Gawker unfurls memos sent to various people at Time Inc.. The New York Times reports the layoff figure at 300. Bureaus in Washington, Miami, Chicago and Austin have been shut down. People has laid off 44 editorial employees, Time has laid off 50 people, and there are additional layoffs at Sports Illustrated and Fortune.
[UPDATE: I have confirmation from a few inside sources that an even bigger round of layoffs is scheduled in two weeks and that volunteers have been asked to step forward.]
New York Times: “Cod, haddock, white hake, halibut, cusk and dozens of other groundfish, fish that live near the ocean bottom, mingled with clams, shrimp, lobster and mussels under the creamy surface of the stew, cresting a puddle of yellow butter here, a slick of smoky pork fat there. Today there is nothing but lobster to be fished commercially near Stonington. Lobster floats alone in the local chowder, pinking the cream and, in the mind of food lovers, perhaps elevating Everyman’s dish to luxury status. But when Mr. Bridges looks at a single species stew he sees a dangerously impoverished fishery.” (via MeFi)
New York Magazine: “Gawker Media, Nick Denton’s swaggering blog network, yesterday fired Chris Mohney, the managing editor of its flagship site, Gawker, and will replace him with Choire Sicha, the New York Observer writer and editor who was the solo editor of Gawker in 2003 and 2004.”
What the hell happened over at the Observer? Or perhaps the real question that should be asked: what offer did Denton make that made Choire abandon his newspaper career?