Hasta La Creative!

In an incredibly transparent post/e-mail called Friday is Always Black, Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker Media, extols the reasoning behind cutting 19 staffers and hiring 10 more even though his sites’ ad sales are up some 30 percent.

In old-school newser fashion, Denton posted the story on a Friday (last Friday, in fact), the day of the week where stories are leaked as our minds focus on weekend plans. It was tactful move, not unlike his decision to cut jobs in the first place, even though his company is growing (Gawker dot com is up to 24 million hits last month from just 8 million in December of last year, according to Denton).

We interviewed Denton just hours after the story broke. His decision, and the explanation behind it, set an example for the kind of transparency that prevents the rumor mill from over-churning. What he did and how he did it at first seemed counter-intuitive; but upon re-examination, his move sets an example for how companies may want to tighten up during these financially strenuous times.

Matt: Removing the sites that are hurting from the equation, what do the ad sales numbers look like for the year? This quarter v Q2/Q1?

Denton: We don’t break revenue down by site. But I think it’s safe to assume that Gizmodo and Gawker do well with gadget and tune-in advertising respectively. And Kotaku has this year become a must-buy for video game releases.

Matt: Can you give me a salary comparison for the jobs you’re cutting versus those you’re adding? How much are you spending on the new jobs &#151 and how much are you saving from the layoffs?

Denton: The new jobs on balance pay about the same as the positions we’re cutting.

Matt: Will the laid-off staff be compensated? If so, please detail as best you can.

Read the rest of the story, after the jump.

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