The content of this image are images of the different website logos of the Gawker Media umbrella (which is made up of text, images and colors), along with several images of stories which were first reported by the various Gawker sites. From the top left moving right there is an image of AJ, the editor of Deadspin, a photo from the Deadspin story on Mark Sanchez and his 17 year old girlfriend, a photo of 2010 AL MVP Josh Hamilton falling off the sobriety wagon photoshopped onto a camera, the Gawker reported story of former US congressman Chris Lee and his craigslist page overlayed onto a computer monitor, the Gawker story of a one night stand with US senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, and the infamous Brett Favre sexting scandal. The background of the collage is a storm cloud. The bottom image is a movie poster from the film based on the novel 1984.
The message of this image I was trying to convey was that celebrities are no longer safe from media scrutiny. No matter what the content or context, public figures are now losing the private aspect of their personal lives. Reporters are no longer the only people who will submit stories; users, subscribers, and people who happen to be at the right place at the right time are the main vehicle from which these stories are generated.
George Orwell's 1984 depicted big brother as a government entity which exerted its power by monitoring its citizens by using other citizens as a policing force. Gawker Media, and dozens of other blogs like Perez Hilton, Sports by Brooks and many others, use its readers in a similar fashion. The New Big Brother is Watching.
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