It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is - Valleywag Comments

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

PhilWil — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:04:21 PDT

Well, this is interesting. Is this the norm for blog site networks?

Just my 2cents:
I always took the blog writer job as a supplement job to your regular day gig, not the one and only job you got.

PhilWil

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

dengelbery — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:59:21 PDT

I might be late in the game on this one, but I can't believe OT wanted me to write for VW. One lapdance per day = your base salary. Get another job - perhaps as a copywriter??

dengelbery

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

ADismalScience — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:51:36 PDT

@Moe:

Of course. Just before you slipped "Gravity's Rainbow" back in your red patent leather tote and helped an old lady across the street.

ADismalScience

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Moe — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:01:08 PDT

@ADismalScience: Yeah, well, you know, I wouldn't have taken a job blogging for Gawker Media if I weren't the consummate purist.

Moe

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

ADismalScience — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:07:26 PDT

@Moe:

Well, notice that you're all hired as editors, right? At least most of you.

That title reflects an accountability to both the objective and subjective quality of your pieces. It's not just that you product quality work - it's that it generates an interest. Purists tend to have a jaundiced view toward that sort of approach, but if you're any kind of realist I think it's the only view. Whether or not you choose to let your writing become garbage for the sake of pay is only tangentially related to this pay structure.

ADismalScience

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Moe — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:29:47 PDT

@Choire: What has always mystified me about the pageview regime is why anyone would choose to write for a living if what really brought them satisfaction was SALES. Was knowing we could be fired at any moment for insufficient traffic not enough?

Moe

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

BartKela — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:27:13 PDT

@LochNess: Exactly.

BartKela

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

raincoaster — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:42:44 PDT

@Melissa Gira Grant: Exactly.

raincoaster

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

LochNess — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:51:42 PDT

zzzzzzz

LochNess

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

JimNewell — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:39:31 PDT

@Jordan Golson: Hey, at least YOUR site isn't getting decreased PVR just as the primary season -- our lifeline -- is (technically) ending, you damn hippie. [Sigh]. So long, high page view rate (and high page views).

JimNewell

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

matto — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:14:38 PDT

This post is going to make Jordan rich, regardless.

matto

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Luuce — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:11:13 PDT

Hope this bitchy post gets you some pageviews! Get a real job!

Luuce

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

yeodie — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:01:27 PDT

Except you do know what your salary is. Presumably your base rate (or, shall we say, "salary") remains unchanged; the only thing that might change is the page view rate, which would only effect how many page views you're expected to accumulate, and when you'd be able to get a bonus (and how much the bonus would be, of course).

So basically: you don't know what your bonus is. But since that changes month to month depending on your traffic, you never know that.

What's changed, again?

yeodie

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Melissa Gira Grant — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:00:17 PDT

@raincoaster: Thanks for advising Denton of my pandering plans as exit strategy. But how do you know I'm not already holed up in Buenos Aires, filing stories to Mr. Boutin, lapping the blood of near-virgins from a redhead's brow as I write? Four Hour Work Week indeed.

Melissa Gira Grant

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

matto — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:58:21 PDT

Jason Calacanis charges his employees per pageview!

matto

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Ray Wert — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:18:17 PDT

@Annalee Newitz: I told Jordan he could only splice over to us if he mentioned "UAW" in the healdine.

Ray Wert

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

nat lyon — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:18:06 PDT

Try a creative solution. Mr T seems to be available. Sub-contract your posts to him for a greatly reduced rate and pocket the difference. That's GOLD! And from what I'm reading at Gizmodo today his writing is not half bad...

nat lyon

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:13:19 PDT

Union now! Union now!

Annalee Newitz

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

MarkTheMarketWatcher — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:12:27 PDT

Ironic that your post about pay (which now has nearly 5,000 views) is going to get you paid.

Nice!

MarkTheMarketWatcher

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Lulu82 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:03:04 PDT

This sounds stressful, but it's great how you can be so open about it on the blog... Totally unheard of at newspapers.

Lulu82

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Nick Douglas — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:52:35 PDT

When do our paychecks come in this month anyway?

Nick Douglas

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Jordan Golson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:26:27 PDT

@In Other News...: That was someone being dumb.

Jordan Golson

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

BrianVan — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:20:26 PDT

On the bright side, all you have to do is write another 63 posts bitching about your pay rate and you'll meet your monthly quota.

Or, do what I did: work in finance! Would you believe the people are nicer here?

BrianVan

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:10:22 PDT

@Blackjack: Saying that on April Fool's Day is like when people in jail say "I didn't do it!".

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:09:21 PDT

@Jordan Golson: Wow! Then what was that "Happy April First" thing... please, please explain?

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:06:03 PDT

I'm happy with the system.

Nicholas Carlson

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

dame edna — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:01:26 PDT

@BadUncle: 3. a.) and starve ?

dame edna

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Blackjack — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:50:45 PDT

@In Other News...: Even the bit at the end that says it isn't an April Fool's joke?

Blackjack

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Blackjack — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:50:04 PDT

@raincoaster: Cool, she'll make bank both ways. Then she'll buy Valleywag, send Paul Boutin to Mistress Razorwire for sensitivity training, and drink margaritas out of Nick Douglas' hollowed out skull. Good times.

Blackjack

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Jordan Golson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:47:41 PDT

@Noah R: How would I know when I was in bonus territory?

@In Other News...: It isn't.

Jordan Golson

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

vulturesquadron — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:42:32 PDT

What's the per-mention kickback rate on Julia Allison pieces?

vulturesquadron

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:37:38 PDT

@smashface: Amazing what discussions this has prompted tho'.

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

smashface — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:18:41 PDT

@In Other News...: Agreed.

smashface

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

BadUncle — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:59:26 PDT

You can address this situation in one of three ways:

1) Increase traffic to your posts by writing ill-researched, inflamatory pseudo-journalism (and help Denton achieve his dream of becoming the next Murdoch).
2) Increase traffic to your posts by showing more tits (and help Denton achieve his dream of becoming the next Murdoch).
3) Leave to work for or start a tech publication that's has a long-view of brand-building.

BadUncle

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:55:29 PDT

@Tnuc: I think this is an April Fool's post is what I'm saying.

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

narnio — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:30:56 PDT

Time to get a job.

narnio

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

clashcityrockerkat — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:27:46 PDT

You mean Denton actually pays YOU and not vice versa? Wow. This whole time I thought writing for Gawker Media was a privilege you had to pay for...

@tootingbec - is this post Jordan's foolproof way of ensuring his bonus doesn't go down for this month...?

clashcityrockerkat

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Noah R — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:27:43 PDT

The sensational (albeit inaccurate) headline on this story should heave you into bonus territory in no time, Jordan.

Noah R

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

The Ghost of Lucky — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:10:49 PDT

So should I set this page to auto-refresh to inflate your bonus this month, Jordan?

The Ghost of Lucky

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

ADismalScience — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:57:28 PDT

Go kick marketing for not maintaining the per-pageview value of your content! If they were selling ads that corresponded with your traffic, you'd be able to maintain your pay rate. Of course, there would have to be occassional dilution due to the self-perpetuating nature of pageviews, but this ideally would be a function that would - yes - be transparent to the writers.

ADismalScience

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

KarenUhOh — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:18:12 PDT

@Choire: You've nailed it. This is a success-driven devaluation. Profitability is too costly.

Meantime, my psychological fascination is in watching the ever-reticent manager cleansing via the catharsis of dissent.

Of course, it's his ball and his playground.

KarenUhOh

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

donmiguel — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:14:06 PDT

This has to be an April fool's thingy. How else would Count Denton allow you to dis him openly? He might be all smiley in this pics, but his rep on the streets is as one who will, and I quote, "Choke a fool!"

donmiguel

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Tnuc — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:07:47 PDT

@In Other News...: Block images from Valleywag.org. [valleywag.org]

Tnuc

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:45:30 PDT

Am I the only one seeing this "Happy April 1st" thing?

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Choire — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:42:44 PDT

If they are lowering your pageview take for the quarter, it's a sign of your success. (Isn't that interesting? The better the site does, the less you may get paid for your work. It seems like anti-incentive.) They paid out for around 2 million pageviews in March. That's a lot for Valleywag--not a lot for elsewhere. Feb and March were record traffic months for the site.

And so, if your pay rate was artificially inflated to keep you getting paid at a decent rate on less traffic, now it will be cut down to the more "reasonable" rate of other sites.

The giant flaw in this is, in the words of one psych prof: "The psychological impact of losing something is about 2.5 times as great as the psychological impact of gaining the same thing." And I don't think the company understands that employees react badly to uncertainty and to things that seem unfair, even if on paper they are completely logical.

But then, corporations aren't here to hold their (probably illegal) non-employee-status employees' hands. They have a business to run. Your happiness isn't their first concern.

Choire

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

In Other News... — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:36:43 PDT

I like the floating "HAPPY APRIL FIRST" thingy. At first, I thought we were front-row witnesses to The Revolution.

In Other News...

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

edisdead — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:24:10 PDT

predictably, this airing of gawker media's soiled laundry is mong the most-viewed posts. even when denton loses, he wins!

edisdead

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

raincoaster — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:02:40 PDT

@Blackjack: No, the Valleywag salary can't be enough. If she doesn't make a cool, tax-free million from referral fees by the end of this year, she's not smart enough to be attempting to make this segue.

raincoaster

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Tnuc — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:34:50 PDT

"should not be expected to work blind"

I know how feel!

Imagine what Stevie Wonder must be going through?

Tnuc

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Blackjack — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:27:24 PDT

Melissa already showed you how to extract as much blood out of Denton as possible. Scrape some hottie images off the web, put a thumbnail of it up so the undersexed segment of the Wag's readership will click through to the post to see the whole pic, and cash in.

Blackjack

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

lesbiansayswhat — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:53:05 PDT

Yeah, this is bizarre. But it's also bizarre that you can call out your bosses in a post on their very own website. Nice. Do all the writers share the video posts or is that relegated to one extremely lucky point person?

lesbiansayswhat

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

ScalaWag — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:52:31 PDT

You better feel grateful Denton is paying you anything. Working for Gawker is a privilege so rejoice your purpose in life.

ScalaWag

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

raincoaster — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:04:16 PDT

Oh, come ON! Not one Marxist reference? What is this, Fortpolio?

raincoaster

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

MalphasWats — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:50:29 PDT

I've been wondering about the whole "making money from the internet" bubble for a while. After of stripping down to my tidy-whities and dancing the macarena for my webcam, the next best way to make money is through writing.

I don't have anything like the creative talent needed to put food on my table doing this, but I enjoy the musings of many people who seem to be able to make it work.

My enjoyment is hampered by guilt though. I'm not one of these "adblock-plugin anarchists" (I trained my brain to ignore them mostly) but I am a "Feed Reader Warrior", I consume almost all of my textual entertainment via Google Reader. Valleywag is kind enough not to truncate the writings it serves via its RSS feed so how does my pretending I've got a minority report stylee magic newspaper affect your ability to put food on your table?

I'd be mortified to think that my readership wasn't being counted!

seriously though. How does it all work?

Guiltyly Confused of Maidstone.

MalphasWats

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

Scobleizer — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:21:24 PDT

Nick Denton just wrote me and told me my fee for generating Valleywag content is being cut in half. Hope you fair better.

Scobleizer

It's April 1 and I don't know what my salary is

tootingbec — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:40:54 PDT

Boy, that pay scheme makes me glad to have a stable, boring old salary. On the other hand, if I find myself a few hundred short when the rent is due, I can't make up the difference by linking to some boobies or calling some well-known individual a pedophile. So count your blessings.

(BTW, a quick scan of Jordan's oeuvre suggests that he has employed neither tactic. Get on the ball, man! Tits! Character assassination! Hoochie mamas! Enough of Scoble and Pogue and Page and Brin. Your fortune awaits.)

tootingbec