2 Gawker Editors Resign Over Article’s Removal

[admin]

Gawker Retracts an Article After Criticism, and Gets More Brickbats From Its Staff
By RAVI SOMAIYA
JULY 17, 2015

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

The news and gossip website Gawker removed an article about an executive at a prominent media company after widespread condemnation Friday from its readers and others, the first time the site has formally retracted a story for reasons other than legal or factual, according to a statement.

The decision to remove the article was a departure for Gawker, which became a symbol of the unfettered nature of Internet journalism by publishing stories that pushed the limits of privacy and media ethics, the kind that most other publications think twice about. It comes as other websites, including Reddit, have indicated that they were also rethinking business models that included content that many found objectionable.

In a statement posted on the website, Gawker’s founder, Nick Denton, explained the reason for the article’s removal, which accused the married male executive of seeking, via text message, to pay for sex with a gay escort. Gawker did not reveal the identity of the escort. In a statement provided to Gawker, the executive said, “This is a shakedown” and said he had not had a text exchange with the individual concerned.

Mr. Denton described the article as “true and well reported.” But he said that publishing the retracted article “was an editorial call, a close call around which there were more internal disagreements than usual,” and one he regretted. It might have been justifiable in the early days of the web, he wrote, but “the media environment has changed, our readers have changed, and I have changed.” Stories must now be both true and reveal something meaningful, he said.

The now-removed article had been roundly condemned in the hours after its publication on Thursday. Critics argued that there was no news value or public interest to justify its publication, and that by posting it the site was acting as a party to the extortion of the executive by the escort. The columnist Glenn Greenwald, of the website the Intercept, described it as one of “the sleaziest and most repugnant articles seen in quite some time from an outlet of its size and stature.”

The decision to remove it — more of a gesture than a practical step, given that the article had more than 450,000 views by the time it had been taken down, and had been widely discussed — was made against the wishes of the editorial staff, who objected to the fact that it had been decided by “business executives,” according to a statement they released Friday evening. Referring to its recent successful drive to unionize, the staff said, “one of our core goals is to protect the editorial independence of Gawker Media sites from the influence of business-side concerns.”

The statement went on to say: “Our opinions on the post are not unanimous but we are united in objecting to editorial decisions being made by a majority of noneditorial managers. Disagreements about editorial judgment are matters to be resolved by editorial employees. We condemn the takedown in the strongest possible terms.”

Gawker Media, the company that owns Gawker and a number of affiliated sites, said it generated about $45 million in advertising revenue last year, and was profitable, earning about $7 million. It had been known, in part, for paying its writers bonuses based on the number of clicks their posts received. But in a memo to the staff last year, Mr. Denton said that he had reassessed the drive for traffic above all other considerations.

Mr. Denton declined to comment further. Gawker had previously courted controversy by publishing content like videos of Tom Cruise participating in Church of Scientology events, and screen shots of Sarah Palin’s personal email account, which was apparently hacked. It is also preparing for a lawsuit brought by Terry Bollea, the wrestler known as Hulk Hogan. Gawker had posted an edit of a video featuring Mr. Bollea having sex with a woman who was then the wife of a friend. He forced the site to take down the video, and is now suing it, and Mr. Denton, for violating his privacy, seeking $100 million in damages.

The controversy over the retracted article came in the same week that Reddit, an online message board, proposed a new content policy that would effectively ban spam, illegal activity and harassment, as well as objectionable material of a sexual nature. The policy received a mixed reaction from the site’s users, who prize Reddit for its unrestricted discourse.

[admin]

What Everyone Thinks of Gawker’s Gay Escort Story
Website under fire for outing media executive's alleged attempt to set up tryst with male porn star
By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke
07/17/15

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Gawker boss Nick Denton, that time he let Patrick McMullan take his picture in 2008. (photo: Patrick McMullan)

Gawker is facing harsh criticism for posting a story alleging that a highly placed executive at a media company attempted to solicit sex from a gay porn star. The piece by writer Jordan Sargent includes screenshots of text messages and photos that allegedly identify the man, who is married to a woman and has three kids.

The media exec is the brother of a former high-ranking Obama administration official. According to the story, he was prepared to meet the male escort in Chicago and pay $2,500 for the encounter. He paid half that, but then canceled the encounter when the escort figured out the media exec’s identity and tried to get him to use his brother’s influence to resolve some sort of housing dispute.

The media executive backed out of the encounter, so the two never actually met in person. When contacted by Gawker, the media exec denied the story and called it a “shakedown.”

The post, which was published last night as Gawker founder Nick Denton hosted a party at his apartment to celebrate the delay in the Hulk Hogan trial, was met with swift criticism online. Prominent media figures tweeted their disapproval for what many contend was the outing of a private person.

Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald: I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that.
7:46 PM 16 Jul 2015

Kara Swisher @karaswisher: An appalling act of gay shaming disguised as a story -- thought we were way past this crap.
7:40 PM 16 Jul 2015

Gawker. This post has been removed. Against the objections of Gawker Media's editorial leadership, this post was removed on July 17, 2015. More details about the decision can be found here. CEO Nick Denton's statement can be found ...

Gabriel Sherman @gabrielsherman: That piece is just sick, mean and creepy. I just don't understand why'd they publish.
7:55 PM 16 Jul 2015

Kevin Roose @kevinroose: I think I just read a blog post that ruined a guy's life for no good reason and I don't feel great about it.
5:50 PM 16 Jul 2015

Michael Barbaro @mikiebarb: I dont say this lightly: This is repugnant, shameful journalism.
Been a long time since I've seen such universal media revulsion for a media company's editorial decision:
7:26 PM 16 Jul 2015

Michael Wolff@MichaelWolffNYC: @Gawker's David Geithner story more evidence that kids are in charge and @nicknotned gone or stoned. Where is the public interest here?????
4:46 AM 17 Jul 2015

Jeet Heer @HeerJeet: 1. One interesting thing about the Gawker debacle is that it's uniting people from all across the political & cultural spectrum.
8:08 PM 16 Jul 2015

Michael C. Moynihan @mcmoynihan: So let's hear your defense of outing Geithner and potentially ruining his life.
6:10 PM 16 Jul 2015

Jake Fogelnest@jakefolgelnest: Everyone relax about Gawker. Hulk Hogan will own it soon and it will become the number one web destination for energy drinks and cuckolding.
12:09 AM 17 Jul 2015

Scott Bixby@scottbix: Is it too late to express outrage over the Gawker thing?
6:13 AM 17 Jul 2015

This widespread criticism of Gawker comes as the company was enjoying goodwill as defenders of the First Amendment for the Hulk Hogan court case, in which the wrestler sued Gawker for publishing a sex tape.

There were a few people who tweeted their support for the story, but those were mostly people who work at Gawker.

“Given the chance gawker will always report on married c-suite executives of major media companies f**cking around on their wives,” Gawker editor in chief Max Read tweeted last night.

[admin]

Gawker Blasted for Posting a Lurid Story That Outs Executive
Major names in media are appalled by a Gawker story they're calling 'gay shaming.'
BY YEZMIN VILLARREAL
JULY 16 2015

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Nick Denton

UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, Gawker CEO Nick Denton ordered the story described below to be removed from his site, saying he regrets the decision to publish it, which was a "close call" among his editorial team. Read the latest here.

The following story was published before Denton decided to remove the story in question from Gawker's site.

Media figures say Gawker, owned by a gay man himself, has gone too far in outing a magazine executive in a lurid story involving a gay porn star and money for sex.

The Gawker story claims that a magazine executive, who The Advocate has chosen not to name, tried to hire a gay porn star for sex at a cost of $2,500. The story contains screenshots of text messages and photos that allegedly identify the man, who is married to a woman and has children.

The backlash from many in media, including out journalists Kara Swisher and Glenn Greenwald, has been swift. Swisher, the Re/Code editor, said on Twitter: "An appalling act of gay shaming disguised as a story — thought we were way past this crap #ughnick."

She is referring to Nick Denton, the founder and chief executive of Gawker Media, who is also an out gay man. Greenwald, the Intercept journalist, tweeted that he didn't understand why Gawker would publish the article: "I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that."

Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald: I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that.
7:46 PM 16 Jul 2015

Jordan Sargent, the Gawker writer, reached out to the executive in question, who answered by calling the threat of publishing the story "a shakedown." Gawker published the story anyway and gave anonymity to the porn star.

The porn star, according to Gawker, had agreed to meet with the executive for sex until he realized the prominence of the man he was texting with.

The executive had concealed his identity, but through some online sleuthing, the porn star discovered the man is the brother of a former official in the Obama administration. He then pressured the executive to help him with a discrimination lawsuit against his landlord, which had not been resolved to his satisfaction. The executive then backed out of the whole thing, and the porn star went to Gawker.

The porn star told Gawker that the executive finally promised to bring his lawsuit to the attention of Obama administration officials if he got Gawker to ax the story. Members of the media have been scathing in their evaluation of whether the account should have been posted.

Liam Stack, a breaking news reporter at The New York Times, tweeted: "This is a completely sleazy story to run. There is no news value in outing the brother of a prominent person."

Alex Burns @alexburnsNYT: Granting anonymity to an escort to allow him to make good on a blackmail threat against a private individual
6:20 PM 16 Jul 2015

Kevin Roose @kevinroose: I think I just read a blog post that ruined a guy's life for no good reason and I don't feel great about it.
5:50 PM 16 Jul 2015

Sabrina Siddiqui@SabrinaSiddiqui: There's no excuse for the Gawker piece, which I won't link to. It's disgraceful, and it should be referred to as journalism.
7:20 PM 16 Jul 2015

Gabriel Sherman @gabrielsherman: That piece is just sick, mean and creepy. I just don't understand why'd they publish.
7:55 PM 16 Jul 2015

Justin Ling @Justin_Ling: what the goddamn hell, Gawker. Seriously. Dude tries a shake down of a closet case, then randomly outs him.
7:16 PM 16 Jul 2015

Clara Jeffery @ClaraJeffery: Think very, very, very hard before you blow up somebody's life, is all
9:00 PM 16 Jul 2015

Adam Weinsten, a senior writer at Gawker, tweeted that he did not stand behind the post: "I had no part in this. I would not have chosen to run it as is."

Anil Dash, the blogger and entrepreneur, harkened back to David Carr, the late New York Times media columnist, who previously wrote about Gawker and its history of outing prominent celebrities such as CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Anil Dash @anildash: I miss @carr2n.
7:49 PM 16 Jul 2015

The Advocate has reached out to Nick Denton, founder and chief executive of Gawker Media, for comment. At the publication of this article, Gawker is trending on Twitter and the post has more than 200,000 page views and counting.

[admin]

Conde Nast exec story: Gawker is keeping its sleaze game in shape
By Erik Wemple
July 17, 2015

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Gawker’s latest story to outrage the world has some narrative appeal.

David Geithner, the chief financial officer of Condé Nast, had made arrangements with a gay porn star/escort to rendezvous on a trip to Chicago, Gawker alleges, The session was to last up to three hours at a cost of $2,500, reports Gawker’s Jordan Sargent. The two traded a number of text messages that are highlighted in the story. “I’m going to be in Chicago for one night — Saturday, July 11. Looking for 2-3 hours from 10:00pm to midnight/1 am. Will pay 2,500 cash (50% upfront).” According to the story, Geithner sent that “50%” in a FedEx package.

The wrinkle in the piece comes when the escort apparently realizes that Geithner is a person of means and connections — the brother of former Treasury secretary Tim Geithner. So he sends David Geithner some documents relating to an alleged housing discrimination problem he’s facing in Texas. As Gawker describes the situation, the escort, who is identified only by pseudonym, claims he was bounced from his Texas apartment building because management discovered he was a gay porn star.

Ah, what a story — Condé Nast CFO (who’s married to a woman, Gawker notes) uses his connections to help some random escort! Actually, no, it didn’t work out that way. Geithner bagged the rendezvous after things got “hairy,” to use Gawker’s characterization. Not that much of a story, in other words.

Even so, this is Gawker. Shadowy encounters plus possibly criminal activity plus a high-ranking official in the classic New York industry of publishing equal a pretty automatic editorial decision at the gossip site. Publish!

The rest of the world, meanwhile, screams in condemnation:

Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald: I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that.
7:46 PM 16 Jul 2015

reason@reason: Gawker Helps Gay Escort Blackmail Timothy Geithner's Brother, Ted Cruz is the Hero of the Story.
10: PM 16 Jul 2015

Jeremy Hooper @goodasyou: I began reading @Gawker in 2003 when it felt like a small club of NYC media geeks. Today I unfollowed & removed RSS feed. Sad devolution.
7:50 AM 17 Jul 2015

What Gawker is doing here is an act of territorial boundary-peeing. It’s telling elite New York that you’re all fair game, especially if you hold a bulging portfolio at a place like Condé Nast. As the company describes itself: “Attracting 115 million consumers across its industry-leading print, digital and video brands, the company’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic titles in media: Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Brides, Self, GQ, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, Details, Allure, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Wired, W, Golf Digest, Golf World, Teen Vogue, Ars Technica and Style.com.”

What’s the public profile of a CFO of such a company? “David Geithner” pops up a few dozen times in an all-news Nexis search over the past decade — with many of the mentions relating to his 2014 move from Time Inc. to Condé Nast. In a world where every organizational burp of a BuzzFeed or a New York Times or a Gawker is chronicled and then laundered through aggregation sites, that’s a tiny media footprint. To boot: The coverage of David Geithner, to the extent it exists, surfaces no comments from him on the sanctity of his family life or his straight-arrow nature — meaning that there’s no apparent hypocrisy to out in this case. Another blow to the story’s newsworthiness.

Gawker Media boss Nick Denton has a standard for publication: “I have a simple editorial litmus test, which is: is it true, and is it interesting?” Denton told Captial New York’s Peter Sterne. That standard is at the center of Gawker’s much-discussed legal battle against Hulk Hogan, who is suing the site for having published a sex tape of the wrestler in 2012. Why was the tape newsworthy? “The interest in is in proportion to the gap between the story that a brand or a celebrity brand is telling and the reality. The more the gap, the more interesting it is. Here, there was a gap between [Hogan’s] rather boastful sexual persona that was on display in these radio interviews and elsewhere and the real story, which made it interesting.”

There’s no apparent “gap” in the David Geithner story. As to the story’s “interesting” bona fides, well, that’s a judgment call: You have an escort seeking political assistance from the high-ranking brother of a former Treasury secretary in the midst of logistical discussions about a paid hotel rendezvous, and that’s it. Gawker declined to comment for the record.

In publishing the story, Gawker is essentially saying that David Geithner — unknown to this media-covering blog prior to its story — is a figure of sufficient stature to merit a close look at his private life. He’ll doubtless disagree, and the law may well provide comfort for him. A plaintiff seeking damages for what’s known as “publication of private facts” needs to fulfill a four-part test:

• “The disclosure of facts must be public.” That’s an easy one, given that Gawker’s piece is out there.
• “The fact or facts disclosed must be private, and not generally known.” Our Nexis search confirmed as much.
• “Offensive to a Reasonable Person: Publication of the private facts in question must be offensive to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities.” Twitter could well assist in making this case.
• “The facts disclosed must not be newsworthy.” Always a subjective consideration, yet the Erik Wemple Blog feels no more enlightened about Condé Nast than it did previously. It does know that somewhere out there is an escort who tries to leverage his work for political assistance. Wow.

“Bottom line — with its quasi-journalistic reportage, Gawker is pushing the envelope of newsworthiness and one day, whether it is Hulk Hogan or David Geithner or someone else, that defense won’t hold up and a plaintiff will prevail against it,” notes University of Florida Professor Clay Calvert, an oft-quoted source on this blog.

Having watched Gawker skirt lines of decency and legal peril over the years, the Erik Wemple Blog has a theory that the site publishes stories such as this just to stay in shape. Its people know that when they step close, near or on top of ethical lines, they are in good territory for their brand. That queasiness about the publishability of a story is a good feeling. That causing a firestorm in media-crit blogs is part of the mission statement. That writing about some guy’s arrangements with an escort sends a message to their sources — Yes, send us the sleazy stuff, please.

Erik Wemple writes the Erik Wemple blog, where he reports and opines on media organizations of all sorts.

[admin]

Gawker apologizes, removes article on CFO
by Laura Mandaro, USA TODAY
July 17, 2015

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

(Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Gawker.com said Friday afternoon it was removing an article about the CFO of Conde Nast allegedly soliciting sex from a gay porn star.

The decision came after the news and gossip site drew heavy criticism Friday for revealing life-changing details about a private individual's life, for no clear social purpose.

David Geithner, a married father of three and brother of former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, denied the allegations.

Gawker nevertheless reported that Geithner planned to go to Chicago to meet a gay porn star and escort, and was prepared to pay $2,500 for the encounter. David Geithner reportedly cancelled the meet-up after the escort tried to get him to use his political connections to help with a housing dispute. Previously, the anonymous escort had asked Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's office for help with his housing dispute, the online article said.


Screenshot of Gawker's article on the Conde Nast CFO (Photo: Gawker)

In a text to Gawker, David Geithner said he had no knowledge of the individual and said, "this is a shakedown."

On Friday, Gawker founder Nick Denton said he regretted the decision to publish the piece and acknowledged internal dissension over the move. He said the post "was true and well-reported," but said it "does not rise to the level" of publication worthy.

"This action will not turn back the clock," Denton wrote. "David Geithner’s embarrassment will not be eased. But this decision will establish a clear standard for future stories. It is not enough for them simply to be true. They have to reveal something meaningful. They have to be true and interesting."

In a self-assessment of sorts, Denton said Gawker has changed and must move beyond its roots as a digital muckraker.

Gawker now has an "influence and audience that demands greater editorial restraint," he wrote.

The escort's story, told to Gawker writer Jordan Sargent after the escort was rebuffed, drew a torrent of criticism on Gawker's Facebook page and Twitter. The story itself had been intermittently unavailable on the site late Thursday and early Friday. Some critics shared it via archive.is so that people interested in the issue didn't need to send traffic to Gawker.

Among the comments:

Journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted: "I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that."

Re/Code co-executive editor Kara Swisher tweeted: "An appalling act of gay shaming disguised as a story -- thought we were way past this crap."

Glenn Greenwald@ggreenwald: I'm a fan of Gawker & several of its journalists, but that article is reprehensible beyond belief: it's deranged to publish that.
7:46 PM 16 Jul 2015

Gawker senior writer Adam Weinstein tweeted: "I had no part in this. I would not have chosen to run it as is."

Readers pointed out that publicizing Geithner's possible sexual orientation did nothing for the public good: he's not a public official or political candidate who has advocated against gay rights, for instance.

"This guy is not an antigay politician whose hypocrisy needs to be outed. Why would anyone care if he wants to hire an escort?" wrote reader Mike Johnson of Los Angeles on Gawker's Facebook page.

Adam Weinstein @AdamWeinstein: I had no part in this. I would not have chosen to run it as is.
6:20 PM 16 Jul 2015

Gawker. This post has been removed. Against the objections of Gawker Media's editorial leadership, this post was removed on July 17, 2015. More details about the decision can be found here. CEO Nick Denton's statement can be found ...

Gawker editor-in-chief Max Read had responded to the initial volley of comments, saying "given the chance gawker will always report on married c-suite executives of major media companies f**cking around on their wives."

Natasha Vargas-Cooper, senior reporter for Gawker affiliate Jezebel, also defended its publication. "Stories don't need an upside. Not everyone has to feel good about the truth. If it's true, you publish."

Gawker's motto is "Today's gossip is tomorrow's news". Early Friday, "Gawker" was the second most popular term on Twitter in the U.S.

Some irate readers suggested the outrage be directed at Gawker's advertisers.

reason@reason: Gawker Helps Gay Escort Blackmail Timothy Geithner's Brother, Ted Cruz is the Hero of the Story.
10: PM 16 Jul 2015

Best Mom Eva @mombot: @reason. We need to hit them where it hurts. Contact Gawker's advertisers here:
10:26 PM 16 Jul 2015

The online discussion drew in some critics of Gawker and its affiliates from a past issue — its involvement in a long-running online controversy over the treatment of women in gaming, and video-game journalism, that's loosely referred to as #gamergate. The Twitter account that advocated targeting Gawker's advertisers linked to a website, "wiki.gamergate.me," whose supporters advocate targeting the advertisers of Gawker and other blogs.

The online furor comes amid a fresh debate about the line between free expression on the Internet, and curbing harmful and hateful treatment of individuals online. Reddit's new CEO told readers this week that the site was never meant to be a bastion of free speech, a direct response to complaints from the site's users after ex-CEO Ellen Pao curbed some hate speech on the site.

At the same time, the public transformation of Caitlyn Jenner as a woman has brought discussion of transgender and gay issues to the forefront of mainstream media.

Contributing: Nathan Bomey

[admin]

Condé Nast's CFO Tried To Pay $2,500 for a Night With a Gay Porn Star
by Jordan Sargent
7/16/15

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Jordan Sargent

My name is David, by the way

1

David Geithner, brother of ex-Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is currently the chief financial officer of Condé Nast. This past weekend, he’d planned to go to Chicago—where he planned to meet a gay porn star and escort for “2-3 hours” at a cost of $2,500.

But this would not be a simple sexual transaction. Geithner, it seems, fucked with the wrong escort. The escort—who does not want to reveal his identity for professional reasons, but whom we will call Ryan—says he bailed on the date with the married (to a woman) father of three because Geithner declined to use his influence to help with a housing dispute.

The thwarted rendezvous began on July 4, when Geithner first contacted Ryan, whose phone number is available on a number of Chicago-area escort websites, via text message. Geithner said that he was going to be in Chicago exactly a week later, and would pay $2,500—plus airfare and hotel—for “2-3 hours” of Ryan’s services.

Text Message: Sat, Jul 4, 3:52 PMI'm going to be in Chicago for one night - Saturday, July 11. Looking for 2-3 hours from 10:00pm to midnight/1:00 am. Will pay 2,500 cash (50% upfront). If you are flying in would pay for airfare and separate hotel room at Four Seasons.

I can see you that day I just need you to fly me out of [DELETE]. You can call me after 5 if you like

Just tried you back. Call when convenient for you [DELETE]

Oh I'm sorry I just got to the gym I'll call you when I'm done I just tried calling you back

The next day, Geithner told Ryan that he would have FedEx deliver the first half of the money on the upcoming Tuesday to his home in Texas, presumably so that Geithner could establish that he was serious about meeting up in Chicago. Geithner also sent him a gleaming selfie and said, “My name is David, by the way.”

Messages (2) Details
Sun, Jul 5, 6:10 AM
Thanks for the info. Will fedex tomorrow for Tuesday deslivery. The Four Seasons Chicago is on 120 East Delaware Place. Hope you had a good 4th.
My name is David, by the way.

Inside the package, according to Ryan, was $1,250 in cash. He sent us a photo of the envelope he received.

Condé Nast's CFO Tried To Pay $2,500 for a Night With a Gay Porn Star

We’ve redacted Ryan’s name and address, as well as the package’s tracking number, but in the upper lefthand corner you can see that the package was sent by a “Jon Gardner” from Orleans, Mass. There are no records of a “Jon Gardner” in Orleans—but the return address on the envelope, which we have also redacted, instead matches a home that has been in the Geithner family for years. Records show that in 2005, Deborah, the patriarch of the Geithner family, turned the house over to David and his siblings, Timothy, Sarah, and Jonathan. When we called the number Ryan was texting, the person who answered identified himself as David Geithner.

The two continued texting over the weekend. Ryan told Geithner that he looked like Tom Cruise. He told Geithner that he was listening to Elton John at the gym, and Geithner responded by saying he enjoyed everything from Top 40 to Dire Straits to Latin music. Ryan sent him a photo of his penis, to which Geithner responded, “You are killing me.”

Messages [DELETE] Details
I think Elton is great. I like a really wide range of music from top 40 to older bands like Dire Straits and Bruce Sprinsteen to Country to Latin etc.

That's a good mix I like a variety of music myself.

Sun, Jul. 5, 4:55 PM

2

Messages [DELETE] Details
You are killing me

Mon, Jul 5, 11:09 AM

FedEx should arrive by 10:30 am tomorrow (7/7).

Hey good morning sorry I didn't text back I had a long day yesterday ok thanks for giving me the heads up I'll see you soon:) Lets try to FaceTime early this week. You have a I phone? If not we can Skype. I'll call you Tomorrow when I receive the FedEx

Thanks. Yes, I have an iPhone. I'm on meetings most every day but you can try anytime. And I'll call back if I'm not available.

Tue, Jul 7, 12:32 PM

I got the package I'll book everything tomorrow. I'll see you soon:)

But before they could meet, things got weird. At some point, Ryan searched for his new friend’s phone number on Facebook and discovered that the “David” he was talking to was David Geithner, an important and politically connected figure. And Ryan, as it happened, needed some legal help.

The day before the two were supposed to meet in Chicago, Ryan asked Geithner if he could send him something by email. Geithner said that he could, but that he would rather not give Ryan his email address because it contained his last name, which he didn’t want to tell him. Ryan told Geithner to create a burner account, and Geithner complied.

Do you have an email address. I want to send you something.

I do have an email address but it has my last name in it -- which I'd rather not disclose. I'm sorry about that. No way to text it?

It's in pdf format. You can make one I don't need your real one it's ok

Try [email protected]. Did you send it? Just want to make sure the address I created is working.

This is where things get a little hairy. The documents that Ryan sent Geithner regarded an ongoing discrimination lawsuit between Ryan and his landlord. In 2013, Ryan was evicted from his luxury apartment building in Texas. He says it was because the company that owns the building discovered he was a gay porn star, but in legal documents his attorney stated that Ryan was kicked out for owning an emotional assistance dog to help ease his PTSD, which was against the building’s rules.

On April 21, 2014, the United States Department of Housing and Development (HUD) issued a “determination of no reasonable cause” regarding Ryan’s discrimination claim. The decision was appealed by his attorney to no avail, and so Ryan began investigating other methods to reverse the ruling, including contacting the FBI and, he says, officials in the Obama administration.

He also sought help from his local senator, Ted Cruz. On April 7 of this year, Cruz’s office sent Ryan a letter telling him that they had “initiated an inquiry” with HUD on Ryan’s behalf. On May 6, Ryan received another letter from Cruz’s office, stating that HUD had made a “final determination” on his case in May 2014, at which point HUD closed his case. Enclosed was a letter from a HUD field office director, stating that HUD could not initiate any further investigation into Ryan’s case unless he provided “new and relevant information.” Ryan felt this response was insufficient, and that several government agencies had sided with his landlord in discriminating against him because of his sexuality. (Cruz’s office has continued to stay in touch with Ryan, he tells us. He says that an employee of Cruz’s called him this afternoon to say that the senator had personally called the HUD director on his behalf. It seems as if Cruz, in the midst of his Presidential campaign, sees an opportunity to help a veteran with PTSD who has been crushed by Washington bureaucracy.)

During their correspondence, according to Ryan, Geithner mentioned to him that he was a CFO. Thanks to a Facebook search of the phone number sending him the texts, Ryan was able to piece together Geithner’s identity—and specifically, that his brother was once a high-level official within the Obama administration. Ryan, whose Facebook page contains a number of videos and photographs advocating for a variety of conspiracy theories, felt Geithner might be able to use his influence to overturn HUD’s decision.

Geithner, though, didn’t know Ryan’s plan when he opened the email the day before the two were set to meet. Geithner—to his credit—read at least some of the documents, though he didn’t quite understand what Ryan was getting at.

Messages [DELETE] Details
I've read enough to get an idea of the situation. At what point do you want to explain?

I'll be forwarding more information to you.

But right as Ryan opened the door, he closed it. In a subsequent message, he revealed to Geithner that he had “figured out who you was”:

I want you to know my past before we meet for various reasons. Late Last night I figured out who you was and like I said you are a nice guy and I like to be perfectly honest with nice people. Because I don't want them to go through what I'm going through.

The next time Geithner texted Ryan, it was to regretfully cancel their hook up.

Messages [DELETE] Details

thinking anything negative about me. I only speak the truth even when it sounds crazy. To people with no knowledge.

Well -- looks like I might not be able to make it. We're number 18 for take off and crew is running out of hours. If you get to Chicago I was able to get you a room at Trump. It's under your name and already paid for. And I can send you the balance of what I owe you by mail. Damn.

Why Geithner bailed on Ryan while on the runway in New York is open for speculation. It’s possible that his plane was indeed delayed. Or, of course, he could have gotten spooked by an escort with an agenda who had discovered exactly who he was. After all, Geithner had booked Ryan until midnight or 1 a.m.—one figures it would require an excruciating delay to get in that late. Plus, his escort, booked at a four-star hotel, probably wouldn’t have minded waiting around.

Alas, Ryan didn’t go to Chicago, either. The way he tells it, he decided to bail on his flight after deciding that Geithner didn’t care enough about his personal plight. On that Saturday afternoon, Ryan texted Geithner: “I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them.” Ryan says that he has no vendetta against Geithner specifically—instead, he just wants to publicize his case against HUD.

This afternoon, Ryan reached out to Geithner, because he felt Geithner deserved to know that he had gone to the press. He didn’t receive a response until after I contacted Geithner for a statement, at which point Geithner texted Ryan and asked him to call immediately.

Call me. I'm gonna call you back shortly I have company. Don't want to talk in front of them.

Can you call as soon as possible? I spoke with a reporter who says you sent him something?

Later, Ryan tells me, Geithner promised him that if he could get Gawker to kill the story, Geithner would bring his HUD complaint to President Obama.

After being informed of this story, Geithner provided the following statement to Gawker:

I don’t know who this individual is. This is a shakedown. I have never had a text exchange with this individual. He clearly has an ulterior motive that has nothing to do with me.

Comments:

Sunshine Jordan Sargent
7/16/15 8:41pm
Wow, that is seriously fucked up. What kind of escort screws with his clients like that? Aren’t escorts supposed to be discreet? Boohoo. Your client wont help you with you Hud complaint so you’re going to blackmail him and ruin his life. Asshole. I don’t blame you for not wanting to reveal your identity. I suspect that karma will get you. This just made me sad. Fuck you and your HUD complaint.

Richard Blakeley Jordan Sargent
7/16/15 8:53pm
dat green txt bubble dot

raincoaster Jordan Sargent
7/16/15 9:06pm
Well, that’s the end of SOMEBODY’s lucrative escort career. “Hi, I’ll be a clingy, high-maintenance person with a mental illness, then if you don’t bend the President to my will I’ll sell you out to Gawker, and that’s BEFORE we meet.”

thingsandstuff Jordan Sargent
7/16/15 9:08pm
This is utterly shocking and morally repugnant.
That such a handsome guy has such horrible taste in music:

[admin]

Jordan Sargent
by wonderingsound.com

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Jordan Sargent is a writer from Miami. His work appears regularly at Gawker, Pitchfork, FADER, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Complex, and Twitter dot com. He is not in Disclosure.
http://www.wonderingsound.com/author/jordan-sargent/

[admin]

Geithner Called Dinesh D'Souza A 'Dick' For Outing Of Dartmouth Gays (VIDEO)
By DANIEL STRAUSS
MAY 12, 2014


AP Photo / Chris Usher

Before Timothy Geithner became treasury secretary he had a run-in with conservative author Dinesh D'Souza in which Geithner asked D'Souza "how it felt to be such a dick."

That moment was recounted in Geithner's new memoir, Stress Test. It happened in the 1980s when Geithner and D'Souza were undergraduate students at Dartmouth College. D'Souza, then an editor of the conservative Dartmouth Review, had overseen the newspaper publishing a list of members of Dartmouth College's Gay Straight Alliance which effectively outted a number of students who hadn't publicly said they were gay.

David Geithner, Chief Financial Officer at Conde Nast
by Linkedin

Background
Experience

Chief Financial Officer
Condé Nast
August 2014 – Present (1 year)Greater New York City Area
Education

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
BA, Finance, Accounting
1990 – 1992

Dartmouth College
BA, Government
1984 – 1988

According to Geithner in his memoir, as reported by Buzzfeed, he viewed the list as "McCarthy-style." When Geithner ran into D'Souza at a coffee shop he asked the conservative writer "how it felt to be such a dick."

D'Souza is currently under federal criminal indictment for alleged violations of campaign finance law. D'Souza's trial begins May 19, according to Reuters.

Watch Geithner recount the encounter in an interview with Vox.com's Ezra Klein:

[admin]

David Geithner
by linkedin.com

NOTICE: THIS WORK MAY BE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE AT THIS LINK BEFORE YOU READ THE FOLLOWING WORK, THAT IS AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP OR RESEARCH PURSUANT TO 17 U.S.C. SECTION 107 AND 108. IN THE EVENT THAT THE LIBRARY DETERMINES THAT UNLAWFUL COPYING OF THIS WORK HAS OCCURRED, THE LIBRARY HAS THE RIGHT TO BLOCK THE I.P. ADDRESS AT WHICH THE UNLAWFUL COPYING APPEARED TO HAVE OCCURRED. THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OF COPYRIGHT OWNERS.

Chief Financial Officer at Condé Nast
Greater New York City Area / Publishing
Previous: Time Inc., Condé Nast Publications, Wertheim Schroder
Education: Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
500+ connections

Background

Summary

A strategic business leader with relentless focus on value creation, new business growth and turnarounds (troubled or underperforming businesses), and improving financial and operational performance in highly competitive markets facing disruptive and challenging economies.

► BUSINESS, FINANCIAL & OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT: Leader of world-class media brands across multiple platforms and international teams up to 800+ employees. Oversee and implement operating business strategy and manage full P&L for businesses ranging from $15M to $1.2BN in revenue generated from multiple streams, including advertising, consumer, digital, international and events.

► FINANCIAL EXPERTISE: Deep financial, industry and operational expertise – P&L management, strategic planning, budgeting, process improvement, restructuring, cost analysis and mergers & acquisitions.

► TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE: Focus on transitioning legacy business by diversifying revenue streams, growing digital and mobile revenue while restructuring core cost base.

► INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP: Manage business operations for Mexico City-based Grupo Expansion, a leader in market share in the business, celebrity, and fashion categories, driving double digit profit growth in 2010-2012. Portfolio includes 17 magazine titles and eight websites.

Experience

Chief Financial Officer
Condé Nast
August 2014 – Present (1 year)Greater New York City Area

Executive Vice President
Time Inc.
September 2012 – March 2014 (1 year 7 months)Greater New York City Area

Responsible for financial and operating performance for PEOPLE, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, People En Español, StyleWatch and Essence - $1+ billion in revenue and the largest and most profitable business unit at Time Inc. with 800 employees nationwide
•Direct responsibility for advertising and consumer revenue, editorial, strategy, marketing, finance and business development for print, web, tablet and mobile
•InStyle named to Advertising Age A-List in 2012 and 2013; PEOPLE named to Adweek Hot List in 2012 and 2013; PEOPLE.com MIN Best of the Web for social media in 2012
•Management responsibility for Grupo Expansion – Time Inc. subsidiary based in Mexico (2010-2013). Managed transition from a business reliant primarily on print revenue to one with diversified revenue streams:

CFO
Condé Nast Publications
2014 – 2014 (less than a year)

Senior Vice President/General Manager
Time Inc.
September 2008 – September 2012 (4 years 1 month)Greater New York City Area
•Worked with President and Managing Editor to manage financial and operating performance of the group
•Direct reporting responsibility for Finance, Consumer Marketing, Production, Technology and Syndication
•Selected by the CEO to lead strategic planning process for the company with Bain Consulting; six month engagement that established long-term plan for Time Inc.

Senior Vice President
Time Inc.
February 2010 – December 2010 (11 months)Greater New York City Area
•Partnered with the CFO, Chief Strategy Officer and the Editor-in-Chief to manage the company during a ten month CEO transition; selected with the approval of Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes
•Led the Time Inc. finance organization including monthly reporting to Time Warner Finance Group
•Chosen by the CFO to lead consulting engagement with BCG that evaluated options for cost cutting and restructuring within the finance organization. The initiative generated ideas that lead to a 15% reduction in the cost base.

General Manager, PEOPLE Group
Time Inc.
October 2003 – January 2010 (6 years 4 months)Greater New York City Area

•Responsible for financial and operating performance for Time Inc.’s largest and most profitable business unit
•Collaborated with Publisher and Managing Editor to set strategy and evaluate impact of all business decisions
•Direct reporting responsibility for Finance, Consumer Marketing, Production, Technology and Syndication
•Launched international edition in India
•Launched StyleWatch magazine with no incremental funding; fastest brand to reach profitability in Time Inc. history
•Acquired StyleFind, a digital e-commerce site

Various Positions
Time Inc.
September 1992 – September 2003 (11 years 1 month)Greater New York City Area

General Manager, Teen People & People En Español (1997-2003)
Edit Finance Manager, PEOPLE (1996-1997);
Finance Manager, PEOPLE.com (1996-1997)
Edit Finance Manager, INSTYLE (1996-1997)
Advertising Revenue Manager, PEOPLE (1994-1996)
Advertising Revenue Analyst, TIME (1992-1994)

Financial Analyst
Wertheim Schroder
September 1988 – June 1990 (1 year 10 months)Greater New York City Area

Education

Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
BA, Finance, Accounting
1990 – 1992

Dartmouth College
BA, Government
1984 – 1988