Jason is gone, all is well
So Jason’s last day was apparently last Friday; I remembered reading somewhere that it was going to be, but for all the fuss it was a fairly uneventful departure. (That isn’t to say I’m any less bummed about not working with him anymore.) But I’ve been mulling over Steve Rubel’s post for a couple of days now, undecided as to whether it’s worth responding to. I’m still a bit loathe to give it any more air time, but here we are.
Without delving too much into the seamy WIN vs. Gawker thing, or Steve’s whole we’re not witty / edgy / extreme / biting / cutting-edge / whatever enough theory, I think what’s important to clarify here is how things work at Engadget and Weblogs, Inc.:
First: the bloggers hold the power of WIN’s editorial voice, and no one else. As long as what’s being printed isn’t somehow illegal, libelous, plagiary, or otherwise sketchy, WIN and AOL, as entities, stay away from what WIN bloggers are publishing.
Second: as Jason has mentioned before, when editorial gets touched by the company (WIN) or the parent company (AOL), bloggers are encouraged to leave, and be as public and vocal as they please. To my knowledge this has never happened, and I’ve been at WIN since the wee early days. I now report to Brian and Judith, and I’ve told Judith as much — there’s zero point if we (Engadget) are tampered with by anyone outside of Engadget’s own team, and if it ever comes to that then I’m walking. She told me, if I recall correctly, that she expected nothing less.
Third: editorially nothing has changed. Ever. If Rubel held a gun to my head asking for an example of some conference call or memo asking me to “tone it down” or stop getting us in trouble every week with big, info-leaking companies, then he might have to pull the trigger. It’s just never happened, neither directly nor in implication or innuendo. Does this post seem adulterated by AOL to anyone?
So I hate to report the sad, boring truth here, but here it is laid bare: Jason is gone, we’re all bummed not to be working with him anymore, but we’ll all go on doing what we’ve done since day one. Namely, writing what we think needs to be said — with as much or as little “edge” as we choose — about topics we alone decide to cover. And that is exactly the business Jason and Brian established, which is why even though Jason is gone I still feel like he’s with us in spirit — and why I’m not going to worry myself too much about what’s around the next corner.
Lovin’ that Tivo link!
Comment by Con — Sunday, November 26, 2006 @ 9:59 pm
[...] 1. Argument: http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/11/without_jason_w.html 2. Response (among many): http://www.ryanblock.com/archive/2006/11/jason-is-gone-all-is-well/ [...]
Pingback by fuzzy, blog. » Blog Archive » Engadget/WIN/AOL VS Steve — Wednesday, November 29, 2006 @ 10:41 am
[...] I’m not too interested in delving too deeply, but now that Jason, Leonsis, and Miller took off, we can now expect Joe Redling, John Buckley, John McKinley, and someone closer to what I do — Jim Bankoff — to go by next year. [...]
Pingback by AOL reorg — bad to worse » Ryan Block — Friday, December 15, 2006 @ 1:49 pm