As another week draws to a close, our editors once again divert their attention away from the hectic newsdesk with some of their favourite stories from the press this week including the Bollea Vs Gawker Media case and ‘political’ scraps of a feline nature!
Jonathan Fine kicks off with an interesting contribution from The New Yorker…
When in Doubt – Put it Out?
I have been following the Bollea Vs Gawker Media case avidly through its various stages, because of the complexities it embodies and the multilayered characters involved.
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Terry Bollea, better known as legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan, has filed against the unscrupulous publisher for airing a sex tape starring Hogan (unwittingly). After four years he has won a staggering compensation of $140 million, which puts Gawker’s very existence in danger.
Gawker founder Nick Denton files for bankruptcy, saying he owes $125M to Hulk Hogan after court case.
— The Associated Press (@AP)
Speaking recently with David Remnick at the New Yorker Radio, Gawker’s founder Nick Denton stood up to defend his decision, claiming that the media eco-system should have a room for “an independent spiky journalism”. But to what end? At what price? And how can one seriously state that a celebrity sex tape is “newsworthy”?
The 15 minute-long talk is a telling exchange not only about the Hogan lawsuit (and what drove powerful VC Peter Thiel to bankroll it), but about journalism in an era of “explosion of expression”, as The New Yorker’s editor-in-chief hears from the founder of Gawker.com, now under chapter 11.
Listen to the interview
We continue with Simon Golstein’s favourite story of the week…
When Will the Madness End?
Looking at the state of the world at the moment, one could be forgiven for drawing a comparison between the 2010s and the 1910s/1930s.
The rise of Daesh, the siege of Aleppo, desperate refugees streaming into an ever more unstable Europe…all-too-frequent terrorist attacks ripping lives apart in France and Turkey and Iraq. And in the West, the success of unapologetically populist politicians alarming to anyone with an even cursory knowledge of modern world history.
And while the UK has not been immune to political troubles, what with the surprising victory of the Brexit campaign and a leadership struggle within the Labour party, at least the islands had been relatively free of violence.
We conclude another week of stories that our editors are reading. Feel free to share your views in the comment section and any recommendations of your own. We look forward to hearing your opinions!
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