The Daily Dot

The Daily Dot is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, The Daily Dot is headquartered in Austin, Texas.[2]

"The Kernel" redirects here. For the brewery, see The Kernel Brewery.
The Daily Dot
Screenshot
Type of site
News
Available inEnglish
Created byNicholas White
EditorWhitney Jefferson[1]
URLdailydot.com
CommercialYes
LaunchedAugust 23, 2011 (2011-08-23)

The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown newspaper",[3] focuses on topics such as streaming entertainment, geek culture, memes, gadgets and social issues, such as LGBT, gender and race. In addition, an e-commerce arm produces branded video for advertisers and sells items from an online marketplace.[3][4]

History

The Daily Dot was established in 2011 by Nicholas White, whose goal was to cover Internet communities such as Reddit and Tumblr in the same manner as hometown newspapers cover their own communities. White's family has been in the newspaper business since buying the Sandusky Register in Ohio in 1869, and White was a reporter and executive with the family's media company before establishing the site.[5]

White launched The Daily Dot with $600,000 and a handful of full-time reporters. Many of the site's early stories were filed to a Google Doc and reported on Facebook and Twitter. After establishing a headquarters in Austin, Texas, the company added other offices but many staff worked remotely from other locations.[5] It raised a $10 million private investment to add staff, produce digital content and develop its internal creative agency in 2015, ramping up its output to 50–70 stories a day.[2][6] Its coverage has focused on "under-reported"[5] areas while emphasizing progressive issues such as body positivity and feminism. White has also highlighted the need to diversify his staff. "Journalism has been dominated by a few select types of voices. We have an opportunity to break from that cycle" he has said.[2]

The Daily Dot has pursued several content strategies while building its online presence. In 2012, it was one of the first major sites to launch dedicated esports coverage. In 2016, the company sold that section, Dot Esports, to Gamurs, an Australian esports multimedia operation.[7]

In 2014, it purchased The Kernel, a competing website, and turned it into a weekly Sunday edition featuring long-form editorial built around a single theme. The Kernel founder and editor-in-chief Milo Yiannopoulos stepped down following the acquisition.[8] The Kernel ceased regular publication in 2016.[9]

It also has collaborated on video projects with partners including HLN, on a co-branded series called Next Sex;[10] the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, for which it produced a public service announcement encouraging vaccination featuring Sesame Street character Elmo and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy;[11] and television cooking personality Alton Brown, whose review of kitchen gadgets garnered many millions of views on YouTube.[12][13]

In January 2016, the site launched VIP Voices, a collection of op-eds from high-profile contributors on Internet issues in public discourse. Contributors include Mayor Bill de Blasio, Representative Ted Lieu, and Senator Mike Lee.[14][15]

In 2018, The Daily Dot sued the New York Police Department to access handgun license applications filed by Donald Trump and two of his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.[16] The suit alleges that the NYPD declined a request made by The Daily Dot under New York's Freedom of Information Law to release the information, citing privacy and safety concerns; the site argues the information should be public.[17]

The company had a full-time staff of 76, in addition to 222 freelance contributors, in early 2016[2] before laying off 40% of its total staff in September 2016.[18] White, who called the layoff a "restructuring", said the move was necessary to refocus resources on growing areas such as video, e-commerce and sales.[19] The site's e-commerce videos, produced in conjunction with advertisers, are shared on Facebook and generate revenue by sharing a portion of sales. In addition, the site has built two online storefronts, the Bazaar and The Daily Dot Store, on which it sells items.[4]

Awards

The site's coverage has been recognized by the following outlets:

  • 2015 honoree, The Webby Awards, Websites-News.[20]
  • 2015 finalist, Digiday Publisher of the Year, for its investigation of a data breach at global intelligence firm Stratfor.[21][22]
  • 2015 cited among works of outstanding journalism by The Atlantic for "How to Destroy an American Family", which chronicled the toll of continued cyberattacks on an Illinois family.[23]
  • 2016 finalist, Digiday Publisher of the Year and Best Native Advertising.[24]
  • 2016 finalist, The Webby Awards, Best Individual Performance in Online Film and Video (for Alton Brown collaboration).[13]
  • 2017, finalist, CJ Affiliate CJ You Innovator of the Year Award.[25]

References
  1. Ahmed, Mariam (April 13, 2023). "Daily Dot hires Jefferson as executive editor". Talking Biz News. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  2. Gallaga, Omar (January 25, 2016). "Austin-based Daily Dot takes new approach to covering the Web". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  3. Ha, Anthony (August 23, 2011). "Can The Daily Dot Become Web's 'Hometown Newspaper'?". AdWeek. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  4. Willens, Max (April 29, 2017). "How the Daily Dot uses Facebook video to sell aquariums and flux capacitors". Digiday. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  5. Smith IV, Jack (April 28, 2015). "The Daily Dot's Island of Misfit Reporters Raises over $10 Million". Observer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  6. Calnan, Christopher (September 19, 2016). "Daily Dot restructures, lays off 40% of staff". Austin Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  7. Bräutigam, Theo (October 31, 2016). "Daily Dot Esports section sold to media network Gamurs". Esports Observer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  8. Wauters, Robin (January 29, 2014). "The Kernel acquired by The Daily Dot publisher; founder and editor Milo Yiannopoulos to move on". Tech.eu. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  9. "About the Kernel". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  10. "HLN and the Daily Dot partner to provide co-branded content across all screens". November 18, 2014. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  11. "The Daily Dot clarifies: Elmo not an anti-vaxxer". April 20, 2015. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  12. "Alton Brown reviews Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets". YouTube. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  13. "Alton Brown reviews Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  14. Lieu, Ted (April 6, 2016). "State encryption laws only undermine our national security". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  15. "vip voices Archives". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on October 15, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  16. Klasfeld, Adam (June 21, 2018). "NYPD sued for Trump family handgun records". Courthouse News. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  17. Marsh, Julia (June 22, 2018). "NYPD sued for not disclosing info on Trump family gun permits". New York Post. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  18. Sterne, Peter (September 16, 2016). "Daily Dot lays off 30 employees across company". Politico. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  19. Gallaga, Omar (September 16, 2016). "Layoffs at Austin-based newspaper of the Web, The Daily Dot". Austin American Statesman. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  20. "The Webby Awards". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  21. "The Atlantic leads Digiday Publisher of the Year finalists". Digiday. February 17, 2015. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  22. Cameron, Dell (June 5, 2014). "How an FBI informant orchestrated the Stratfor hack". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  23. Friedersdorf, conor (August 11, 2016). "Slightly more than 100 exceptional works of journalism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  24. "Vox Media and The Enthusiast Network are top nominees in the Digiday Publishing Awards". Digiday. February 2, 2016. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  25. "CJ Affiliate Announces CJU17 "CJ You Awards" Finalists". CJ Affiliate. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
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