theres a delightful rumor that Gothamist will be sold for millions

if its true i will be particularily happy for the publisher jake dobkin and the executive editor jen chung because during an extremely important part of my life they were the best bosses i could have dreamed for.

they gave me unreal freedom, tons of patience, and rock solid tips they embodied themselves.

i was the first LA editor they ever gave full time money to. they took a big risk on me. i was a solo blogger who had most recently been booted by a startup. how did that qualify me to lead a large group of bloggers in a group blog?

but they hung in there while i combatted negative commentors as if they were roaches, they endured all forms of my weird and sometimes childish blogger experimentation (including drunken semi political rants in the wee hours), and stuck by me as i tried everything i possibly could to push the envelope and be different than everyone from the Times to… Gothamist.

the partnership – shortlived in retrospect – a mere year and a half – was hugely successful. LAist was the 2nd most popular Ist compared to the mothership for most of my tenure and contributor after contributor was plucked off into paying gigs in journalism or blogging, last of all me to my dream job.

no way could i have made the leap to where i am now without them. simply put, they know what theyre doing, theyre rarely wrong with who they hire, and they work their butts off.

although i did most of my dealings with jake, i wonder about the future of jen. to me shes the worlds greatest blogger. she effortlessly doles out 7-10 posts a day, every day, with links, and insight, and typos (its blogging, chill), and speed, and timeliness. i can totally understand the passion when its your baby, but how on earth can that continue when youre working for the man?

if i was cablevision id buy the company for the millions, but id also make jake and jen vps of digital media of some sort. if youre interested in a blog network, double down and retain those brains to do more than just hand over the keys.

with the ipad right around the corner, blogs are just going to be more vital to the daily/hourly/minute-by-minute quest for More Information. who better than these two to help guide cablevision down the right path in delivering news and creating community with little overhead?

too many times have we seen companies like microsoft buy webtv and do nothing with that technological head start. likewise how much better is blogger many years after google purchased it? the $5 million pricetag for the Gothamist sites is a good start and gets a nice foothold in several important cities around the world, but that investment dies on the vine without the minds that made it happen.

others are also talking about this good news for the Gothamist leaders

Laura Rich – Buying the Company for the Blogger

Reuters – Blogonomics: The Gothamist sale

Business Insider – Nick Denton Is An Out-Of-Touch Scrooge For Downplaying Gothamist’s Big Sale

The Awl – Gawker Kingpin Explains Gothamist Sale

NY Times: Cablevision Unit Is Said to Be Interested in Acquiring Gothamist

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