New York - Gawker Media, the online publisher of blogs including Gawker, Valleywag, Defamer, Gizmodo and Kotaku, has laid off 19 of 133 staffers across its stable of sites, Silicon Alley Insider reported.

Gawker Media head Nick Denton also plans to eliminate the bonus payments he recently began paying bloggers who attracted the most traffic to the sites.

"With the savings, we are increasing base pay and hiring 10 new people on the most commercially successful Gawker sites," Denton wrote in a memo to employees published by SAI.

Denton cited the current economic recession as reason for the cuts, noting that "advertising buys typically plunge after the Christmas shopping season, and 2009 is obviously going to be exceptionally difficult. We have to prepare for the worst, now, rather than when the worst comes upon us."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/41zlg (Silicon Alley Insider)

http://gawker.com/5058775/friday-is-always-black#c8131704