u did great job denton. vwag now the guilty pleasure of the most discerning pigfuckers everywhere.

Try really hard not to fire him after a couple weeks, Nick.

way to go, nick -- of course, i assume the traffic numbers are bogus :-) but still, good job on getting owen.

Please tell me that's not a fauxhawk.....

If those in and out images are any indication, Owen's gonna look wasted, tired and ripped in short time.

Good stuff, props for the turnaround, keeping Douglas around and luring Thomas.

A rise in "page views" can be explained a lot of ways, only one of which is an editorial change.

1) Changing the site's code to cause more hits on the webservers. Do the various site redesigns over the past year account for this? Dunno. Maybe.

2) An increase in the number of bubbleheads. More bubbleheads = more viewers. If the stock market is kicking ass and minting everyday millionaires, viewership on CNBC is going to be up regardless of anything they do on the channel.

I'm not saying that you didn't cause an increase in page views. I'm saying that it's unprofessional to take credit for something you can't unjustifiably prove that you did. Then again, maybe that's how it works in journalism.

Oh, by the way, of course I won't be able to resist posting here now and again. And sending in tips. And writing snarky comments. Like all of you should be doing!

look forward to the new boy....as long as his first article is not a repeat of Paul's- "write the story for me too" first one.

M

Congratulations to Owen Thomas, the new editor over at Valleywag. I doubt this means Nick Denton is disappearing entirely -- he seems to have too much fun posting -- but it will be in great hands with Owen.

you run this vaudeville act and that's the picture you choose to put up for yourself? A bit of self loathing writ large across the internet?

OK, Megan is prodding me - I can only resist for so long!

I am sure the new guy is great, will do fantastic and dump wheelbarrows of shit on Arrington's front lawn but while Nick Douglas is an extremely sub-par writer, it's unfair to compare your tenure vs. his. The lure of Denton's Valley was...Denton's Valleywag. Finally, the man behind the biggest blog empire breaks his virtual blogging silence and starts talking shit about the Valley. Make no mistake, that was the attraction and the "guilty pleasure."

You (Denton) should make your part-time status more noticeable so the sycophants won't move along.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone, including comments on my hairdo. That's the kind of attention to detail I've come to expect from Valleywag's crew of commenters. Please, take your seats - the curtain's about to rise, and I hope it will be a hell of a show.

Careful not to break your arm whilst patting yourself on the back.

Owen Thomas, the kid you plucked from a print magazine to resuscitate Valleywag, will be a great journalist (someday).

@Joe Clark: Ha, Joe, you have all the references. And still such nostalgia for Valleywag's redhead days. [Inside joke.]

@j-c: Hey, if one doesn't pat one's own back sometimes, nobody else is going to do it. Certainly not on this mean-spirited site.

@Stephen Sclafani: I'll be too much in fear of Owen's vicious wit to mess with him.

Exactly. Here's how it will play out. Three weeks into Owen's tenure, Nick stumbles upon something strange in the Gawker Media copy machine.

Nick Denton: [Reading a piece of paper] The first rule of FSJ is you don't talk about FSJ?
Owen Thomas: [Voice-over] I'm half asleep again; I must've left the original in the copy machine.
Nick Denton: The second rule of FSJ- is this yours?
Owen Thomas: Huh?
Nick Denton: Pretend you're me, make a managerial decision: you find this, what would you do?
Owen Thomas: [pauses] Well, I gotta tell you: I'd be very, very careful who you talk to about that, because the person who wrote that... is dangerous.
[Gets up from the chair]
Owen Thomas: [Talking slowly] And this frappacino-swilling, thrift shop shirt-wearing psycho might just snap, and then stalk from office to office with a Marnhulle AR-29 gas-powered semi-automatic snark dispenser, pumping cutting comments into colleagues and co-workers. This might be someone you've known for years. Someone very, very friggin' close to you. Blogtard.
Owen Thomas: [Voice-over] Fake Steve Jobs' words coming out of my mouth.
[Snatches the piece of paper from boss' hands]
Owen Thomas: [Voice-over] And I used to be such a nice guy.
Owen Thomas: Or maybe, you fuckwit, you shouldn't bring me every little piece of trash you happen to pick up.

Denton, I'm flattered by the non-response. It's like...you're too dignified or something! I had no idea I had such an effect on you. (That's bullshit, of course I knew. Lock and Batty have repeatedly told me so.) It's true what people say, a sure sign of getting under your skin is when you start refusing to publicly acknowledge a detractor because you can't even stand the thought of giving them any press. Minimize their voice by pretending they're not in the "conversation" - I love it.

and you admit firing Nick Douglas.
Back in the days you said you let him go.
Really lowight and shamefull

I almost teared up a bit when I found this place via Mashable.