Gawker: Clicks

Naked Lohan, Presented And Analyzed

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:31:36 EST

New York Magazine's pictures of nekkid Lindsay Lohan are titillating, sure. But more importantly, they are the embodiment of oh-so-many media trends! Like the trend of a glossy magazine grabbing a high-fashion photographer to make shirtlessness upscale (for men and women). Also, the "trend" of serious news outlets exploiting pop culture for massive clicks while still maintaining their "smart" cred. Further, tragic celebrities—living or not— are the best attractions. The Lohan shoot isn't pegged to her funeral, but it's pretty damn grim foreshadowing, considering the Marilyn Monroe theme. Finally, the whole thing provides the same masturbatory value as a hypothetical Lohan Playboy shoot; but with better PR for both sides. Of course, we would never put ourselves above covering the latest sex news. So since NYMag.com is currently crushed under an incoming barrage of clicks from masturbators, we've put the most relevant Lohan pic [by Bert Stern, via New York] after the jump. It's technically NSFW, but hey, it's a holiday!

Journalists: Angry

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:17:38 EST

AngryJournalist.com, an increasingly popular site that consists of nothing but rants from pissed-off reporters, is now the most accurate summation extant of journalism as an industry. "I'm angry at my coworker who thinks his awful high school basketball videos that lack basic storytelling are good enough, because they get the most 'clicks,'" says one. Don't we know THAT feeling! After the jump, videos of Nick Denton playing basketball. Wait, no. After the jump, two comments that encompass everything that is right and wrong with journalism in America today.

Angry Journalist #276:
Editors who tell you to "dumb down" the writing, not trusting the reader's intelligence. The public who doesn't give a shit about what's going on around them. AP style, nut grafs, and ledes. The lack of balls in writing style. The large MSM outlets who skew the news and make community journalists look like assholes. The lack of truth in journalism. The fact that politicians try to make themselves look good in the press, rather than give the truth, and we have to take it as is. The fact that the state I live in has one reporter opening a month, we have a popular journalism major at a state university, and dozens apply to each job that comes up. What are the rest of the kids doing? The fact that I can't pay off my debts as a community journalist, and in fact only create more. The fact that if I ever want to move up in this field I have to give out blow jobs. The fact that writing shitty stories over irregular hours makes me so numb I can't bear to sit and write fiction during my time off. The fact that I am considering a trade job to get out of this field I worked so hard to get into. The fact that I love the concept of the news, but hate the way it is done, and am disillusioned by how I am told to do it. The fact that papers look to hire journalists with online and multimedia skills, but only take paper packet applications. The fact we have to write the same amount of stories we always have AND do more multimedia on top of it. The fact that there is never enough time to really spend out in the public chatting with the people who matter most — the readers. Shall I continue?

Angry Journalist #275:

contact's do not call back!

'Newsweek' Editor Blames You For Being Bored

abalk2 — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:12:56 EDT

Newsweek editor John Meacham thinks online readers are different from print readers. He recently addressed Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni's journalism students at the University of Mississippi:

Meacham said "people do not read long form on the internet. 500 words is the max. An average cover story of Newsweek is 4,000 words, so it takes eight pages on the web." Meacham asked the students to guess the percentage of viewers/readers who go from page one to page two on the web. "80% DO NOT... they drop before they flip to page two." And how many stay until page 8 on the web with the story, he asked and quickly answered, "My mom will be the only one."

Hey, we stopped reading on page one this week too, because we were bored witless. Oh and also?

Just checking. See? Screw you, Meacham, people DO TOO click through! —balk

God and War: Newsweek's Meacham "favorite things" and other words of wisdom [Mr. Magazine]