Gawker Gaffe Over Schwarzenegger Love Child

There was a lot of fuss last week over the revelation that former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered an illegitimate child with a member of his domestic staff. In the repellent media race to identify the love child's mother, Gawker named and included photographs of a woman and a child who, as it turned out, were not involved in the affair.

The LA Times' entertainment blog reported the Gawker incident, including quotes from the shameless gossip blog's writer and editor. What's striking is the indifference the two Gawker employees had to relentlessly invade someone's privacy, parade their name into the public awareness, and provide a half-hearted apology when their noxious error became obvious.

Good journalism is a tough job; gossip journalism is just a dirty one. However, I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit I read juicy stories about stupid celebrities, venal politicians, or hypocritical prelates, or arrogant attorneys. Sometimes, a little schadenfraude feels so good.

Naked Gawker

When Gawker Media's lead story's headline in its "News" page read "Gawker Media Leading the Way in the Evolution of Modern Media," they probably didn't have the hacking phenomenon in mind. Perhaps Gawker's editors and owner Nick Denton will reconsider its stance in light of the recent hacking of its user database. Over one and one-half million accounts were compromised in the hackers' action against Gawker.

For some, Gawker had it coming. It dishes celebrities, roasts politicians, reveals compromising corporate information. That "transparency" about others, while maintaining a rigorous privacy about one's own life, made Gawker a juicy target. Bringing down Gawker offered satisfaction for some who experienced Gawker's revelations. One wonders how Gawker will proceed, and how many users will trust their contact information to a third party database.