The Gawker Debacle
Bwog is a simple website. We like hawks and free coffee and pictures of babies in snow. But this morning Bwog was thrust into the unflattering spotlight of the New York media thanks to a fact-checking-averse ex-Speccie with a Gawker byline. You can read the post here.
The story has inexplicably gained some momentum, and Bwog was later contacted by Media Bistro regarding our response to Gawker, which you can read here.
We’d chalk it up to a slow news day, but then again Governor Spitzer was just implicated in a prostitution ring, so we’re stumped.
Que sera sera.
Tags: bad journalism, gawker, investigative journalism, meta
10 March 2008 @ 12:50 PM · 47 comments
on 
META WAR!!!!!!!!!!
it’s “lo que sera sera”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Que_sera_sera#Language_in_title_and_lyrics
GAWKER MORE LIKE FLAW-KER
tipster?
she actually got it right – bwog has been way suckier this semester. just as a reader who has less interest these days…
try adding some accents bwog. no wonder life hates you.
bwog before = better than bwog now. sorry guys. gawker girl got it right.
BWOG STOP SUCKING MASSIVE PENIS
was unsubstantiated and perhaps inaccurate in regards to particulars, but could not be more spot-on re: bwog’s recent… suckiness. more about the campus, less low-grade “smarm,” please.
spec = must read???
Yeah….right…I’m not saying they’re not doing a good job and most of the articles I read are well written but it’s hardly must read.
can we agree that both bwog and spec suck cock?
I’m curious…what’s been sucking? Or, better, what’s changed? It’s still pretty much the same as it ever was.
It’s funny, if you go to posts from last year, or any time after maybe the first few months, there are comments peppered throughout that say “bwog used to be great and now it sucks”. It seems like maybe it’s always sucked or always been great, but it hasn’t actually changed.
Yikes…blog wars. Bwors?
Bwog doesn’t suck penis or anything else. If it did, nobody would read it. I never got the “I am going to unsubstantially criticize bwog” thing. Do you really not want to do your homework that much, people? What a waste.
i like bwog more than i like spec.
i also liked juli wiener’s response to gawker.
i also like trees.
is actually getting less interesting, it’s true. nobody needs a bird bwog, for God’s sake. what we’d like is some information on what’s going on on this campus, city, etc. maybe if bwog posted good gossip, we wouldn’t have to resort to juicycampus
I like Bwog more than I like pretty much any other gossip website online right now.
And Juli Wiener really brought it in that response…not like it’s that difficult to make the Gawker team look like a bunch of bitter, resentful, sniveling idiots.
A Barnard girl who wrote for Spec? Really?
In that whole full disclosure thing that she didn’t do, Rebecca whatserface really should have made clearer the implications of not only her Spec affiliation, but also her Barnard affiliation.
I’m sure she was just thrilled to have the chance to bash a blog that has become a forum for irate Barnard-bashers.
Not that there’s anything wrong with those…
If commenter #17 is correct that attending Barnard is a conflict of interest with criticizing Bwog… that’s not a *defense* of Bwog. That’s an own goal.
Kudos to Ms. Weiner for the classy response to a classless attack.
agree that bwog has been a little off of late, but that happens from time to time with campus organizations that are expected to produce something good for the public with a volunteer staff and a limited amount of time.
gawker, on the other hand, has precious little credibility as far as i’m concerned. talk about taking a downturn–i’m assuming the passage the writer ends with “sound familiar?” refers to gawker itself. i haven’t even been able to read it since all of their talented/funny bloggers left around four months ago. glass houses…
argh Bwog sucks now Spec sucks now SNL sucks now books suck now everything used to be better Vampire Weekend’s new album is so bad compared to their old stuff
I still love you, Bwog. well done, Juli Wiener.
truth be told, gawker kinda sucks now too.
but ivygate has fallen the farthest. you are doing alright bwog. just wait a few more weeks for the usual spring protest about some bullshit.
classy response, bwog.
“Do you really not want to do you homework that much people?”
ummmm. yes?
I don’t think it’s Bwog’s fault, and it’s harsh to blame it on the vision of the new editor. The fact is, Spec has also been sucking off late; I remember a couple of weeks ago we had consecutive 3-page issues. The fact is that there isn’t much going down right now. Student groups will start kicking it once the weather gets warmer and the flow of news will begin again.
is great. If I had the energy to be a part of the organization (I’ve contacted them about joining probably 4 times now), I would totally follow through on my pledge to help. Until then, I’ll keep reading and trying my best to write snarky comments. I’ll guarantee it.
I think we are all confusing the term “suck” here.
According to credible definition sources, the early Jazz musicians would say that a guy could really “Blow” if he had a good sound when playing the horn. If he couldn’t play very well then they would say that he was “Sucking on Rob Trump’s Giant Horn of Nob Gobbling Mediocrity.”
That’s where the word “suck” comes from and, as an aside, if Rob Trump was a koala bear I would put a grenade in his mouth.
anti-rjt is right on that suck is not the right word, although it captures the spirit if not the letter of what has happened to bwog.
Bwog used to be intelligent. Not only did they cover interesting events, but they offered more than the awkward summary that Spec usually provides, and they would cover more off-the-beaten-path type of events. Now we have a seeming obsession with the CCSC – what could better symbolize Bwog’s loss of alternative, independent snarkiness.
I have no personal animus against the new editors, and really have no idea who they are. The whole style and tone, as well as the coverage focus has changed. Bwog has tried to become “mainstream” it seems and has become a cheap, crappy version of Spec – ouch that hurt more than I meant it to.
Bwog also used to be funny. This is hard to explain, but that’s just how it is.
I have no beef with this editor or that editor, and I hope who ever is running bwog now can bring back the snarky, intelligent, off-beat independent coverage of all things campus once made it great.
“Baaaaaaw, you used to be cool bwog, Baaaaaaaaw.”
I love you internet. You’re just so predictable. It’s like an old friend who never changes – creepy, yet comforting.
Anyway, I’ve read all I could find from the links here, and I still don’t understand what’s going on. I feel like I’m being bamboozled into thinking this is a controversy so both your websites generate some of that fabled “internet buzz.”
her affiliation with Barnard really has anything to do with it. This Rebecca girl sucks, but no need to make it a Columbia/Barnard thing.
Bwog has gotten more boring recently. I’m not sure whether thats due to less interesting news to cover, or to worse editors; whatever. An example: while Juli’s response is indeed classy & effective, the actual Bwog post is totally lacking in effective snark. A pitiful offensive in the blooming blog war.
When people think “Bwog,” they think:
Juli Wiener alone in her room with a laptop. And a line of coke.
Bwog’s reply to Gawker would have been almost good if it had actually been proofread before landing in the inboxes of all of the blogs in the city.
big day for bwog. gothamist is linking to you too on the juicy campus article.
I’m a student here, but I stopped checking bwog a year ago after having to constantly read a barrage of bullshit about Barnard in the comments to every post. I chalked that kind of venom up to insecure nerds trying to act tough on the internet–after all, I’ve never actually heard anyone speak badly of Barnard. I’ve taken half my classes on the Columbia campus and everyone gets along fine in real life. As far as I can tell, Barnard girls aren’t actually retarded prostitutes; it’s only in anonymous online forums like this one that this image appears, and I have no problem with that. I just wouldn’t want to read it everyday.
So I was shocked to read on Gawker this afternoon that bwog’s editor-in-chief is a Barnard student. Really? Why? What do you get out of this? Don’t you find it humiliating? I saw that you wrote on your intern blog for Teen Vogue about how much you adore your school: “I LOVE Barnard. Barnard is a small liberal arts college within Columbia University. The best thing about Barnard is being in New York (also really helpful in landing spring and fall internships).” Cute. When you headed home from the internship that Barnard’s Office of Career Development gave you and logged online to read the comments here, did you think about how much you LOVE Barnard then?
Anyway. I don’t know you, but I was really shocked to read that the editor here is a Barnard student. I don’t know what you get out of it. Maybe this is fun. Who knows? This blog isn’t very widely-read or respected, so your holding this position and having to sort through such bile just seems…pointless.
I guess it seems to me like you’re humiliating yourself.
that was perhaps the most incoherent, pointless ramble i have ever read. i am sorry that you seem to harbor vague animosity towards bwog, but i’m confused about why you think the editor of it is humiliating herself…explain, please? this time use rational thought
actually it was perfectly clear, if you have basic reading comprehension skills and/or a clue. bwog commenters very frequently anti-barnard, and commenter #35 does not understand how a barnard editor in chief tolerates this. sounds rational enough to me.
if poster #35 had stated her problem with Bwog like you did, it would have actually sounded rational. Instead, she chose to make it sound like a personal attack. That’s the problem, and poster #35 just comes off sounding bitter and like the exact stereotype of hyper-sensitive, defensive Barnard commenters that get ridiculed on Bwog. I’m not defending all the anti-Barnard sentiment on Bwog; as a Barnard student, it gets pretty fucking irritating sometimes. But really, most of it is bullshit written by people who don’t matter with opinions that matter even less. And besides, sometimes Barnard deserves to be made fun of just as much as the college, GS, SIPA, and any other school, because like all these other schools, they bring it on themselves. And just because someone happens to be a Barnard student doesn’t mean they have to blindly defend it and get all “strong and beautiful Barnard woman” at the mere mention of Barnard on Bwog. Lighten up, have a sense of humor, or stfd.
…your argument is just silly, given that commenters do NOT necessarily equal Bwog staff. I don’t see the actual Bwog content written by the staff referring to Barnard girls as “retarded prostitutes.”
the pointless columbia literary version of mean girls?
Juli’s response was ridiculous.
“Also, Bwog isn’t a campus blog dedicated to making fun of other publications– though this post certainly delves into that territory. But I understand you’re trying to reach your post-quota and it’s hard when things move faster at Gawker than they did at Jossip”
LOL. Please, read 70% of the articles on Bwog and they are all bitter, satirical bullshit. Just like half of Juli Weiner’s response.
Juli also needs help on her writing skills.
“Bwog and the Spec are direct competitors”
That’s a little much. Bwog and Spec are really quite different imho. Spec actually covers major news and has a lot more credibility while Bwog mentions everything on Spec + the interesting side story here and there. Most of Bwog’s city-related stuff are not even reported as such–they are grabbed straight off http://www.nytimes.com
Despite the fact that the Bwog is kinda shitty, probably due to similarly shitty leadership, it still has a place on campus and is here to stay. So everyone, stfu.
juli’s name ends in an i, that’s dumb. does that really bother anyone else? has college turned me into an internet troll?
Columbia’s got talent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBGV-0jKkTg
all of these outlets suck and that much like in elections we’re stuck choosing between a giant douche and a turd sandwich
Juli’s response was fierce. Work it guuuurrrrlll.
gawker is intelligent, interesting, and purposeful. bwog is retarded. that is all.
who the fuck is julie winer?