{{short description|American novelist}}{{Distinguish|text=musician [[Ken Lane]]}}{{Infobox person | name = Ken Layne | image = Ken Layne.jpg | alt = | caption = Ken Layne at 92YTribeca in New York. | birth_date = c. 1967 (aged {{Age as of date|51|2018|April|9}}<ref name="PSL-Biller">{{cite news |title=Real Close — And Way Out |last1=Biller |first1=Steven |url=https://www.palmspringslife.com/ken-layne/ |work=Palm Springs Life |date=9 April 2018 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>) | birth_place = [[Louisiana]] | occupation = {{flatlist| * Writer * publisher * broadcaster }} | years_active = | known_for = ''[[Wonkette]]'', ''Desert Oracle'' | notable_works = ''Dignity'' (2011) }}
'''Ken Layne''' is an American writer, publisher and broadcaster best known for his political blogging in the early 2000s and his association with [[Gawker Media]] and ''[[Wonkette]]'' from 2006 to 2012. He is the proprietor of ''Desert Oracle'', a self-published periodical and radio program exploring themes related to the [[Mojave Desert]] and the [[Southwestern United States]]. Layne has also written for outlets such as ''[[The New York Times]]'', the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', ''[[The Awl]]'' and ''[[LA CityBeat]]''.
==Career== ===Early career=== After graduating from a [[San Diego|San Diego, California]] [[magnet school|magnet high school]] focused on [[broadcast journalism]],<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> Layne began his career in the mid-1980s reporting for [[Southern California]] newspapers<ref name="LA Times-Netburn">{{cite news |title=After leaving the political blogging fray, he now covers desert's quiet weirdness |last1=Netburn |first1=Deborah |url=http://www.latimes.com/science/great-reads/la-sci-c1-desert-oracle-20150529-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=29 May 2015 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> before moving to Europe, where he worked for television, radio, and print journalism outlets in [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]],<ref name="PS-Genecov">{{cite news |title=How Ken Layne Created a Publishing Oasis in a Desert Town of 8,000 People |last1=Genecov |first1=Max |url=https://psmag.com/news/ken-layne-desert-oracle |work=Pacific Standard |date=5 March 2018 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> the [[Czech Republic]], and [[Hungary]].<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> In the late 1990s, Layne returned to the United States<ref name="SF Chron-Swartz"/> and turned to online journalism exclusively.<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/>
In April 1997, Layne co-founded Tabloid.net,<ref name="DMN-Yung">{{cite news |title=Web firm sues local ad agency; Dispute centers on talking ham sandwich |last1=Yung |first1=Katherine |work=Dallas Morning News |date=15 February 1999 }}</ref> an online publication in the "brassy style of tabloid newspapers", with $50,000 in savings.<ref name="SF Chron-Abate">{{cite news |title=New Bill on Tech Workers Is More Like a Legislative Gun |last1=Abate |first1=Tom |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/New-Bill-on-Tech-Workers-Is-More-Like-a-3011181.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=18 March 1998 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> While unprofitable as a company,<ref name="DMN-Yung"/> Tabloid.net attained notoriety as an "unabashed scandal-monger"<ref name="SF Chron-Abate"/> and for suing a Florida advertising company for appropriating its intellectual property, "a talking ham sandwich that gives advice".<ref name="SF Chron-Swartz">{{cite news |title=The Stars of Technology Sweeps Month |last1=Swartz |first1=Jon |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/The-Stars-of-Technology-Sweeps-Month-2945609.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
Layne's next venture was LAExaminer.com, co-founded in 2001 with future ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]'' editor-in-chief [[Matt Welch]], focused in part on criticism of Los Angeles' last remaining daily newspaper, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. The "Examiner" name was intended as homage to the defunct ''[[Los Angeles Herald Examiner]]''. In early 2003, former Los Angeles mayor [[Richard Riordan]] announced his intentions to publish a full-color, 52-page, tabloid-format print edition called ''Los Angeles Examiner'', with Layne as editor, intended to improve on the ''Times''{{'}} local reporting.<ref name="Economist-Feb 03">{{cite news |title=The Big Dick |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2003/02/06/the-big-dick |newspaper=The Economist |date=6 February 2003 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> A prototype was produced and circulated among potential investors and advertisers,<ref name="CS Monitor">{{cite news |title=In L.A., a new tabloid from its ex-mayor |last1=Wood |first1=Daniel B. |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0130/p03s01-ussc.html |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=30 January 2003 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> however the project was shelved after Riordan delayed its launch in May 2003.<ref name="LA Times-Rutten">{{cite news |title=Riordan delays tabloid |last1=Rutten |first1=Tim |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-may-03-et-rutten3-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=3 May 2003 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
During this time period, Layne also received attention for blogging at his personal website, KenLayne.com,<ref name="NYT-Gallagher">{{cite news |title=A Rift Among Bloggers |last1=Gallagher |first1=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/10/business/technology-a-rift-among-bloggers.html |work=The New York Times |date=10 June 2002 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="AJR-Seipp">{{cite news |title=Online Uprising |last1=Seipp |first1=Catherine |work=American Journalism Review |date=June 2002 }}</ref> and became known in the early 2000s American political and technology [[blogosphere]] for a quote directed at the [[mainstream media]]: "We can fact-check your ass".<ref name="Reason">{{cite news |title=Welcome to the Golden Age of Fact-Checking |last1=Beato |first1=Greg |url=http://reason.com/archives/2012/09/20/welcome-to-the-golden-age-of-fact-checki |work=Reason.com |date=20 September 2012 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Regret the Error">{{cite book |title=Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press |author=Craig Silverman |year=2007 |publisher=Union Square Press |isbn=978-1402751530 |page=xxvi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdBOKzu91QEC&q=ken+layne+fact+check+their+ass&pg=PR26 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Rosenberg">{{cite book |title=Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters |author=Scott Rosenberg |author-link=Scott Rosenberg (journalist) |year=2009 |publisher=Crown Books |isbn=978-0307451361 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sayeverythinghow00rose/page/151 151]–152 |url=https://archive.org/details/sayeverythinghow00rose |url-access=registration |quote=warblogs ken layne. |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref> Another Layne project of the era was called Highways West, a travel website about the [[Western United States]], announced in January 2005.<ref name="LA Observed-Jan 05">{{cite news |title=Layne's new gig |last1=Roderick |first1=Kevin |url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2005/01/laynes_new_gig.php |work=LA Observed |date=15 January 2005 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="LA Weekly-Swann">{{cite news |title=A Zine That Leans Into the Mojave Desert's Weirdness Is Now a Spooky Podcast |last1=Swann |first1=Jennifer |url=http://www.laweekly.com/arts/with-the-desert-oracle-radio-ken-layne-leans-into-the-mojave-deserts-weirdness-8824822 |work=LA Weekly |date=15 November 2017 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
===Gawker Media and ''Wonkette''===
In April 2005, Layne joined with former [[Gawker]] editor [[Choire Sicha]] to launch Sploid, a [[Drudge Report]]-inspired,<ref name="Slate-Wallace-Wells">{{cite news |title=In Praise of Sploid |last1=Wallace-Wells |first1=David |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/todays_blogs/2005/04/in_praise_of_sploid.html |work=Slate |date=8 April 2005 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> "tabloid-emulating" website for [[Gawker Media]],<ref name="LA Observed-May 15">{{cite news |title=Ex-blogger Ken Layne has a desert magazine |last1=Roderick |first1=Kevin |url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2015/05/ex-blogger_ken_layne_has.php |work=LA Observed |date=29 May 2015 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> devoted to breaking news.<ref name="Slate-Wallace-Wells"/> He later became "national correspondent" for the flagship Gawker website.<ref name="Politico-Levy">{{cite news |title=Ken Layne, Desert Oracle |last1=Levy |first1=Nicole |url=https://www.politico.com/media/story/2015/02/ken-layne-desert-oracle-003472/ |work=Politico |date=17 February 2015 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
Layne became the West Coast writer for Gawker Media's "absurdist" and "vicious"<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/> political humor site ''[[Wonkette]]'' in 2006, and later its managing editor.<ref name="LA Observed-May 15"/> Gawker owner [[Nick Denton]] spun off ''Wonkette'' in 2008, along with two other websites, and Layne became ''Wonkette''{{'s}} owner.<ref name="Crain's NY-Fung">{{cite news |title=No joke: Gawker selling three blogs |last1=Fung |first1=Amanda |url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20080414/FREE/982122410/no-joke-gawker-selling-three-blogs |work=Crain's New York Business |date=14 April 2008 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
In 2009, [[MSNBC]]'s [[Keith Olbermann]] named Layne and ''Wonkette'' in his [[Countdown with Keith Olbermann#"Worst Person in the World" segment|"Worst Person in the World" segment]]<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/> for allegedly mischaracterizing a temporary absence from his television program.<ref name="Countdown">{{Cite episode |title='Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Wednesday, May 13, 2009 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30766456 |series=Countdown with Keith Olbermann |series-link=Countdown with Keith Olbermann |network=MSNBC |airdate=13 May 2009 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Gawker-Sherman">{{cite news |title=Keith Olbermann's Ego Trumps the Truth |last1=Sherman |first1=Gabriel |url=http://gawker.com/5255315/keith-olbermanns-ego-trumps-the-truth |work=Gawker |date=14 May 2009 |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref> In 2011, ''Wonkette'' faced media criticism and desertion by advertisers after a writer mocked Trig Palin, the child of 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee [[Sarah Palin]], who has [[Down syndrome]]. Layne deleted the post after several advertisers, including [[Papa John's Pizza]], pulled their advertising from the site.<ref name="Adweek-Byers">{{cite news |title=Wonkette Deletes Controversial Trig Palin Post |last1=Byers |first1=Dylan |url=http://www.adweek.com/digital/wonkette-deletes-controversial-trig-palin-post-130865/ |work=AdWeek |date=21 April 2011 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Atlantic-Dickson">{{cite news |title=Derek Hunter Attempts to Defund Wonkette by Boycott |last1=Dickson |first1=Caitlin |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/derek-hunter-attempts-defund-wonkette-boycotting-its-advertisers/349834/ |work=Atlantic Wire |date=20 April 2011 |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref>
Layne sold ''Wonkette'' to Los Angeles journalist Rebecca Schoenkopf in 2012.<ref name="LA Observed-May 15"/> Of his career writing for the Gawker Media sites, Layne said in 2018: "All of that I did from the desert, and no one knew".<ref name="PSL-Biller"/>
===''Desert Oracle''===
In February 2015, Layne created ''Desert Oracle: The Voice of the Desert'',<ref name="Politico-Levy"/> a quarterly periodical focused on the "weirdness of the desert" in the [[Southwestern United States]].<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/> Each edition runs 44 pages, most of which is written and designed by Layne,<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> entirely in black-and-white, inside a yellow and black cover.<ref name="PS-Genecov"/> Typical content includes "adventurers' journal entries, railroad ad copy, and ... naturalists' musings", as well as stories on "alien sightings" and other paranormal phenomena.<ref name="PS-Genecov"/> Inspiration for ''Desert Oracle'' came from Randall Henderson's ''[[Desert Magazine]]''<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> and [[Harry Oliver]]'s ''[[Desert Rat Scrap Book]]''.<ref name="Politico-Levy"/>
Published from [[Joshua Tree, California]], Layne distributes the publications to bookstores and cafes across the desert southwest.<ref name="LA Weekly-Swann"/> As of 2018, ''Desert Oracle'' is available in five states and reaches the majority of its readership<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> through the mail via paid subscription.<ref name="LA Weekly-Swann"/> Layne has also collected ''Desert Oracle'' articles in book form, the first volume of which published in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-05|title=Nonfiction Book Review: Desert Oracle, Vol. 1|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780374139681|access-date=2020-12-23|website=Publishers Weekly}}</ref>
''Desert Oracle'' became the basis of a weekly half-hour radio show, ''The Desert Oracle Radio'', hosted by Layne for the community radio station [[KCDZ]] in June 2017.<ref name="LA Weekly-Swann"/> With subject matter similar to the print version, Layne's radio show features "chilling tales of [[Bigfoot]] sightings, secret military [[Unidentified flying object|UFO]] programs, missing hikers, and any number of myths and conspiracies" centered in the Mojave desert and the American Southwest.<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> ''The Desert Oracle Radio'' reaches [[Joshua Tree National Park]] and nearby towns including [[Pioneertown, California|Pioneertown]], [[Twentynine Palms, California|Twentynine Palms]] and [[Yucca Valley, California|Yucca Valley]] by terrestrial broadcast;<ref name="SF Chron-Dailey">{{cite news |title='Desert Oracle' sheds light on histories, mysteries of Mojave's allure |last1=Dailey |first1=Keli |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Insider-Joshua-Tree-s-Desert-Oracle-12767538.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=25 March 2018 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> the show is also available as a podcast.<ref name="PS-Genecov"/>
==Other writing==
Layne is the author of two novels, ''Dot.con'', published in 2001,<ref name="NLA">{{cite book |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2653983 |title=Dot.con / Ken Layne |year=2001 |publisher=National Library of Australia |isbn=9781875989973 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="ABC-RN">{{cite news |title=Blokes Rule, Okay? |last1=Koval |first1=Ramona |url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/booksandwriting/blokes-rule-okay/3631294 |work=ABC Radio National |date=28 July 2001 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> and ''Dignity'', an [[epistolary novel]] about a group of Los Angelenos creating a new community within abandoned desert housing developments following an economic collapse, in 2011.<ref name="Rumpus-Cage">{{cite news |title=Populist Fatalism |last1=Cage |first1=Caleb |url=http://therumpus.net/2011/07/dignity/ |work=The Rumpus |date=28 July 2011 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="KCET">{{cite news |title=Ken Layne's Modest Utopia |last1=Clarke |first1=Chris |url=https://www.kcet.org/socal-focus/ken-laynes-modest-utopia |work=KCET |date=3 August 2011 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
He formerly was a columnist for [[USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism|USC Annenberg School]]'s ''Online Journalism Review'',<ref name="NYT-Business">{{cite news |title=An Accusation of Online Plagiarism |last1=Barringer |first1=Felicity |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/03/business/mediatalk-an-accusation-of-online-plagiarism.html |work=The New York Times |date=3 September 2001 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref> and wrote a column called "Desert Rattler" for ''[[LA CityBeat]]'', both now defunct.<ref name="LA Weekly-Swann"/> Other writing by Layne has appeared in ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', and ''[[The Awl]]''.<ref name="NBC LA-Painter">{{cite news |title=Desert Oracle: Love for Arid Expanses |last1=Painter |first1=Alysia Gray |url=https://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/worth-the-drive/Desert-Oracle-Love-for-Arid-Expanses-370956251.html |work=NBC Los Angeles |date=5 March 2016 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Layne was born in [[Louisiana]],<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/> where he lived in the [[Lower Ninth Ward]] of [[New Orleans]] as a child.<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> He moved to the [[Phoenix, Arizona]] suburbs<ref name="PS-Genecov"/> for middle school, and later to San Diego, where he first began visiting the Mojave desert.<ref name="LA Times-Netburn"/>
Layne records his own music,<ref name="PSL-Biller"/> and formerly played with Southern California rock musicians [[Country Dick Montana]] and [[Bernard Seigal|Buddy Blue Seigal]].<ref name="SD Reader-Lickona">{{cite news |title=The Desert Oracle's Ken Layne |last1=Lickona |first1=Matthew |url=https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2017/apr/26/golden-dreams-desert-oracles-ken-layne/ |work=San Diego Reader |date=26 April 2017 |access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
He has cited ''[[Desert Solitaire]]'' by [[Edward Abbey]] as an influence,<ref name="Rumpus-Cage"/> whom he met and corresponded with before Abbey's death in 1989.<ref name="PSL-Biller"/>
==Further reading== *[https://www.theawl.com/2013/04/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-l-a-examiner-a-blog-that-was-a-newspaper-that-never-existed/ The Rise and Fall of the L.A. Examiner, a Blog That Was a Newspaper That Never Existed], Ken Layne, ''[[The Awl]]'', 2 April 2013 *[https://longreads.com/2018/04/25/publishing-the-best-of-the-desert-an-interview-with-ken-layne/ Publishing the Best of the Desert: An Interview With Ken Layne], Aaron Gilbreath, ''Longreads'', 25 April 2018
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.desertoracle.com/ Desert Oracle]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Layne, Ken}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American bloggers]] [[Category:American male journalists]] [[Category:21st-century American novelists]] [[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:21st-century American male writers]] [[Category:American broadcasters]] [[Category:Mojave Desert]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:American male bloggers]] [[Category:People from Yucca Valley, California]] [[Category:Writers from New Orleans]]