Nick Denton confirmed yesterday that the court case that bankrupted Gawker Media has been settled—wrestler Hulk Hogan will receive $31 million. Additionally, in what Denton calls “the most unpalatable part of the deal,” three articles—about Hogan; a dispute over the invention of email; and the founders of dating app Tinder—will be deleted. Although the defendants were confident that the court’s original award of $140 million would be lowered significantly in the appeals process, Denton writes that the legal battle was too costly to continue, both financially and professionally. “The other protagonists — including Hulk Hogan and A.J. Daulerio, the author of the Gawker story about him — had much more at stake. That motivated a settlement that allows us all to move on, and focus on activities more productive than endless litigation. Life is short, for most of us.”
The Wall Street Journal will release a new, consolidated version of the paper November 14. Besides reducing arts and culture coverage, the Journal will also combine the Business & Tech section with Money & Investing, and debut a new Life & Arts section.
A recently-noticed change to pricing at Amazon’s physical bookstores has some speculating that higher prices may soon come to books on the website, at least for those who aren’t Prime members. Geekwire reports that Amazon’s Seattle bookstore sells books for the discounted price to Prime members, while charging list price to customers who haven’t joined the service.
At the New York Times, Jim Rutenberg wonders if interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile’s recent resignation from CNN over information found in leaked emails will end the practice of hiring political operatives on network news shows. Rutenberg asks if it’s possible for political aides-turned-television personalities—like George Stephanopoulos and Corey Lewandowski—to separate their party loyalties from their journalistic ethics. “Even if CNN could stipulate those kinds of obligations in its contracts,” he writes, “there would be no way for it to know if the wolf it has invited into its henhouse was going to abide by them.”
OR Books will publish a collection of Hillary Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches next January. Hillary Clinton: The Goldman Sachs Speeches will be comprised of the leaked transcripts of the Democratic candidate’s paid appearances, which OR Books co-publisher said are being printed without permission under the fair use doctrine.
Tonight at the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, Eimear McBride reads from her new book, The Lesser Bohemians.