• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 7, 2005

Gawker Media head Nick Denton Wednesday launched a quasi-tabloid blog called Sploid that compiles sensational world news in true Drudge Report-like fashion. Sploid, Denton's twelfth Gawker Media blog property--others include Gawker, Wonkette, and Gizmodo--will be edited by ex-Gawker.com Editor Choire Sicha and blogger Ken Layne.

Like Gawker's other sites, Sploid spikes linked-to content with its distinctive comic-to-crude sensibility. Neither Sicha nor Layne, reached via e-mail, was quite sure how much original content Sploid will offer. "I expect over the next couple months that exclusive or original material will grow to about a third of the site's content, maybe." Sicha said.

Layne did his best to define the new site: "It's a blog-style format, so it's all about finding the news and weirdness all over the Web, plus reader contributions, 'citizen journalism' in the form of buzznet.com and flickr.com photos taken by regular people, blogs breaking and covering real news."

Addressing his competition, Denton told The New York Observer that Sploid faces an uphill battle against Drudge Report author Matt Drudge. "Drudge is very good. It will probably take us 10 years to catch up with his level of traffic. We'll have 1,000th of the traffic, at least to begin with." Denton did not respond to OnlineMediaDaily queries by press time.

Both Sicha and Layne agreed with their boss. "Drudge is the king, even if he hates blogs and acts like he's not running a primitive Weblog," said Layne, adding: "Thing is, if you had 10 percent of Drudge's traffic, you'd have the biggest blog on Earth." Said Sicha: "Ten years to catch up with Matt Drudge's traffic? That sounds short to me."

But, said Layne, Drudge's conservative bent offers Sploid an opportunity to eventually appeal to a wider audience. "Our politics are much less partisan," Layne said.

If Sicha's stream-of-consciousness ranting is any guide, Sploid will entertain readers, regardless of political affiliation. Explaining Sploid's purview, he surmised: "We're not going to be covering Britney much ... Unless she kills the next Pope ... Which would be hot ... Also, very tragic! ... Or if she's a contestant in the Ms. Wheelchair contest ... or shows up at Camilla and Charles' wedding..."