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Owen Thomas (writer)
Encyclopedia
Owen Thomas is the executive editor of VentureBeat
since April 1, 2010
He was the managing editor of Valleywag
, a New York City
-based Gawker Media
gossip and news blog
about Silicon Valley
personalities that bills itself as a "tech gossip rag". Following his position with Valleywag, Thomas ran NBC
's local web-site for the San Francisco Bay Area, nbcbayarea.com
, and then later at the former technology magazine Business 2.0
.
He was managing editor of the Silicon Valley gossip web-site, Valleywag
, before leaving to run NBC's local site for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Thomas does some on screen commentary in the film Revenge of the Electric Car
.
as the managing editor of Valleywag on July 6, 2007. Valleywag, a two-man operation, is written mostly by Thomas, with help from its former editor, Nick Douglas.
CBS News
interviewed Thomas in San Francisco on his editorial philosophy in April 2008. During the interview, he explained Valleywag's purpose, saying, "People get into a bubble [...] Valleywag exists to burst that bubble. Silicon Valley is built on delusions." Thomas also mentioned that Valleywag crossed the five million pageview
mark in March, the website's all-time high. When explaining Valleywag's purpose, Thomas stated, "Gawker covers a zero-sum world [...] If you're rich, you'll always be rich. That kind of thinking doesn't translate into our world. [...] In Silicon Valley, anyone can start a company and put out business cards that say you're a CEO." Thomas also commented on life as a journalist in New York City, expressing that "in New York, it's all about sucking up to your editor so you can get the cover and sucking up to other writers. The page-views system says you're answerable to your readers. You people in New York are obviously too busy not changing the world." Thomas was also asked if Valleywag published items to exact revenge on enemies, to which he responded that that was "the most boring reason to write a story. No one cares what I think." As a mainstream technology writer, Thomas often criticizes other journalists who fawn over their subjects simply because they are famous or popular. For example, he once blasted a Fortune
writer by saying, "Has he ever written anything negative about a tech mogul?"
VentureBeat
VentureBeat is a technology blog that focuses on innovative companies and the forward-thinking executives behind them.-History:The company was founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall. In 2008, the New York Times called VentureBeat one of the "top blogs"...
since April 1, 2010
He was the managing editor of Valleywag
Valleywag
Valleywag was a Gawker Media blog with gossip and news about Silicon Valley personalities. It was initially launched under the direction of editor Nick Douglas in February 2006. After Douglas was fired, the blog was taken over by Owen Thomas. Thomas himself left in May 2009, to be replaced by Ryan...
, a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based Gawker Media
Gawker Media
Gawker Media is an American online media company and blog network, founded and owned by Nick Denton based in New York City. It is considered to be one of the most visible and successful blog-oriented media companies. , it is the parent company for 11 different weblogs: Gawker.com, Fleshbot,...
gossip and news blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
about Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
personalities that bills itself as a "tech gossip rag". Following his position with Valleywag, Thomas ran NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's local web-site for the San Francisco Bay Area, nbcbayarea.com
Career
Thomas first worked at Suck.comSuck.com
Suck.com was one of the earliest ad-supported content sites on the Internet. It featured daily editorial content on a wide variety of topics, including politics and pop-culture and was targeted at Generation X...
, and then later at the former technology magazine Business 2.0
Business 2.0
Business 2.0 was a monthly magazine publication founded by magazine entrepreneur Chris Anderson, Mark Gross, and journalist James Daly in order to chronicle the rise of the "New Economy"...
.
He was managing editor of the Silicon Valley gossip web-site, Valleywag
Valleywag
Valleywag was a Gawker Media blog with gossip and news about Silicon Valley personalities. It was initially launched under the direction of editor Nick Douglas in February 2006. After Douglas was fired, the blog was taken over by Owen Thomas. Thomas himself left in May 2009, to be replaced by Ryan...
, before leaving to run NBC's local site for the San Francisco Bay Area.
Thomas does some on screen commentary in the film Revenge of the Electric Car
Revenge of the Electric Car
Revenge of the Electric Car is a 2011 feature documentary film by Chris Paine, who also directed Who Killed the Electric Car?. The documentary, executive produced by Stefano Durdic, and produced by PG Morgan and Jessie Deeter, had its world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival on Earth Day,...
.
Valleywag
Thomas replaced Nick DentonNick Denton
Nick Denton, born August 24, 1966, is a British journalist and internet entrepreneur, the founder and proprietor of the blog collective Gawker Media, and the managing editor of the New York-based Gawker.com...
as the managing editor of Valleywag on July 6, 2007. Valleywag, a two-man operation, is written mostly by Thomas, with help from its former editor, Nick Douglas.
CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
interviewed Thomas in San Francisco on his editorial philosophy in April 2008. During the interview, he explained Valleywag's purpose, saying, "People get into a bubble [...] Valleywag exists to burst that bubble. Silicon Valley is built on delusions." Thomas also mentioned that Valleywag crossed the five million pageview
Page view
A page view or page impression is a request to load a single HTML file of an Internet site. On the World Wide Web a 'page' request would result from a web surfer clicking on a link on another 'page' pointing to the 'page' in question. This should be contrasted with a hit, which refers to a...
mark in March, the website's all-time high. When explaining Valleywag's purpose, Thomas stated, "Gawker covers a zero-sum world [...] If you're rich, you'll always be rich. That kind of thinking doesn't translate into our world. [...] In Silicon Valley, anyone can start a company and put out business cards that say you're a CEO." Thomas also commented on life as a journalist in New York City, expressing that "in New York, it's all about sucking up to your editor so you can get the cover and sucking up to other writers. The page-views system says you're answerable to your readers. You people in New York are obviously too busy not changing the world." Thomas was also asked if Valleywag published items to exact revenge on enemies, to which he responded that that was "the most boring reason to write a story. No one cares what I think." As a mainstream technology writer, Thomas often criticizes other journalists who fawn over their subjects simply because they are famous or popular. For example, he once blasted a Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
writer by saying, "Has he ever written anything negative about a tech mogul?"