formerly ink-stained wretches

Media and Hollywood Writer Gabriel Snyder Tapped As New Gawker Managing Editor?

Omar Minaya and Brian Cashman.

Nick Denton’s highly public search for a new managing editor of Gawker.com, the flagship site in his blog fleet, has ended, we hear. (And so does Radar!) Denton, under whose watch the site has grown from 8 million viewers a month in December to 24 million last month, will hand over the reins to Gabriel Snyder. Snyder is a media fixture who’s been on staff at the Observer, Us Weekly, and Variety. (Other names being bandied about include our own Jessica Coen, Star gossip Ben Widdicombe, current Gawker night editor Ryan Tate, WWD scribe Jacob Bernstein, and even Times media writer David Carr!) Snyder’s arguably the editor with the most solidly print background of anyone who’s run the site so far. After interviewing several candidates for the gig, Denton posted an ad for the position at the beginning of the month. “Many magazines and newspapers will wrestle with their transition to the internet over the next few years,” he argued. “They cannot provide secure employment.” Apparently Snyder agreed, and will be moving to New York from Los Angeles with his girlfriend for the job. Denton won’t confirm and says he’s “not going to get into a guessing game,” but if it’s true, we say good luck, Gabriel! As two former print-staff writers who made a hell-forged deal with the Internet to become bloggers, we can tell you: The bitchiness comes to you fast and it comes easy, and then you can’t stop it from coming even if you want it to.

Media and Hollywood Writer Gabriel Snyder Tapped As New Gawker Managing Editor?