A.J. Daulerio Eyed Opportunity at Animal NY Before Gawker Editor Offer [Updated]

Gawker editor in chief Remy Stern was replaced by Deadspin editor in chief A.J. Daulerio, the blog network publisher Nick Denton announced on Twitter Monday, “for followers of the inner workings,” as he put it.

Mr. Daulerio told the The Observer he had been planning to move on from Deadspin, Gawker Media’s sports property, when the offer arrived, and had been fielding offers from outside of the company, including one from Bucky Turco at Animal New York.

“Deadspin was basically at the place where I was going to want it to be,” Mr. Daulerio told The Observer. Deadspin’s traffic has increased five-fold since 2008, the year Mr. Daulerio took over from founding editor Will Leitch, thanks, in part to a series of splashy breaking stories like Brett Favre’s genital self-portraiture.

Mr. Daulerio said he looked forward to leaving Deadspin in the hands of Tommy Craggs, a staff writer nearly poached by Bill Simmons’s Grantland before a snafu involving ESPN executive John Walsh and a pink singing Gorilla gram.

“I think Tommy’s time to take over is right now, and I’m anxious for him to do it,” Mr. Daulerio said.

As for Gawker, Mr. Daulerio said he had always wanted to work there at some point, and looked forward to covering the election. Until his start date, Jan. 1, however, he is “just chilling.” And with Mr. Stern stepping down immediately, it should be relaxing time for the Gawker writers, if brief.

“We need to release the full potential of the site’s excellent roster of writers,” Mr. Denton told The New York Times.

“I would really like to hire a managing editor,” Mr. Daulerio said.

Mr. Stern, a former Radar editor and author of But Wait, There’s More, was named Gawker editor in chief in early 2010, when the company acquired his database of New York notables, Cityfile. According to The Times, Mr. Stern will become a consultant for Gawker Media editorial projects, including biographical and product pages.