While Hanover may be a far cry from New York City and its glitzy world of fashion, socialites and celebrity parties, one Dartmouth student, Neel Shah '05, has taken on an internship that requires him to not only schmooze, but also to poke fun at New York's elite.
Shah landed an internship this summer at the New York weblog Gawker.com, a web-based entertainment magazine focused on Manhattan culture. The blog features editorials, links to other publications and, of course, the latest updates in fashion, gossip and real estate. The catch -- everything featured is dripping with satirical attitude.
For those of us not hip enough to be familiar with Gawker.com, a blog is a chronologically ordered website. Every time a new story is added, it is placed on the top of the web page, and older stories are moved down. According to Shah, Gawker.com is updated 12 times daily, so breaking entertainment news is always available at the click of a mouse.
One of two interns working under Choire Sicha, Gawker's only permanent writer, Shah is required to add to the blog daily. Shah e-mails his pieces to Sicha, who runs the site from his apartment.
Shah usually works on daily features such as the "To Do" list, which mocks events occurring that day around the city, or the "Gossip Roundup," which summarizes the juiciest news from other publications. However, he has had the chance to contribute bigger pieces as well.
Recently, Shah took a break from Manhattan to attend the Democratic National Convention in Boston, updating the blog with a report on New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's fashion choice for the event.
"The convention was pretty awesome," Shah said. "I didn't exactly do anything, like, political or anything -- all that stuff was a bunch of fluff. I did write a story about a fight I started with Hillary Clinton that got picked up by the New York Daily News; it almost got me fired from my "real job" at the New York Observer though, which was quite nice."
While he works for Gawker.com everyday, Shah said the blog is just a "side gig." He spends most of his day working at the offices of the New York Observer, where he is also an intern.
Having been a fan and reader of Gawker.com for months, Shah noticed a posting on the site looking for an intern and responded. Gawker.com, one of five different blogs owned by Gawker Media, receives 50,000 hits daily.
Despite its popularity, Gawker.com is certainly not a publication read by most Dartmouth students. "I think that I originally heard about Gawker.com by word of mouth," Shah said. "Probably from some hipster or something."
According to Gawker.com, its intended audience is just that -- the media, the wealthy and the young. The majority of its readers are between the ages of 26 and 35, live in New York, and 30 percent earn over $100,000 annually. Gawker.com lists celebrities such as Howard Stern, Jodi Kantor of The New York Times and Ed Needham of Rolling Stone as dedicated readers.
Founder Nick Denton launched the site in 2002. Now the owner of Gawker Media, Denton has gone on to a successful career in Internet publication.
So what has Shah learned from his experience?
"Social worth in work is totally overrated," he said. "Oh, and most famous people suck ass."
