Internet

September 8, 2009

Leader of the Jezzies

When Anna Holmes started Jezebel it was a small blog with an intimate community. Now, as one of Gawker Media's marquee names, the Jezzie-in-chief discusses the benefits and problems of expansion.

David Goldenberg

Over the past couple of years, as Gawker Media has jettisoned underperforming sites and laid off staff from its most popular ones, it has found promise in one of its newest arrivals, Jezebel.com. Started in 2007, the site has surprisingly carved out a niche in the well-trodden grounds of celebrity gossip and women’s magazines by focusing on the fact that most of it is, well, bullshit. It’s bullshit that’s fun to talk about and ruminate on, but bullshit nonetheless.

It’s a tricky thing to cater to readers who both enjoy consuming popular culture versions of women’s media and making fun of it, but Jezebel editor Anna Holmes has walked that tightrope ably since the beginning. Some of that is because she spent years working for the very women’s magazines she now critiques, but it’s also because she’s willing to believe that her readers are flexible enough to handle jokes about Michelle Obama’s well-chiseled arms and serious discussions about the misogyny inherent to the Caster Semenya controversy.







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Article by David Goldenberg

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