Sports commentary site Deadspin created an instant media frenzy Wednesday when it broke the news that the heart-wrenching story about Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o's girlfriend's death was a hoax.
But to those who aren’t sports fans, the site is relatively unknown. Here are five things you may not know about Deadspin:
Deadspin is owned by Gawker
The site was launched in September 2005 by Gawker Media and adopted the same sarcastic, humorous tone (past headlines: "Former Florida And NFL Quarterback Doug Johnson Beat The Crap Out Of Some Guy After A Florida Football Game" and "Those Goddamn Sandy Hook Truthers Got Their Hooks In Denard Span"). The most recent data show Deadspin has accumulated more than 934 million page views.
This isn’t Deadspin's first time in the spotlight
In 2010, the site broke the news that Brett Favre was facing sexual misconduct allegations after he reportedly sent racy photos and messages to a woman who worked for the New York Jets while he was on the team. The story was picked up by national media outlets like ESPN, the New York Daily News, and Newsweek, and credited to Deadspin.
Deadspin's been named one of Time magazine's 50 coolest websites
Besides the Time honor way back in 2006, two of its pieces also landed on Sports Illustrated's list of the top web stories of 2005, the same year the site began. One was about then-Yankees outfielder Matt Lawton testing positive for steroids, and the other included photos of then-college football star Matt Leinart partying in New York City.
Deadspin's editors are changing the landscape of investigative journalism
Editors Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey claim they received an anonymous email last week about the Manti Te'o hoax. With some serious digging and digital skills, they were able to uncover the string of lies and break the story. Poynter, a media watchdog group, did an email interview with Burke about the reporting process, where he said the fact that Deadspin was the first to look into the Te'o story showed "the diminished role investigative journalism plays anymore."
Deadspin isn't just sports
Deadspin also covers pop culture happenings like the Academy Awards and the Grammys, as well as movie reviews, in addition to its regular sports coverage.
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