Gawker founder Nick Denton is changing the way his stable of bloggers is paid. Now, in addition to a base salary, his bloggers will receive funds based on the number of hits their posts receive, so the most popular bloggers will get paid the most.

Previously, Denton paid his bloggers a flat rate of $12 per post, but that went for posts that got no views to posts that received thousands of views. Denton’s idea is to encourage content the readers want by rewarding posts that get heavy views.

Denton argues that the most popular posts are not merely tailored just to get views, they actually present news and information that the public is hungry for. So the bloggers will not be forced to sell their souls to make money, they’ll just have to do their jobs well and put in some extra work.

The change will not result in lower pay for the bloggers. In fact, according to Denton, pay for editorial employees will increase by an average of 20%, based on the quality of the posts being put out.

“If ‘I Am Legend’ comes out, you can post ‘I Am Legend’ is out, or you can do a round up of the top 10 images of New York destroyed,” said Denton. “That will be much better than the former, because everyone has the news ‘I Am Legend’ is out.”

Gawker.com itself is a Manhattan based gossip and media news blog that is well known for it’s caustic wit and ubiquitous sarcasm. Gawker Media, owned by Denton, is the parent company of 15 different blogs, including Wonkette, Kotaku, and Gizmodo. With the low overhead of coming mostly from hosting fees and paying his bloggers, the advertising revenue garnered from Gawker Media is believed to be giving Denton a healthy profit on his investment.

Thanks to Saul Hansell at the New York Times for the info.

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