Jezebel: the end of an era

Hedgehogs Hatch Early For Spring • Sue Johanson Ends Sex Talk

maria — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Baby hedgehogs arrive early in Britain due to warm weather. Awww. • Moms-to-be with gum disease have a higher chance of suffering from preeclampsia, premature births. • Two-year olds likely to have smaller vocabularies if dad is depressed. • Duh: kids in stable post-divorce families have less negative long-term affects from divorce. • Bible-themed park planner used to take snaps for Penthouse. • And! Christianity Today finds that sex sells. • Pregnant women got judged while applying for jobs. • Quitting smoking today won't make you 100% healthy tomorrow or in a few years • A growing number of British children under 10 are developing eating disorders. • Adorable teen girl makes the boys' baseball team. • IUDs can reduce a uterine cancer. • Dying English mill town gets population boost from lesbian families. • Sue Johanson ends Sex Talk on Oxygen, ending an era of stoned late-night TV watching for many. • Tim Gunn and Mo Rocca offer YFZ polygamists some much-needed style tips. • Borders launches book club for Latinas; we just hope they lay off the Allende. • The Toronto Zoo finds homes for three reindeer after outrage at baby reindeer killings.

Strippers Lose Jobs To The Internet • The Simpsons Are Back on Venezuelan TV

maria — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Print journalists aren't the only ones losing jobs, strippers feel the burden of the digital age. • Iranian says Barbies are "destructive" and must be stopped. • Incarcerated 400-pound man loses 100 pounds, sues county for underfeeding. • Six conservative women talk about dating whiny liberal men. • Two teenagers are jailed for life for killing a goth woman. • Mexicans try to quell the anti-emo riots by promoting diversity among teens. • Lourdes basically has the coolest mom hand-me-downs to pick from. • National Lampoon launches website to rate prostitutes. • Scientists just realize that periods are awesome, can repair hearts. • American Family Association attack soap on lackluster gay kiss. • An ironically long article on shorthand text speak, lol grwn ups r so lam3! • The Simpsons are back in Venezuela! • Baseball star Roger Clemens had a relationship with Mindy McCready when she was 15 years old (he was 28 and married). • Easy mistake to make: Woman attacks boyfriend, thinking he is a porn actor. • "Chinese eatery specializes in penis." That is all you need to know.

Big Changes, New Beginnings

Anna — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Well, guys, we've got some pretty big news: We're moving. Or rather, Jezebel has been acquired by CondeNet, the online arm of publishing giant Conde Nast (Vogue, Glamour, Conde Nast Traveler, The New Yorker). We'd heard rumors last week that there were discussions going on between CondeNet and Gawker Media regarding Jezebel, and those rumors continued on over the weekend. Then, last night, I got word that there would be an announcement of some sorts today, and now it's official: As of this morning, Jezebel is part of the Conde Nast stable of online properties (which include Style.com, Concierge.com and Epicurious.com). We're not quite sure how to feel about this (although the acquisition has no doubt made our boss, Nick Denton, a much wealthier man) and even more unsure how exactly it will affect us, but we do know that the site will be welcoming an editorial consultant and some new staffers in the (very) near future. After the jump, we've got a copy of the press release with some more details.

NEW YORK, New York, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire/ — CondéNet, the leading creator and developer of upscale lifestyle brands online, has agreed to acquire Jezebel.com (http://www.jezebel.com), a leading women's news and entertainment website founded in 2007 by New York-based Denton Media. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The deal welcomes into the CondéNet fold one of the most buzzed-about new brands in women's media. Launched in May 2007 with only three staff members, the site quickly became popular with affluent, well-educated female "tastemakers." In March 2008, a month in which the site enjoyed more than 14.5 million pageviews, Jezebel brought two prestigious Weblog Awards home from the annual South By Southwest Media conference.
"Jezebel has quickly become a go-to site for upscale, trendsetting 18-34-year old women with its promise of 'Celebrity, Sex, Fashion. Without Airbrushing.,'" said Sarah Chubb, President of CondéNet. "Of course, even the best concepts need airbrushing! We think CondéNet can introduce Jezebel readers to some of the fashion and beauty world's most aspirational brands, while leveraging the diverse national audience of CondéNet's female-targeted properties to drive more traffic to Jezebel's original content."

A unique asset of the Jezebel brand is its popular commenting function. Jezebel quickly became the most-frequently commented site in the 14-brand Gawker Media Empire and is currently developing a suite of functionalities that CondéNet will use as the basis of a sophisticated platform for social networking, user-generated content creation and grassroots marketing.

"Jezebel's vibrant and growing base of users represents a rare opportunity for CondéNet's hundreds of existing sponsors to reach passionate, trend-focused female consumers," Chubb continued. "Uniting their passion and our products, including our stable of women's magazine titles like Vogue, Glamour and Lucky, will mark the start of a fruitful relationship."

About CondéNet: CondéNet is the leading creator and developer of upscale lifestyle brands online, providing enjoyable, useful services that build upon the heritage of the world's most prestigious magazines. The company publishes online properties in the categories of fashion (STYLE.COM), men's lifestyle (MEN.STYLE.COM), food (Epicurious.com), travel (Concierge.com), and technology (WiredDigital). CondéNet is an Internet unit of Condé Nast Publications. Condé Nast Publications, a unit of Advance Publications, includes twenty-six consumer magazines and their websites, eight uniquely branded websites, the Fairchild Fashion Group, Parade, the Condé Nast Media Group, and the Shared Services Centers.

About Jezebel: Jezebel (http://www.jezebel.com) is the most talked-about new online media property targeted at women. Since its launch in May 2007, the Gawker Media weblog has established a devoted fan base of more than a million unique users, garnering more than 15 million monthly page views. It was voted one of the "World's 50 Most Powerful Blogs" by the London-based Guardian newspaper in March 2008.

Press Contacts: Denton Media: 212-655-9524 or press@jezebel.com
CondéNet: Jennifer Miller: jmiller@condenet.com

Obviously, we'll keep you updated as we learn more.

Earlier: Meet The Editors

Requiem For A Vulgarity: RIP Vajayjay

mcarpentier — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:45:00 EDT

Some vulgarities, like fuck or cunt stay with us for centuries, while others, like quim (thanks Cheast!), appear and then fade into obscurity — sometimes from overuse. And, thus, despite your votes and our love of the only remaining awesome character on Grey's Anatomy, we sadly bring you the slow, painful death of vajayjay. From Miranda Bailey to Oprah to The New York Times to Tyra and finally to Michael Smerconish of The Philadelphia Daily News, who declared his passion for the word because vagina "refuses to roll easily off the tongue," [Heh, roll off the tongue, heh heh. —Ed] vajayjay is suffering mightily from overexposure and it needs a long, deep slumber. For those who need to call female genitalia something giggle-worthy, may we suggest either the Gawker-approved "catbag" or the Tina Fey favorite "cooter"? It can give us all time to heal.