Paid by the nipple slip

Not exactly, but Mark Glaser at USC's Online Journalism Review delves into the subject of how commercial blogs like Defamer and Wonkette pay their writers, and finds that the money is directly tied to producing items that lure traffic. The piece suggests that drives some content on the Gawker-owned blogs — sex videos, Lindsay Lohan sightings, Wonkette's ass references? — and describes a "Byzantine" system of bonus banking to reward growth but not daily traffic spikes. Gawker boss Nick Denton wouldn't discuss details, but Jason Calacanis, who runs the rival Weblogs Inc., says he did away with tying pay to traffic-inducing editorial copy. "I'd rather our bloggers focus on creating unfiltered, honest content," Calacanis said. "It's my job to make the money, it's their job to make great content." The piece also goes into the calculations and ethical quandaries faced by journalist-bloggers (such as L.A. Observed, but we're not mentioned) who juggle both content and business decisions.