Stiff upper lip, Boutin.

Tech rumor blog Valleywag is folding into Gawker.com, Gawker Media's flagship celebrity gossip site, according to founder Nick Denton.

In admirably pithy style, Valleywag writer Paul Boutin framed the situation thus:

Some guy named Denton can't figure out how to sell ads on Valleywag. So he's going to sneak Valleywag posts onto Gawker.com, where Ketel One is happy to buy banners.

The site has served Silicon Valley dirt-dishers for two and a half years. Because it continues to draw over one million unique visitors a month, Valleywag's site and brand remains on life support. But tech coverage will be "broadened to address Gawker's national audience" — which draws a more lucrative swathe of advertisers, The New York Times reported.

Most of Valleywag's writers were cut last month. Editor Owen Thomas will keep writing tech material for Gawker.com, which will be syndicated to Valleywag's URL; Boutin, the only other writer left, departs December 1. (As Boutin described it, "In 2009, Owen will be posting full-time, maybe 6-12 posts per day. Everyone else is fired.")

Earlier this year Denton sold Wonkette, Idolator and Gridskipper, sites in the Gawker Media empire that drew less than one million impressions per month. Last month he cut 14% of its editorial staff and suspended writer pageview bonuses.

"Our biggest clients are consumer electronics and entertainment companies that are relatively well insulated […] but now the credit crisis is clearly going to affect every sector of the economy," Denton stated.