Wonkette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| URL | www.wonkette.com |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Blog |
| Owner | Gawker Media |
| Created by | Alex Pareene and Ken Layne |
Wonkette is a blog published by Gawker Media that details the goings-on of the political establishment in Washington, DC. The site focuses heavily on gossip, humor, and the downfall of the powerful, as well as more "serious" matters of politics or policy.
Ana Marie Cox, a former editor at suck.com, was the founding editor. Under her tenure, Wonkette was 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 affairs including a Bush administration official.
Cox announced her retirement as Wonkette's editor on January 5, 2006 in order to promote her book, "Dog Days". She was succeeded 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.
After the publication of "Dog Days," which was reviewed in outlets like The New York Times and Forbes, Cox began blogging at her personal website, anamariecox.com. 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.
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.
Nick Mueller and Lauren Spohrer contribute, as does the anonymous "Ask the Lobbyist" and the Comics Curmudgeon.
[edit] External links
- Wonkette
- Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows - introduction of Editors Lat and Pareene
- Wonkette Redesign Spells Further Trouble for '06 Incumbents
- Nick Mueller
- Lauren Spohrer
