J.K. Trotter, Author at Gizmodo

How CNN Made Its Own Reporting Sound Like Blackmail

On July 2, President Donald Trump tweeted out a video showing himself, as he had appeared in a 2007 WrestleMania event, attacking a person whose head had been replaced with the CNN logo. Two days later, CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski wrote an article about the origins of the video and the anonymous Reddit user who…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Jul 6

Someone Is Trying to Discredit the Story of Peter Thiel’s Interest in Young Blood

When Inc. magazine’s Jeff Bercovici reported last August that billionaire Trump-supporter Peter Thiel had repeatedly expressed interest in the idea of harvesting the blood of young people to maintain his own youth, it left an indelible mark on Thiel’s public persona, as captured by headlines like “Peter Thiel Wants to Inject Himself with Young People’s…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Jun 16

Emails: CIA Official Reviewed Parts of Times Reporter’s Book Before Publication

New York Times reporter David Sanger worked extensively with former deputy CIA director Michael Morell during the reporting of his book Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power—even arranging to provide Morell with access to an entire unpublished chapter for his review—according to documents obtained by Gizmodo. The records, consisting…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Nov 22

How Much Is Facebook to Blame?

Throughout this year’s presidential campaign, journalists have focused, correctly, on the power of Facebook to shape, distort, and ultimately control the news and information that inform and educate voters. They’ve written dozens of stories about the proliferating number of anonymous, low-rent websites that publish bombastic and clearly inaccurate stories designed to spread throughout Facebook’s platform as…

Social Media J.K. Trotter Nov 10

The New York Times Live Presidential Election Meter Is Fucking With Me

The New York Times is currently tracking the state of tonight’s hellish presidential election with what appears to be a … pressure gauge? Speedometer? SocialFlow resonance meter? … illustrating the leading candidate’s chances at winning the Electoral College and thus the presidency. As you can see above, as of this writing, the paper’s little gizmo…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Nov 8

Gawker Media Will Settle With Hulk Hogan and Other Litigants for $32 Million

Today the founder of Gawker Media, Nick Denton, announced that his bankrupt company would settle claims with three litigants: the wrestler Hulk Hogan, the scientist Shiva Ayyadurai, and the journalist Ashley Terrill. According to documents filed in federal bankruptcy court, the three settlements total $32,250,000. In a post on his personal blog, Denton wrote, “After…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Nov 2

Peter Thiel Goes to Washington

Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and Facebook board member, appeared today at the National Press Club in Washington, where he gave a short speech defending his support of Donald Trump and answered journalists’ written questions about his decade-long campaign to destroy Gawker Media. His answers revealed a deep-seated hatred toward Gawker and its staff,…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 31

Peter Thiel Is Sorry for Doubting Existence of Date Rape

Before he became a member of the PayPal Mafia or invested in Facebook, Silicon Valley billionaire and Donald Trump delegate Peter Thiel co-wrote a book called The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and Political Tolerance on Campus. Published in 1995, the book is notorious for its rigorous defense of a Stanford law student’s homophobic outbursts at a…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 25

Report: New York Times Acquires The Wirecutter for $30 Million

Recode’s Peter Kafka reported today that the New York Times has agreed to pay $30 million for The Wirecutter and The Sweethome, both of which were founded by Brian Lam, the former editor of Gizmodo. The paper later confirmed the all-cash acquisition (but not its exact terms) in a lengthy press release explaining the sites’…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 24

Sam Altman Should Resign from Y Combinator

Sam Altman, the 31-year-old president of the wildly successful startup accelerator Y Combinator, published an essay on Monday in which he attempted to address the mounting concerns over his company’s ties to Silicon Valley billionaire and Donald Trump delegate Peter Thiel. The company’s relationship with Thiel, who serves as an unpaid part-time partner and recently…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 18

Report: Peter Thiel Will Donate $1.25 Million to Elect Trump

Last week, Gizmodo noted Peter Thiel’s strange radio silence regarding the theatrical implosion of Donald Trump, whom the Silicon Valley billionaire and Facebook board member stumped for at the Republican National Convention. According to the New York Times, however, Thiel is nowhere close to abandoning his candidate. Citing “a person close to the investor,” the…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 16

Peter Thiel Won’t Say If He’s Still Supporting Trump

Is Peter Thiel having second thoughts about Donald Trump? Over the past six months, the Silicon Valley billionaire and Facebook board member served as an official delegate for the G.O.P.’s presidential nominee, gave an impassioned speech at the Republican National Convention (“I urge all of my fellow Americans to stand up and vote for Donald…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 12

Peter Thiel’s Lawyer Isn’t Stopping His War on Journalists

Silicon Valley billionaire and Donald Trump delegate Peter Thiel has defended his legal attack against Gawker Media by claiming the company “routinely published thinly sourced, nasty articles that attacked and mocked people.” At the same time, he has insisted that reporters should not be alarmed by his role in destroying an independent media outlet. “It’s…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Oct 7

A Very Long Conversation With Univision’s Isaac Lee About Deleting Posts

Last month, the media conglomerate Univision agreed to acquire Gizmodo and five other sites from Gawker Media for $135 million. On September 9, the day before the sale became final, two Univision executives, Jay Grant and Felipe Holguin, voted over the objections of Gawker Media’s executive editor to delete six posts—three at Deadspin, two at…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Sep 12

Univision Executives Vote to Delete Six Gawker Media Posts

In a vote carried out on Friday night, Univision executives voted to remove six posts published by former Gawker Media properties that are involved in ongoing litigation. The vote took place just hours before the close of Univision’s purchase of Gawker Media’s assets, and was carried out under a provision in Gawker’s existing collective bargaining…

Tech News J.K. Trotter Sep 10

Facebook Admits Pulitzer-Winning Photograph Is Not Child Pornography

You probably recognize Nick Ut’s infamous 1972 photograph of charred Vietnamese children running away from the site of a napalm incidienary bomb detonated by the South Vietnamese Air Force in Trang Bang. Earlier this week, however, Facebook effectively banned the Pulitzer-winning photograph from its own site. Now the site is backtracking as quickly as it…

Social Media J.K. Trotter Sep 9

J.K. Trotter

How CNN Made Its Own Reporting Sound Like Blackmail

Someone Is Trying to Discredit the Story of Peter Thiel’s Interest in Young Blood

Emails: CIA Official Reviewed Parts of Times Reporter’s Book Before Publication

How Much Is Facebook to Blame?

The New York Times Live Presidential Election Meter Is Fucking With Me

Gawker Media Will Settle With Hulk Hogan and Other Litigants for $32 Million

Peter Thiel Goes to Washington

Peter Thiel Is Sorry for Doubting Existence of Date Rape

Report: New York Times Acquires The Wirecutter for $30 Million

Sam Altman Should Resign from Y Combinator

Report: Peter Thiel Will Donate $1.25 Million to Elect Trump

Peter Thiel Won’t Say If He’s Still Supporting Trump

Peter Thiel’s Lawyer Isn’t Stopping His War on Journalists

A Very Long Conversation With Univision’s Isaac Lee About Deleting Posts

Univision Executives Vote to Delete Six Gawker Media Posts

Facebook Admits Pulitzer-Winning Photograph Is Not Child Pornography

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

Russia Allegedly Swung at VPNs but Accidentally Hit Its Own Banking Sector Instead

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