The Awl
{{short description|Defunct website focused on news and culture}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox website
| name = The Awl
| logo = The-awl-logo.png
| screenshot =
| caption =
| type = Current events, culture
| language = English
| editor = Silvia Killingsworth
| key_people = Michael Macher (publisher)
| author = Choire Sicha
Alex Balk
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2009|4|20}}
| dissolved = {{start date and age|2018|1|31}}
| current_status = Inactive
| revenue = Unknown
| url = {{URL|theawl.com}}
}}
The Awl was a website about "news, ideas and obscure Internet minutiae of the day"{{cite news |url=http://observer.com/2009/04/gawker-alumni-launch-web-site-for-resonant-weird-important-frightening-news/ |title=Gawker Alumni Launch Web Site for 'Resonant, Weird, Important, Frightening' News |last=Reagan |first=Gillian |work=The New York Observer |date=April 20, 2009 |access-date=August 15, 2015}} based in New York City. Its motto was "Be Less Stupid."
History
Founded in April 2009 by David Cho and former Gawker editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk out of Sicha's East Village, Manhattan apartment, after they were laid off by the pop culture magazine Radar,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25carr.html |title=Against Odds, Web Site Finds Niche |last=Carr |first=David |author-link=David Carr (journalist) |work=The New York Times |date=October 24, 2010 |access-date=September 4, 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/9/8908279/the-awl-profile-choire-sicha-john-herrman-matt-buchanan |title=Why are the most important people in media reading The Awl? |last=Dzieza |first=Josh |work=The Verge |date=July 9, 2015 |access-date=November 9, 2016}} the trio decided to launch their own blog, completely "out of pocket with a bare-bones site." The site's name was coined by contributor Tom Scocca, after the small pointed tool used for piercing holes. "He’d always wanted to have a newspaper named The Awl. So we semi bought it from him in a friendly arrangement." Sicha told Vanity Fair.{{cite news |last=Pressman |first=Matt |title=Choire Sicha's Plea: Stay Away, Stupid People! |work=Vanity Fair |date=April 21, 2009 |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/04/21/blog-founders-plea-stay-away-stupid-people.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091130054740/http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/04/21/blog-founders-plea-stay-away-stupid-people.html |archive-date=November 30, 2009}}
The first posts on the site were an infographic by Emily Gould of Gawker{{'}}s office seating chart, "a video of a Miss USA contestant responding to a gay marriage question from Perez Hilton, and an item linking to a Reuters article about physicist Stephen Hawking being taken to the hospital." Initial expectations by media observers were for the site to be a carbon copy of Gawker, but, said Nieman Journalism Lab’s Justin Ellis, "instead it was something smaller and focused on the writing, where people can write about the stuff they’re passionate or super nerdy about.".
In mid-January 2018, The Awl announced that it would end publication at the end of that month.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theawl.com/2018/01/awl-ends/ |date=January 16, 2018 |title=Awl Ends | website=www.theawl.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128215340/https://www.theawl.com/2018/01/awl-ends/ | archive-date=January 28, 2018 | url-status=live }} It printed a final obituary to itself on January 31, 2018.{{cite news |url=https://www.theawl.com/2018/01/okay-go-be-as-stupid-as-you-want/ | title=The Awl, 2009-2018 | last=Balk | first=Alex | date=January 31, 2018 | website=www.theawl.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213022355/https://www.theawl.com/2018/01/okay-go-be-as-stupid-as-you-want/ | archive-date=February 13, 2018 | url-status=live }}
Staff
As of July 2015, The Awl Network employed 13 people, as well as many freelance contributors. After editing The Awl for over almost two years, Matt Buchanan and John Herrman announced their departure from the site in February 2016.{{cite web |url=https://www.theawl.com/2016/02/job-open-again/ | date=February 23, 2016 | title=Job Open (Again) | website=www.theawl.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316120602/https://www.theawl.com/2016/02/job-open-again/ | archive-date=March 16, 2016 | url-status=live }} In March 2016 it was announced that Silvia Killingsworth would take over the editing position.{{cite web |title=Job Filled |url=https://www.theawl.com/2016/03/job-filled/ | website=www.theawl.com | date=March 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116212038/https://www.theawl.com/2016/03/job-filled/ | archive-date=January 16, 2018 | url-status=live }} The Awl was published by John Shankman from 2011 until May 2014, when Michael Macher became publisher.{{cite web |url=https://www.theawl.com/2014/05/changes-at-the-awl/ | date=May 29, 2014 | website=www.theawl.com | title=Changes At The Awl | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606212916/https://www.theawl.com/2014/05/changes-at-the-awl/ | archive-date=June 6, 2014 | url-status=live }} In 2011, David Cho left The Awl to join ESPN-affiliated sports site Grantland.{{cite web |last=Rovzar |first=Chris |date=June 29, 2011 |title=Awl Publisher and Co-Founder David Cho Leaves for Grantland |publisher=New York |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/06/awl_publisher_and_co-founder_d.html |access-date=September 4, 2013}}
Sister sites
The Awl had four sister sites: Splitsider, a comedy website; The Hairpin, a site geared toward women; The Sweethome, a home-furnishings review site; and The Billfold, a blog with a focus on personal finances.{{cite web|last=Hayden |first=Erik |url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2010/09/gawker-slays-newspapers-shrugs/18958/ |title=Gawker Slays Newspapers, Shrugs |publisher=The Atlantic Wire |date=September 8, 2010 |access-date=September 4, 2013}}{{cite web|last=McGann |first=Laura |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/06/the-awl-wants-to-win-on-the-web-with-great-writing-not-seo-tricks/ |title=The Awl wants to win on the web with great writing, not SEO tricks |publisher=Nieman Journalism Lab |date=June 14, 2010 |access-date=September 4, 2013}} Laura Olin edits The Awl{{'}}s newsletter entitled Everything Changes. Buchanan and Herrman also launched a podcast for the site. The site also launched an app on the Apple App Store called The Awl: Weekend Companion.{{cite web |url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-awl-weekend-companion/id557635306?mt=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221181217/https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-awl-weekend-companion/id557635306?mt=8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 21, 2012 |title=The Awl: Weekend Companion |website=iTunes |access-date=June 5, 2014}} On March 22, 2018, New York Media, the publisher of the magazine New York, announced that it had acquired Splitsider and would be folding it into the operations of its Vulture website.{{cite news |last=Spangler |first=Todd |url= https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/new-york-media-splitsider-merge-vulture-1202733838/ |title=New York Magazine Publisher Buys Comedy Site Splitsider, Will Fold It Into Vulture |work=Variety |date=March 22, 2018 }} Brian Lam's tech review site The Wirecutter also originated with The Awl before merging with The Sweethome and being acquired by The New York Times.{{Cite web |first=Karen K. |last=Ho |date=June 18, 2018 |url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/consumer-reports-wirecutter.php|title=Testing out a new future for Consumer Reports|website=Columbia Journalism Review|language=en|access-date=April 26, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/business/media/25carr.html|title=The Awl Finds Some Level of Online Success|last=Carr|first=David|date=October 24, 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 26, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-13/new-york-times-rebrands-wirecutter-as-product-review-sales-grow|title=New York Times Rebrands Wirecutter as Product Review Sales Grow|last=Smith|first=Gerry|date=September 13, 2017|work=Bloomberg News|access-date=April 26, 2019}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}