• lolslate

    Your Dead Kid Doesn't Impress Slate Columnist

    Jack Shafer has had it with the weepy emails about how you lost Little Timmy forever to some overdose. He's a busy man. Save it for Cary Tennis. [via Nick Douglas]
    03/24/09
    2,839
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    Comment by ArgusRun: I'm with Jack here. He's criticizing the media and law enforcement in a logical and well sourced way. Everytime he... 6 Responses | Other threads

  • bias

    Jack Shafer Voting For Nutcase

    Did you wonder who your favorite Slate contributor is voting for? Good news: now you know! Michael Kinsley instituted the quadrennial endorsement list in 2000—go back and read how wrong all the Bush people were!—and it's been a beloved feature ever since, the two more times they've done it, because everyone cares how a Slate copy-editor is voting (spoiler alert: for Obama). There is one McCain vote, a half-hearted endorsement from the conservative editor and Slate lady-blog contributor Rachael Larimore. But there are fewer third-party votes and abstentions than in either of the two previous iterations of the feature, even in divided anyone-but-Bush 2004. Because, duh, people like Obama more than Kerry. But one man, press critic Jack Shafer, remains relentlessly devoted to his utterly wrong-headed principles. Shafer, once again, is voting for the Libertarians! More »
    10/28/08
    2,322
    42

    By Pareene

    Comment by Baroness: Libertarians are Republicans who have the good sense to be ashamed of the jackanapes dominating their party. They're... 8 Responses | Other threads

  • slate

    Wait, Really?

    Jack Shafer: "I'm at a two-day Slate retreat at the Mohonk Mountain House playing team-building "trust games" with Mickey Kaus, Julia Turner, Nathan Heller, and a handgun. I'm kidding about the trust games, but I'm serious about being stuck in the soul-bleaching bath that is a retreat." Shudder.
    06/25/08
    591
    11

    By Pareene

    Comment by Carol Gardens: I recall a meeting where HR told MTV employees that from now on we were to report all intimate relationships... more » | Other threads

  • slate

    Jack Shafer Doesn't Want Your Stupid Webby Award Anyway

    "It's with great shame that I confess that Slate is a nominee" in the Webby Awards, says Jack Shafer, the site's lead destroyer of all fun. He's upset that so many people get to come home with a trophy: 600 winners and over 1100 pre-announced "honorees," out of almost 10,000 contestants who paid $275 or more each to be considered. He estimates the awards show pulls in $2 million (which honestly doesn't sound like that much to me, considering costs). Of course Shafer's hate-on, like any promising Slate piece, has a caveat. More »
    04/10/08
    1,066
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    Comment by GirlFriday: @MrInBetween: The wee Jack Shafer always won the monkeyfishing contest...unless he was disqualified for poor sportsmanship. more » | Other threads

  • portfolio

    It's Always The Cover-Up That Gets You

    Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman should learn rule number 63 or web publishing: by deleting a blog post, one only draws greater attention to it. On Friday, the Conde Nast magazine's media industry terrier, Jeff Bercovici, wrote a typically niggling piece for Portfolio's website about best-selling fabulist, Malcolm Gladwell (displayed after the jump). According to Bercovici, the Tipping Point author is the bane of the fact-checking department at his day job, as a writer for the New Yorker, another title owned by Conde Nast boss Si Newhouse. There was nothing that controversial about Bercovici's item: Gladwell has himself drawn attention to his mockery of orthodox journalistic practice. But the post disappeared from Bercovici's Portfolio blog over the weekend. More »
    03/25/08
    3,893
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    Comment by rosaluxembourgeoise: @rosaluxembourgeoise: "contact him for comment". more » | Other threads

  • relax

    Jack Shafer Exposes Malcolm Gladwell's Lies About Lying

    Remember when I freaked out that Malcolm Gladwell, the most successful pop-non-fiction writer of our time, was bragging about pulling pranks at the Washington Post? And remember how I was further irked that Gladwell was lying about lying? And remember how Pareene was like seriously, Rebecca, this is tired? Actually, you might not remember that, because it was a private conversation we had. But Slate media critic Jack Shafer thinks it's interesting. More »
    03/20/08
    4,127
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    By rebecca

    Comment by hilarie: I will take vulturesaquadron's first paragraph and put it on a brass plaque for my front door, and in my... more » | Other threads

  • trend spotting

    New York Times Once Again Defines What You Are (Not) Doing

    The New York Times is forever trying to identify and co-opt (bogus) cultural trends, from metrosexuals to bed bugs to Argentinian cocaine. And now, oddly and odiously placed in the Sunday Styles section, they discuss "Drunkorexia," a combination of eating disorders and problem drinking. But don't worry, they don't jump on this one too salaciously. They go to great lengths to provide context and perspective: "Drunkorexia is not an official medical term." Ohhh, thanks Times! [NYT]
    03/01/08
    2,640
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    Comment by SarahHeartburn: @PandoraSpocks: Good for you for talking back. And I don't get the nastiness here. It's a serious issue and the... more » | Other threads

  • asking for it

    Fark overlord Drew Curtis's book pulls an extremely tardy rave from Slate's Jack Shafer. (It came out at the end of May.) "This column is not a pathetic attempt to get my story posted on Fark.com and reap the thousands of hits that naturally follow," promises Shafer. [Slate]
    10/05/07
    418
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    By Choire

    Comment by VenusCloacina: @Talix18: Both Fark and SomethingAwful are now dominated by South Park Republicans. It's annoying as fuck. more » | Other threads

  • the rupert murdoch film festival

    This Slate slideshow about the way News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch is portrayed in film and television is notable mainly for demonstrating that Slate columnist Jack Shafer has a voice for print. [Slate]
    09/27/07
    177
    1

    By abalk

    Comment by jse82: First asses, then this? Slow news day at Slate lately, huh? more » | Other threads

  • the new media is the old media

    Online Slags Vindicated By Hideous Newspaper Correction Rates

    Slate's media scold Jack Shafer gets to abuse newspapers today by writing about a new study that found that fewer than 2% of stories with errors got corrected in a group of ten metro daily newspapers. This is where we jump up and down and yell "One of us, one of us!" Can we put the bogeyman of how those stupid blogs are error-ridden and never correct anything in a shallow grave now? (Actually maybe let's see how the rest of today goes here before we start gloating. Feeling kind of over-caffeinated and error-ridden already! Might print anything!) More »
    08/16/07
    633
    10

    By Choire

    Comment by artynimue1: I think Mr. Shafer is the perfect choice to criticize errors because he has never made any. I asked him... more » | Other threads

  • mutual masturbation

    Jack Shafer on Times Digest: "The shorter New York Times, set in the same fonts as the newspaper, is the perfect brief news read, provided you're 1) not near a computer and can't download the Times Reader; 2) unable to get the regular Times; 3) extraordinarily pressed for time; or 4) in a mood to make only one hand available for reading (such as when you're in the whirlpool)." [Slate]
    06/27/07
    2,125
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    Comment by Terah Michael Belteshazzar: NY Times can go to Hell. Let's kill trees forever hooray! Finger-print ourselves for no reason except to destroy trees... more » | Other threads

  • media bubble

    Ron Burkle Into Rough Trade Mags

  • Ron Burkle buys the Primedia Enthusiast Group (Hot Rod, Practical Horseman, Motorcycle Cruiser, Dressage Today, Lowrider Arte) for a staggering $1.18 billion. [NYP] More »
05/15/07
323
0

By abalk2
  • explications

    Dow Jones Under Siege: Day Six

    Slightly quiet on the "Rupert Murdoch craves Dow Jones" front. Still, today we learn that editors at the Wall Street Journal knew of the bid at least a week before it came out, but said nothing, and were thus beaten to the story by CNBC. The decision to sit on the story, says the Times "raises a nettlesome issue for the media: What are a news organization's obligations to report important market-moving news about itself or its parent company before the news is officially disclosed?" Ooh, nettlesome. Harsh words! Better—perhaps someone took advantage of the information for some money-making trading! Hello, SEC! More »
    05/08/07
    449
    0

    By abalk2
  • david sedaris

    Jack Shafer Is Pissed Off That You're Not More Pissed Off About David Sedaris

    Jack Shafer is all "where's the outrage" about the recent revelations that known bullshitter David Sedaris sometimes bullshits. In a sweeping j'accuse against the New Yorker fact-checking department, the Washington Post's Peter Carlson and Sedaris himself, Shafer blasts the bullshitting memoirist for using the word "exaggerated" to describe some of the more bullshitty elements of his work:
    It gives a writer all the indemnification he needs against charges that he's fabricated. Made-up dialogue? It's an exaggeration. A made-up scene? It's just an embellishment. An altered setting? Hyperbole!
    More »
    04/12/07
    10,206
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    By abalk2

    Comment by JSampiro: I've always thought David Sedaris was making stuff up. That's why I stick to people whose funny stories are... more » | Other threads

  • new york times

    Help Jack Shafer Pick The Next 'Times' Public Editor

    In a column for Slate that feels just as tossed off as this very post is sure to be, media critic Jack Shafer offers a list of suggestions for the soon-to-be-vacated position of New York Times Public Editor. Shafer wants to see "somebody who is under 40, whose worldview hasn't been Lasiked blind by decades inside a newspaper newsroom, and who writes the way fire ants bite." His nominees include blog empress Elizabeth Spiers (who apparently has gas), some lady from the New Yorker, and the dude from Talking Points Memo, who is a Princeton alum. In that spirit we've come up with our own slate of candidates. More »
    03/29/07
    2,999
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    By abalk2

    Comment by Seeräuber Jenny: @KarenUhOh: And of course, and yes, I understand that I am responding as intended, Jack Shafer would be interesting, too,... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: The Wagging Finger Scolds, And, Having Scolded, Moves On

  • Bear Stearns has a bone to pick with the Times Gretchen Morgenson, as do most people with a background in finance who read her columns. [NYP] More »
    • 03/13/07
    1,011
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    By abalk2

    Comment by Ha Ha Sound: Yeah, Bear Stearns is upset because they're greedy idiots and they totally f-ed up. From the article: "Still, one rival... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: Couric &. Co. Mostly Just Co. When It Comes To Big Decisions

  • CBS News hired Rick Kaplan without consulting Katie Couric. They probably just didn't want her to worry her pretty little head about it. [NYT] More »
    03/09/07
    1,237
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    By abalk2

    Comment by AcidReign: .....Let's see, when I'm making dinner and getting my national news fix, I have a choice of Charles Gibson, Brian... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: The Day After

  • Apparently, there were some layoffs at Time Inc. yesterday. [NYP] More »
    01/19/07
    63
    3

    By abalk2

    Comment by Hyman Decent: Good Lord, is that Jessica Hahn on that Time cover? Why couldn't the Post use a more recent cover? more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: Also, Something's Happening At 'Time'

  • What with everyone and their assistant editor decamping to that Allbritton online venture, the Times takes a closer look. And, at a quarter of a million dollars going to the two top slots, who wouldn't jump? [NYT] More »
    01/08/07
    96
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    By abalk2
  • media

    Media Bubble: It's All About The Teenage Girls

  • Federal government trying to make Times op-ed page less boring. [NYT] More »
    12/19/06
    308
    2

    By abalk2

    Comment by Mabimab: Are you serious, it's called "Flip" and they have an asian woman on the front page? Does anyone else see... more » | Other threads

  • ian mcewan

    Jack Shafer on Ian McEwan: Let the Plagiarist Burn in Hell

    It's been unclear whether the whole Ian McEwan kerfuffle—he's been accused of borrowing a little too liberally in his novel Atonement from the memoirs of a British romance novelist, who worked as a Nightingale nurse during WWII—would turn into a highbrow Kaavya Viswanathan situation, or would be quietly swept under the rug. In the Kaavya corner, we've had, well, no one. In the other corner, critics and authors (including Thomas Pynchon!) are practically tripping over themselves to defend McEwan. But just before the bell, here's Slate crusader Jack Shafer to tell you that no, we should not be sweeping this under the rug, and Ian McEwan is a very, very bad man. Oh, and all those critics and authors defending him? They're elitist fucks. Sayeth Shafer:
    As a long-time magazine and newspaper editor, I'd have no trouble firing McEwan for writing as he did if he worked for me ... But McEwan's defenders mustn't judge him by the rules of mere journalism. He links to his champions on his home page, where his own explanation can be found. The defense goes like this: He's a novelist, operating in a world of make-believe, and storytellers have always been allowed to pilfer and pinch from other writers with impunity.
    Eh, not so fast, sez the Shaf. More »
    12/11/06
    258
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    By Doree Shafrir

    Comment by Edward Lionheart: At first I wished McEwan had totally reworded the minor passages in question, but on re-reading Atonement (which I think... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: Exiled From The Cond Kingdom

  • Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger set to retire at the end of next year. [NYP] More »
    12/05/06
    512
    5

    By abalk2

    Comment by SecureLocation: I think everyone who works with Olbermann would agree that he's very talented and very nuts. more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: Private Parts

  • Guy who told Murdoch to buy MySpace quits. [Guardian] More »
    11/17/06
    119
    0

    By abalk2
  • media

    Media Bubble: Why Buy The 'Times' When You Can Get The 'TimesSelect' For Free?

  • Bill Keller, everyone he knows, disagrees with NYT ombudsman (sorry, "Public Editor") Byron "Barney" Calame on banking story. [NYT] More »
    11/07/06
    137
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    By abalk2
  • slate

    Jack Shafer Can't Stop Complaining About Journalists

    For all the problems we have with Slate, we wouldn't be able to live without it. Christopher Hitchens is like that loud, drunk uncle we never had, while media critic Jack Shafer is the cranky grandpa we never had, telling us to stop being such nancy boys, but kind enough to offer ways to correct our errors. More »
    10/26/06
    60
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    By suki
  • media

    Media Bubble: Tripped Up

    • That Cathy Horyn correction? It was a big "fuck you" to Styles editor Trip Gabriel. [WWD] More »
    10/16/06
    79
    1

    By abalk2

    Comment by riahekans: I don't see what's the problem with Lyons' comment (for the record, I'm Hispanic.)It wasn't as if he said anything... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: 'LAT's Manhattan Project Probably Involves Baquet Moving Back to Manhattan

    • The genius Ogilvy & Mather suicide bomber PSA has been pulled. [Guardian] More »
    10/12/06
    40
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    By abalk2
  • media

    Media Bubble: No Suicide Here

    • What will the effect of Jeffrey Johnson's ouster from the LAT be? Well, for one thing, it will allow every media outlet to print articles like this one, which speculates about the effect of Jeffrey Johnson's ouster from the LAT. [WSJ] More »
    10/06/06
    110
    4

    By abalk2

    Comment by KarenUhOh: I congratulate Friedman's unique ability to type with his nose, since he was jerking off the Big 7 while writing... more » | Other threads

  • jack shafer

    Unsolicited Advice Carries Whiff of Self-Pity

    Over at Slate, media critic Jack Shafer takes time away from reviewing meth-use statistics to give a little advice to recent Observer purchaser Jared Kushner. It's pretty innocuous stuff: Beef up the real estate coverage, don't be afraid to try new things, the web is your friend, etc. But the best part is in the middle, when Shafer, who writes for an organization which has sent so many reporters off to 43rd Street that it may as well be considered a New York Times Triple-A affiliate, offers the following: More »
    08/02/06
    84
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    By abalk2
  • slate

    New York Times = Flowers for Algernon

    Jack Shafer at ye olde Slate points out a study full of hard math and big words. In essence, the study concludes that the New York Times' efforts to penetrate more local markets tend to draw local readers who are more educated. As the educated readers turn away from local papers, those local papers tend to run less material that might have appealed to an educated readership. The next step is soft-pedaled by the study, but Shafer pounces, describing the net effect as a "dumbing down" of local papers; after all, if they lose the eggheads, they can run more stupid shit to bring in the yahoos without fear of alienating the ostensibly intelligent (we appreciate this strategy around here, obviously). In other words, the NYT is destroying America. Again. We tried to read the study itself for more in-depth analysis, but got distracted by cartoons. More »
    07/28/06
    131
    2

    By Chris Mohney

    Comment by hat trick: i just like to lick the ink now. it's great for the dog crap too (in that order). more » | Other threads

  • jack shafer

    Jack Shafer: The Capsule Summary

    The Best Writers at the New York Times (2006) Running out of ideas. What's next, a piece on who picks the "Quotation of the Day"? More »
    07/26/06
    86
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    By abalk2
  • jack shafer

    Watch Your Ass, Jack Shafer

    Contrary to the below: Jack Shafer at Slate rudely dissects the dynamics of success behind the New York Times' drearily infamous "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage." Since the NYT article features author Amy Sutherland applying animal behavioral training to her husband Scott, Shafer should know the likely consequences of provoking a man brainwashed like Shamu. Marine biology documentary Orca (1977) has this to say about the title character's psychology:
    The killer whale, is one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe. Incredibly, he is the only animal other than man who kills for revenge.
    More »
    07/14/06
    1,741
    4

    By Chris Mohney

    Comment by drewheyman: am i the only one who thinks it would be kinda cool to have a whale as a mortal enemy?... more » | Other threads

  • media

    Media Bubble: The Dog Ate My Profits

    • Yet another sluggish quarter for the newspaper industry. The excuse this time: rising newsprint costs. Sure, we'll buy it. [NYT] More »
    07/14/06
    134
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    By abalk2
  • nick denton

    Jack Shafer Phones It In

    We try not to get too self-referential here at Gawker, mainly because it's boring, but also because it fucks up the carefully-crafted media strategy which we sit through countless monthly seminars learning to apply. On the other hand, when an article like Jack Shafer's most recent Slate piece appears, it seems silly not to address it. You can read it on your own if you like and adjudge its merits as you see fit. We just want to point out that any article that uses the phrase, "Charming and approachable, he puts people at ease and makes himself a sympathetic source," in reference to Nick Denton is clearly devoid of research, accuracy, or a basic grasp of reality. Get off the pipe, Jack; it's not doing you any good. More »
    07/12/06
    109
    3

    By abalk2

    Comment by James Polkuote: Whoa, a Bill Bradley reference! How delightfully obscure. Seriously: When was the last time Bill Bradley "fed the media beast"?... more » | Other threads

  • ann coulter

    Remainders: Joe Lieberman Shits in the Woods

    • Apparently Joe Lieberman has some sort of bet going to determine how stupid voters in Connecticut really are. [YouTube] More »
    06/16/06
    319
    4

    By abalk2

    Comment by Weronika Cwir: karl, I think at the moment you posted your comment you were not particularily sharp, so I forgive you for... more » | Other threads

  • new york times

    Media Bubble: Journalists on Web Almost As Reliable As Ann Coulter

    • Times covers TMZ; remains too dainty to use the phrase "firecrotch." [NYT] More »
    06/13/06
    126
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    By abalk2
  • media bubble

    Media Bubble: Was the 'Wardrobe Malfunction' Really So Terrible?

    • Networks sue FCC to make it stand up to Parents Television Council right-wing nutjobs. One can dream. [WSJ] More »
    05/19/06
    114
    1

    By Jesse

    Comment by Motty: Jack Shafer's just mad because he's never been in a newsroom-- unless you count that couldn't give it away for... more » | Other threads

  • media bubble

    Media Bubble: No One Likes Poor Barney Calame

    • Jacob Bernstein reports that ineffectual Times public editor Barney Calame is considered either: "[L]ike Kenneth Starr," unable "to step back and ask what any of it means"; unable to see the forest for the trees; like a "mosquito," always biting but never wounding; an "umpire," merely calling balls and strikes; or "a judge, not a prosecutor." None of these are compliments. [WWD] More »
    05/17/06
    112
    2

    By Jesse

    Comment by jko: His name is Byron; he\'s known as Barney. more » | Other threads

  • media bubble

    Media Bubble: The New New 'New Republic'

    • The New Republic has its first "bloodless transition" of editors in many years, as nebbishy-novelist-brother Franklin Foer takes over for incumbent Peter Beinart, on whose watch the magazine lost 40 percent of its circ. [NYT/NYO] More »
    02/28/06
    90
    0

    By Jesse
  • media bubble

    Media Bubble: 'Wall Street Journal,' Now More Online-y

    • Dow Jones reorg combines print and online editions of WSJ. [AP via Yahoo] More »
    02/22/06
    107
    1

    By Jesse

    Comment by SecureLocation: I seriously doubt Mike Lafavore wants to be editor of Fitness. Jann, does, on the other hand, want to be... more » | Other threads