UPDATE: Nov. 3, 2017, 2:18 p.m. EDT Gothamist, DNAinfo, and other sister sites were put back online on Friday afternoon.
UPDATE: Nov. 3, 2017, 10:03 a.m. EDT Quartz reports that Gothamist's chief technical officer has said Gothamist's archives were not deleted, and there is a good chance they will be restored.
Billionaire Joe Ricketts has thrown a temper tantrum so big he shut his own company down.
Ricketts—the founder of Ameritrade, whose children own the Chicago Cubs, and whose wealth is estimated at around $2.1 billion—closed down local New York City news sites DNAinfoand Gothamiston Thursday, as well as websites in a variety of other cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.
After a months-long battle, employees at the recently-merged news outlets voted to become members of Writers Guild of America East about a week ago.
SEE ALSO:Topic is First Look Media's big online video effort—but don't call it a pivot"This is a direct retaliation for unionizing," former DNAinforeporter Noah Hurowitz told Mashable. "We stood tall, and they fucked us."
Later, he said DNAinfois the "most badass, toughest group of people I've ever worked with, and we're not gonna run away."
When the employees unionized around a week ago, DNAinforeporter Katie Honan told The New York Timesthat “No one’s trying to bankrupt anybody." She added, "We just want to have an ability to negotiate things, and not necessarily money. If this is the future of journalism, it should be a career for people, not a postcollege hobby.”
Ricketts pleaded a lack of economic viability in a statement on Thursday.
Tweet may have been deleted
The archives for DNAinfo,Gothamist, and other Ricketts-owned sites were inaccessible, and those two sites and all links redirected to Ricketts's statement. In that statement, Ricketts wrote that he believes neighborhood storytelling "remains essential." Just not, evidently, essential enough for him to fund.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Ricketts, a donor to President Donald Trump, had long been the CEO of DNAinfo, but acquired Gothamistand its sister sites in other cities back in March. Around the time of acquisition, Gothamistand Chicagoistdeleted negative coverage of Ricketts.
Journalists -- those who worked there and many others -- were stunned, saddened, and thankful for what the websites had meant to themselves and the communities they'd covered.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
What else is there to say but that.
UPDATE Nov. 2, 6:17 p.m. PT: A new site went up after the Gothamist/DNAinfo announcement: rickettsist.com.
The parody site looks like the now-defunct Gothamist, SFist, LAist, and other local news sites, but features Ricketts. A short intro article says this is "the only site where you can get up-to-date news and information about Joe Ricketts, the owner of some news sites that you can’t access anymore!"
(责任编辑：娛樂)
New Zealand designer's photo series celebrates the elegance of aging
Nicolas Cage finally gets to play Superman, in 'Teen Titans GO!'
Android has gotten a lot safer in 2017, Google claimsAustralian heroes brave floodwaters to save a giant spiderMetallica to seek and destroy your eardrums with new album this fallAly Raisman catches Simone Biles napping on a plane like a champion
Simone Biles is exhausted. She won five medals at the Summer Olympics in Rio, posed for selfies with
...[详细]McDonald's Australia makes its regular menu available for breakfast
In a move that'll surely please early lunch eaters (and people who've woken from their hangovers too
...[详细]Volkswagen unveils Atlas Tanoak pickup truck at New York Auto Show
Yes, you read that right: Volkswagen may soon be building large, full-size pickup trucks. 。The German
...[详细]Chewie isn't solo: Star Wars fans howl over a Wookiee love story
Oh Chewbacca, who was that Wookiee I saw you with tonight? One scene from the
。 Solo: A Star Wars Sto
...[详细]Fake news reports from the Newseum are infinitely better than actual news
Actual investigative journalism: who needs it?At least, that's what some people will likely conclude
...[详细]Chewie isn't solo: Star Wars fans howl over a Wookiee love story
Oh Chewbacca, who was that Wookiee I saw you with tonight? One scene from the 。 Solo: A Star Wars Sto
...[详细]Tesla Autopilot was active when the fatal crash in California happened
Tesla has confirmed that yes, Autopilot was active when a Model X was the at the center of a fatal c
...[详细]Online risk predictor claims to estimate chance of developing melanoma
Melanoma is the most dangerous of skin cancers, and now a new tool claims to help people over 40 cal
...[详细]Nancy Pelosi warns colleagues after info hacked
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned fellow Democrats on Saturday to change their cellphone num
...[详细]NASA has again delayed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope
We're all going to have to keep waiting before we see NASA's most complicated space science mission
...[详细]This German startup wants to be your bank (without being a bank)
Are Toad and Toadette bumping uglies?