Wonkette
Encyclopedia
Wonkette is a left-leaning American online magazine
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...

 of topical satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 and political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

 gossip
Gossip
Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others, It is one of the oldest and most common means of sharing facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and variations into the information transmitted...

, established in 2004 by 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,...

 and founding editor Ana Marie Cox
Ana Marie Cox
Ana Marie Cox is an American author and blogger. The founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, she is currently the Washington correspondent for GQ and is The Guardian's lead blogger on US politics. She previously worked at Air America Media.-Early life:Cox was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico...

, and edited by Ken Layne from 2006 to 2011. It details the goings-on of the political establishment
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...

 in Washington, DC and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...



Taking a sarcastic
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...

 tone, the site focuses heavily on humorous breaking news, rumors, and the downfall of the powerful. It also deals with serious matters of politics and policy. While liberal in outlook, the site is critical of Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

, Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

, and Independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

.

The name of the site is a play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...

 on the slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...

 word wonk, meaning a 'zealous student of political policy'.

Style and frequent targets

Wonkette makes frequent targets of mainstream media outlets like CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

and Politico
Politico (newspaper)
The Politico is an American political journalism organization based in Arlington, Virginia, that distributes its content via television, the Internet, newspaper, and radio. Its coverage of Washington, D.C., includes the U.S. Congress, lobbying, media and the Presidency...

, when they are perceived as missing opportunities for substantive political analysis by attempting to get "scoops" or simply covering the actions of others in the mainstream media
Mainstream media
Mainstream media are those media disseminated via the largest distribution channels, which therefore represent what the majority of media consumers are likely to encounter...

. Truck Nutz references became very popular during the 2008 Presidential Election, while following the election of Barack Obama, the site also began making frequent jokes at the expense of Tea Party Protesters, Birthers, Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan
Peggy Noonan is an American author of seven books on politics, religion, and culture and a weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal...

's weekly column and Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

.

Regular features

  • Ayn Rand's Adventures In Wonderland: America 2010: Serial graphic novel by cartoonist Benjamin Frisch. The series has concluded.
  • Barry, Can You Hear Me?: Op-ed column by comedian/radio host Sara Benincasa
    Sara Benincasa
    Sara Donnelly Benincasa is an American comedian, writer and radio talk show host. She was a citizen journalist for MTV covering the 2008 United States Presidential Election as part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. In September 2008 she began producing a vlog in which she parodies...

    .
  • Cartoon Violence: Weekly or bi-weekly study of a few poor-quality political cartoons. The cartoons often share a theme. Written by Josh Fruhlinger, who is also the author of The Comics Curmudgeon
    The Comics Curmudgeon
    The Comics Curmudgeon is a blog devoted to humorous and critical analysis of newspaper comics. Its author, Josh Fruhlinger, is a Baltimore-based freelance writer and editor who additionally blogs about editorial cartoons for Wonkette in a weekly feature called Cartoon Violence...

    .
  • Rumors On the Internets: Daily collection of often ridiculous political opinions from the blogs; named for George W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

    's 2004 debate performance mention of "rumors on the Internets".
  • Washington Blingees: Political figures depicted as MySpace-style animated gifs filled with hip-hop and "tween" imagery.
  • It's Morning In America: Daily news briefing that mocks the style of Beltway news roundups that aim to shape news and opinion.
  • Fridays With Peggy: Deconstructions of Peggy Noonan's Wall Street Journal column, often recasting her writing as either the work of a Tory from the 17th Century or that of a depraved Gonzo-style character suffering constant hallucinations in her Upper East Side
    Upper East Side
    The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...

     apartment.
  • Win of the Afternoon: Snarky reader comments.
  • Wonkette World 'o Books: Reviews of political books, mostly those written by Republican political or media celebrities.

Awards and accomplishments

The Bloggies at SXSW selected Wonkette as Best Political Blog in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Wonkette was chosen as a top political blog by Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

and Real Simple
Real Simple
Real Simple is a monthly women's interest magazine published by Time Inc.. Real Simple, which was launched by Time in 2000, features articles and information related to homekeeping, childcare, cooking and emotional wellbeing. Real Simple is distinguished by its clean, uncluttered style of layout...

in 2008. Wonkette won the Best Liberal Blog category in the 2008 Weblog Awards
Blog award
A Blog award is an award for the best blog in a given category. Some blog awards are based on a public vote and others are based on a fixed set of criteria applied by a panel of judges....

 and is nominated in the humor, politics and group-blog categories in the 2009 Bloggies. Items are frequently picked up by national broadcasts including Colbert Report, Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

.

Launch and history

Wonkette was established in January 2004 as part of the 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,...

 network. Its founding editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...

 was Ana Marie Cox
Ana Marie Cox
Ana Marie Cox is an American author and blogger. The founding editor of the political blog Wonkette, she is currently the Washington correspondent for GQ and is The Guardian's lead blogger on US politics. She previously worked at Air America Media.-Early life:Cox was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico...

, a former editor at suck.com
Suck.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...

. Under her tenure, Wonkette became known for its sharp and sarcastic voice, and for its mixture of political discourse with humour such as references to gin
Gin
Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...

 and anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...

.

Cox rapidly established a large reading audience and media notice for the site. The blog gained further national media attention after Cox publicized the story of Jessica Cutler
Jessica Cutler
Jessica Louise Cutler is a blogger, an author, and former congressional staff assistant who was fired for detailing her active sexual life, including receiving money for having sex, in her blog.-Education:...

 aka "Washingtonienne", a former Hill
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 staffer who blogged about her affair
Affair
Affair may refer to professional, personal, or public business matters or to a particular business or private activity of a temporary duration, as in family affair, a private affair, or a romantic affair.-Political affair:...

 with a member of former Senator Mike DeWine
Mike DeWine
Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...

's staff.

Cox announced her resignation as Wonkette's editor on January 5, 2006 in order to promote her book, Dog Days, and was succeeded at Wonkette by David Lat
David Lat
David B. Lat is an American blogger and a former federal prosecutor. He is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law, a blog about law firms and the legal profession....

, the author of Underneath Their Robes, a blog about the federal judiciary, and Alex Pareene, a young New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

 student and Gawker intern/guest editor in New York who moved to DC for the Wonkette position. (In late 2007, Pareene moved to the flagship Gawker site and, in April 2010, to Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

.)

In June 2006, Lat announced his decision to leave Wonkette. His slot was to be filled by guest editors until August 2006, when longtime political blogger Ken Layne joined as editor. Wonkette reached its largest pre-2008 audience during the 2006 midterm elections due to scandal coverage of Mark Foley
Mark Foley
Mark Adam Foley is a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He served from 1995 until 2006, representing the 16th District of Florida as a member of the Republican Party....

 and other incumbents involved in corruption, sex-abuse and bribery scandals.

After Pareene and Layne's departure in October 2007, a team of new editors including John Clarke, Jr. and Megan Carpentier was installed by Gawker management. Gawker publisher Nick Denton
Nick 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...

 brought Layne back as sole editor two months later, who put in place the team of Jim Newell of IvyGate
IvyGate
IvyGate is a blog and online news source covering news and gossip at Ivy League universities. The site is written and edited by students and recent graduates.- History :IvyGate was founded in 2006 by Columbia University alumni Chris Beam and Nick Summers...

, videographer Liz Glover, former Gawker blogger Sara K. Smith, Columbia literary magazine The Blue and White
The Blue and White
The Blue and White is a magazine written by undergraduates at Columbia University, New York City. Founded in 1890, the magazine has dedicated itself throughout its existence to providing students an outlet for intellectual and political discussion, literary publication, and general parody.-...

editor Juli Weiner, and longtime contributors Princess Sparkle Pony (Peter Huestis) and Josh Fruhinger, the Comics Curmudgeon.

Wonkette teams covered both the Denver DNC and St. Paul RNC conventions. Newell and columnist Josh Fruhlinger covered Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

's inauguration in Washington. As with many political websites, readership hit new records between the November 2008 election and January 2009 inauguration.

Past and current guest editors and contributors include Reason Magazine editor Nick Gillespie
Nick Gillespie
Nick Gillespie is the editor of Reason.com and Reason.tv and was the editor in chief of Reason magazine from 2000 to 2008...

, Washington Post reporter David Weigel
David Weigel
David "Dave" Weigel , is an American journalist, currently working for Slate magazine and MSNBC. Weigel began appearing on MSNBC in 2009, accepting a position as a paid contributor in June 2010...

, DCeiver editor and Huffington Post writer Jason Linkins, Gawker editor and The Awl
The Awl
The Awl is a website about current events and culture. The site was founded in 2008 by David Cho and former Gawker editors Choire Sicha and Alex Balk.The site employs an editorial staff of writers....

 founder Choire Sicha, New York comedian and author Sara Benincasa
Sara Benincasa
Sara Donnelly Benincasa is an American comedian, writer and radio talk show host. She was a citizen journalist for MTV covering the 2008 United States Presidential Election as part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. In September 2008 she began producing a vlog in which she parodies...

, Chicago artist and journalist Lauri Apple, Boston Globe political blogger Garrett Quinn, cartoonist Benjamin Frisch, and Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...

online writer Juli Weiner.

2008 separation from Gawker Media

On April 14, 2008, 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,...

 announced that it was selling Wonkette and that Layne would remain managing editor and part owner. Gawker Media head Nick Denton attributed the sale to "hunkering down" before another dot com downturn and the Internet bubble bursts: "And, even if not, better safe than sorry; and better too early than too late...". Gawker's Silicon Valley gossip 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...

, was folded into the flagship Gawker.com
Gawker.com
Gawker is a newsmagazine/blog based in New York City that bills itself as "the source for daily Manhattan media news and gossip" and focuses on celebrities and the media industry....

 site, its popular music site, Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...

, was sold to Buzznet
Buzznet
BuzzNet is a photo, journal, and video-sharing social media network, owned by Buzz Media. Like other social networking sites, Buzznet is a platform for members to share content based on their personal interests...

, and The Consumerist was sold to Consumers Union
Consumers Union
Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...

 as part of the same divestiture effort.

Wonkette Media also launched Wonkabout, a D.C. culture guide, on February 12, 2009, which is edited by Arielle Fleisher. Wonkette also publishes updates on its Facebook fan page and Twitter pages.

Trig Palin controversy

In April 2011, Wonkette came under criticism after blogger Jack Stuef wrote a post making fun of Sarah Palin through her youngest son, Trig Palin, who has Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...

. In response, at least 14 advertisers, including major companies such as Ford, Toyota, Verizon, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...

, and Papa John's, announced that they would pull their ads from Wonkette. Editor Ken Layne announced that Stuef was placed on probation and Stuef apologized for the post.

Michele Bachmann controversy

In 2011, Wonkette published a story claiming that Rep. Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...

, while speaking at an event, said "who likes white people." However, closer examination of the tape revealed that Bachmann actually said "who likes wet people," as it was raining the day she spoke. A few days after the controversy, Wonkette acknowledged that Bachmann's words were intentionally distorted and that she did, in fact, say "wet" not "white".
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