NEW YORK, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Entertainment media outlet Gawker will shut down next week after nearly 15 years of operation, the company announced Thursday.
Gawker CEO Nick Denton informed staff of the shut down on Thursday. The decision came just a few days after the outlet was purchased by Latin broadcaster Univision for $135 million.
The purchase includes Gawker's six websites -- Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Jezebel and Deadspin.
"Sadly, neither I nor Gawker.com, the buccaneering flagship of the group I built with my colleagues, are coming along for this next stage," he said in a written announcement to staff. "Desirable though the other properties are, we have not been able to find a single media company or investor willing also to take on Gawker.com. The campaign being mounted against its editorial ethos and former writers has made it too risky. I can understand the caution."
"Farewell, Gawker," he added in a tweet. "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very brightly."
Fusion Media said Thursday it acquired the six digital sites as part of bankruptcy proceedings but will not operate the Gawker site. As a result, it will close its New York City-based operations next week.
"With this strategic acquisition, FMG's digital reach is expected rise to nearly 75 million uniques, or 96 million uniques when including its extended network," FMG said in a news release.
"Fusion Media Group is focused on serving America's diverse youth with digital-first brands that reflect their values and passions, authentically," Univision executive Isaac Lee said. "I expect the addition of these digital-first media assets will help FMG exceed the demands of the young, cross-cultural influencers we serve."
Nick Denton/TwitterHere is what Gawker does. Or did. https://t.co/vVTsS8w47H
— Nick Denton (@nicknotned) August 18, 2016
In his message, Denton acknowledged the campaign of billionaire Peter Thiel to put Gawker out of business. Thiel reportedly spent up to $10 million supporting third-party lawsuits against the company -- including one from wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape published by the website.
Thel's support of others' litigation may have resulted from a 2007 Gawker article that reported he was gay before he publicly made it known.
"It wasn't so many years ago, but it was a different time: Gay men had to navigate a world that wasn't always welcoming, and often faced difficult choices about how to live safely and with dignity," Thiel, who co-founded Paypal and was an early supporter of Facebook, said in The New York Times Monday. "In my case, Gawker decided to make those choices for me.
"I had begun coming out to people I knew, and I planned to continue on my own terms. Instead, Gawker violated my privacy and cashed in on it."
"As the competition for attention was rewarding ever more exploitation, Gawker was leading the way. The site routinely published thinly sourced, nasty articles that attacked and mocked people," he continued. "Most of the victims didn't fight back; Gawker could unleash both negative stories and well-funded lawyers. Since cruelty and recklessness were intrinsic parts of Gawker's business model, it seemed only a matter of time before they would try to pretend that journalism justified the very worst.
"This is a step in the right direction. Protecting individual dignity online is a long-term project, and it will require many delicate judgments. We can begin on solid ground by acknowledging that it is wrong to expose people's most intimate moments for no good reason. That is the kind of clear moral line that Gawker and publishers like it have sought to blur. But they can't do it if we don't let them."
Univision's purchase still must be approved by a bankruptcy court.
