THE BEST: The Texas Tribune just launched. It's a nonprofit Texas journalism dealie led by perpetual Ellie winner editor Evan Smith, and funded by millions of dollars from public-minded rich Texas dudes, as well as public donations. Paid Content reports:

it can be a little hard for those of us who came out of a post-1999 start-up environment to grasp the salaries being paid by the Tribune out of the gate: Smith's $315,000, three others at six figures. The reporters make competitive wages-up to $90,000.

All you J-school kids flocking to NYC, pack up and move to Texas immediately! Quick! It gets no better than that.

THE WORST: Once upon a time there was a music magazine called Billboard that was very respected. Now there is this: "Billboard Magazine presents: Billboard Discoveries." Pay a fee and get a totally impartial review!

What You'll Get from a Billboard Discoveries Review:

* The Billboard brand and reputation as one of the most recognized and respected authorities in music. A review by Billboard Discoveries offers a credible, powerful voice to your work.
* Unbiased, professional reviews by experienced reviewers who specialize in certain fields. Country music is reviewed by experienced country reviewers, for example, and reggae is reviewed by reggae experts.
* A review on all the songs in your Sonicbids Electronic Press Kit (about 150 words for "albums" and 130 words for singles) in the same quality and style of writing as standard Billboard reviews (Discoveries reviews do not include ratings). Reviews can be used in their entirety or excerpts for marketing and advertising purposes.

What You Won't Get from Billboard Discoveries:

* Any guarantee of a positive review. Billboard Discoveries reviews are honest and impartial and run the gamut from glowing to scathing to everything in between. By upholding Billboard's rigorous editorial standards, we ensure these reviews retain their integrity and remain meaningful.
* Publication or exposure in Billboard Magazine or Billboard.com. Reviews you receive from the Billboard Discoveries service are yours only: discretion over how they are shared or promoted is exclusively yours, and neither Billboard Discoveries nor Billboard will share them publicly or with any third party.

See, kids: Stay around New York and end up writing paid reviews for Billboard Discoveries ("Joe Arnold Sings the Bee-Gees is an upbeat crowd pleaser sure to have a crowd dancing, whether a crowd of children or a crowd of lemurs"). Or, hop a Greyhound to Texas and make your fortune doing real journalism. Leave now!
[Pic via]

Somewhere in this great land of ours, there is a reporter who holds the single worst reporting job in America. Sure, the guy who has to constantly watch men be filled up with poison in a prison in Huntsville, Texas is a strong candidate. But we know there are many more. What about the reporter who has to cover long-haul truckers? Or the municipal waste beat? Or the St. Louis Rams?

We need you, the Gawker diaspora, to give us suggestions (in the comments, or to email me). You live out there. You have a local paper. You go to work and scoff at the heartbreakingly bland industry trade publication on the coffee table. You see the ridiculous crap that gets published. What's the worst of all? We will make a little list, and it will be enjoyable. Whoever sends in the winner gets a free t-shirt! Or, if you yourself are the journalist on the worst beat in America—sweet, sweet death.

The short version: "EIC...(Unpaid)." As our tipster wrote, "Are you fucking kidding me?" Sadly, no. Apply now!

EIC for Upcoming HIV/AIDS Online Magazine (Unpaid)
Job/Internship type:
Freelance
Company/Publication Name:
HIV/AIDS Online Magazine
Location:
—
Description:

The EIC will head the editorial department of a upcoming HIV/AIDS online
magazine. The mission of the online publication is to improve the quality
of life of those who are affected, infected, or are at high risk of
contracting HIV/AIDS.

Qualifications:
- Strong communication, interpersonal & leadership skills
- Extensive experience as a writer or editor
- Commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness

Roles & Responsibilities:
- Lead editorial board meetings online.
- The EIC's responsible for choosing writers to contribute to the
publication.
- Serve as "the face" of the publication by speaking with the press
and attending conferences.
- Oversee the publication's complete process from pitch submission to
article publication.

[Pic via]

The site doesn't claim to take any kind of political stance on the globalizing, capitalist behemoth, and Adbusters' nightmare that is Wal-Mart, other than that as purely sociological entertainment. They even say so in their, uh, manifesto:

People of Walmart was founded in August of 2009 by three friends and roommates after an inspirational trip to WalMart. Let's face it; we all have seen the people who obviously don't have mirrors and/or family and friends to lock them in a basement, and they all seem to congregate at Walmart. It's not everywhere that you can shop for milk at 10 a.m. next to a 400lb mother of 6 wearing a pink tube top, leopard tights, and hooker heels.

And again: this is, on a very real level, needlessly mean. Cintra Wilson would approve.

But it's also completely fascinating to see the "all stripes" crowd that comes to Wal-Mart for their psychotically competitive, mom-and-pop murdering prices. The composite picture that's coming together could be one of the great photo essays of our time. I'm gonna go ahead and call this art. It's Andreas Gursky meets the social voyeurism of Party Crash photog Nikola Tamindzic, mixed in with the strange loneliness of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. Here're some of my favorites of what you're going to see. Like I said: art.

The thing that makes America great is its hustling spirit, and nowhere is that more evident than in the many new and creative ways we find to rob and steal from our wealthier neighbors to stay afloat. Instead of paying $25 for a parking sticker in the Hamptons, people are stealing them. Why is this news? Because everything that happens in the Hamptons is news, and also because, ha, one of the people that got robbed was Calvin Klein, can you imagine the look on his smug rich face when he has to stand in line at some shitty municipal office all day to get another parking sticker?

You can rob his car again while he does so.

Sadly, robbing Calvin Klein is not an industry large enough to support America's teenagers, all of whom are out of work because they do not hold the advanced degree now required to land a Taco Bell job. The only hope for our most unskilled and unemployable citizens: Wal-Mart. And it's trying to get into NYC again.

Wal-Mart has tried this before. They were handily run out of town by the unions and told not to come back lest they find their automobiles burglarized for their parking stickers, and also maybe they would "find" a baseball bat contacting their shins at high speed, because you ain't from around here is ya, Wal-Mart? So back then Wal-Mart went on home, to Arkansas, (or Florida), where they are against unions, because unions are communists. (And homos??). But now everything has changed because there is no more money and hello, your old friend Wal-Mart is back, with jobs, to move into NYC! Wal-Mart would like to move into a poor neighborhood somewhere in an outer borough where they will be welcomed, and unions still say they will put up a big fight, but will they?

We hope they can keep Wal-Mart out. But we're not optimistic. Cause in our great nation these days, if you're not working at the Wal-Mart, you're working at the casino. And nobody's working at the casino any more.

No answer is correct, however, you must be high enough to think that phrase is clever in order to write for bumbenschwacker, blog of the future. Apply now.

Here's Adrien Field, a fella who loves bow ties, and here's Alexandra Alexis, a Myspace-quality singer, and we'll be goddamned if we ever heard of either one of them before, but one thing is for sure: if you watch The City, read Gawker, and know the names of people like Julia Allison and Kristian Laliberte, the only place you are fit for employment is right here. God help you.
[Craigslist; Pic via Guest of a Guest]