Valleywag Shutting Down?

Not quite.

Word from the realm of Twitter (@melissagira): "Just heard: Valleywag is shutting down, per order of Denton." But according to Alley Insider:

Rumors are flying that Valleywag will be "shuttered." It won't. It will be consolidated into Gawker.

Gawker CEO Nick Denton foreshadowed this move in this sky-is-falling post this morning. Valleywag's 1 million uniques will be worth more as part of a larger, easier-to-sell audience on Gawker. The posts will run in the main Gawker feed, and Valleywag's front page and logo will remain (the site will live at www.valleywag.gawker.com, or a similar URL). Owen Thomas, the Valleywag, will not be canned.

Word at The New York Times is:

After two-and-a half tawdry years, Valleywag, the infamous technology rumor blog, will be folded this month into gossip site Gawker.com by parent company Gawker Media, according to its founder, Nick Denton.

But folks who long to see the Valley’s journalistic bottom-feeder go completely silent will be disappointed. Owen Thomas, Valleywag’s puckish editor, will continue to spin innuendo from the tech scene for Gawker.com, which is becoming a more nationally oriented gossip site.

Also, Paul Boutin, the other Valleywag writer besides Thomas (as well as a former New York Times freelancer), will leave at the end of the month, presumably leaving Thomas as the sole scribe.

We have emailed Valleywag's most stellar/puckish editor, Mr. Thomas, and will update when we hear back from him. Chin up, Internets. He's not going anywhere.

Update: Read about it all, right here.