton’s arrogant ass to the cleaners. He has no desire whatsoever to invest any time or money in this place. Should come to it, it’s likely he’ll just sell it all off.

That being said, I don’t think it will get to that point. Gawker is going to be scrambling and just squeezing by for the next few years as the appeals process runs its course, but I think that they will get the amount of the judgment lowered considerably, even though they will still have to pay in the end.

As for Oppositelock... While every effort has been made to divorce it from Jalopnik, it is inseparable from the Kinja system and Gawker Media as a whole. There is no changing that. You can certainly try to start a “new” Oppositelock elsewhere; many have already tried. But the circumstances that conspired to make Oppositelock what it is today (for better or for worse) will never happen again. It’s lightning in a bottle; and that’s what many don’t seem to understand.

That's not to say there won't be anymore similar, successful communities. But they will be few and far between, and none will ever quite be Oppositelock