Gawker: joe dolce

The Gray Lady and Her Sad, Shared, Empty Bag of "Douche"

Foster Kamer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Where, exactly, are you supposed to start when the New York Times runs a Page One media piece on the word "douche"?

Times media writer Edward Wyatt penned a soft, round filing that was about the word "douche." It appeared on today's front page.

This word is one with which this website (and media network) has a wide breadth of experience with. In November, 2006, former Gawker scribe Emily Gould wrote:

Don't get us wrong. It's not that (50%) of our delicate ladyish sensibilities are offended or anything; far from it. It's just that, as vagina-havers, we want to branch out a little bit in the realm of vagina-related insults. Also, we couldn't help but notice that the trope is now so bitten and tired, it pretty much begs to be called "Already Over" (if Already Over wasn't Already Over, obvs). Plus, Dolce has co-opted it for his own use. What a fucking asswizard!

Before we go any further, can we just say that "azzwizard" is kind of magical?

Anyway. People, as we are, can't be without first-stone casters. Observe:

I really, really hope there aren't actually 17,400 results for the word "douche" on Gawker websites that can't be cross-referenced with Joe Dolce.

But for a moment, back to Wyatt's piece. He didn't write about how the word evolved from a technical term of feminine hygiene to a schoolyard pejorative, to a favorite of bloggers and mediocre satire writers alike, to a Times media piece. No: that'd be too meta, and too interesting, and too far into the purview of their excellent After Deadline column.

In a newspaper where the word "fuck" is too vulgar as to only be printed once in its entire history—despite the word "fuck" and its entrenchment in our daily lives, in politics, popular culture, literature, and I'm sure its handy usage around Times' bullpens—they penned a piece based on the statistical usage and adoption into sitcom television, where every decent slang word goes to die.

It's filled with numbers about usage, and quotes from TV writers about how they employ it, like this one:

"As a writer, you're always reaching for a more potent way to call somebody a jerk," Dan Harmon, the creator of "Community," said about the word "douche." "This is a word that has evolved in the last couple of years - a thing that sounds like a thing you can't say."

It doesn't get much more interesting than that, except for a line about how the show that once presented the American Public with Dennis Franz's tuchus decided to give it an evolved go:

Users of the recently popular word "douche" defend its use, noting that it was invoked, usually with the suffix "bag," in the 1990s by the character Andy Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue," an ABC series that frequently pushed the boundaries of network acceptability.

Naturally, since this story dropped, the Gawker Weekend inbox has been brimming with glee and excitement.

There are a few angles to take on it. Mediaite's Joe Coscarelli reflects much of the sentiment I've already heard out there in his lede:

I bet you never thought you'd see the day when you could pick up a copy of the New York Times and see the word "douche" on page one. And we're not talking hygiene!

And NYTpicker, that anonymous scourge of the New York Times' newsroom, takes out his or her butcher knife and gets to work on how typically bullshit the numbers used to create this story are, making a special point to note that the Times calls the word "offensive to many people" but doesn't say who those people are:

But seeing TV reporter Edward Wyatt and the NYT base its front-page reporting on numbers the paper actually requested from the Parents Television Council — a notoriously conservative TV watchdog group that has brought 99 percent of all indecency complaints before the FCC (we learned that from an excellent 2004 NYT story) — makes us a little sick. The PTC has been around since 1995, founded by conservative commentator L. Brent Bozell, and is responsible for complaints to the FCC about the Janet Jackson nipple slip and cursing on "NYPD Blue."

NYTpicker's right, and Joe Coscarelli's right. It's patently ridiculous that the Times uses generalized opinions to substantiate their numbers, to help give their story a case. There's also something inevitably entertaining about watching a newspaper as prude as the Times give the word "douche" some kind of once-over, even if the story behind it is fairly flimsy.

But honestly, this all just kind of brings me down.

Believe me, the last thing I want to do is rain on the parade of fun that is the New York Times using the word "douche," as someone who can only die happy once Clark Hoyt calls one of the Styles writers a "fuckface" in his Public Editor column. But let's talk about this like adults, kind of, for a moment. As someone with a strange affection for vulgar language, I only see this as an intense letdown.

To do this story two years ago would've been one thing, as the numbers slowly rise into becoming a trend, before it hits fever pitch. But for this story to run now, without Styles writer Allen Salkin's byline—and Salkin would've done way better with this—is absurd. Besides the fact that it's boring and plucked from a bullshit ether, the potential they laid waste to with this one is absurd. Mainly: to address the issue of creating new terms that don't exhaust themselves more and more on each usage. For example:

Where did the word "douche" come from in it's literal, non-slang implication?
Who were the first people to make the word "douche" a pejorative?
Who appended the word "bag" to the word "douche"?
Who uses this word every day?
How long has it been around?
Who (besides Gould/Shafrir/Balk/Sicha-era Gawker) has called this word over?
And what media outlets use it on a regular basis? But mostly:
Who's offended by the word?

There's nothing interesting about the word "mediocre" unless it's placed in an interesting context. On the inverse, the word "fuck" is almost always interesting, if only because it begs the question of necessity. The idea behind using a word like "douche" or "fuck" is to emphasize or exclaim something, it's to aid a common goal of writing or speaking, the reason people like me love language: to communicate an idea to someone you otherwise couldn't.

But what does the word "douche" communicate, exactly, besides the kind of person who would use it?

Maybe someone who's just unsavory in some regard, or someone who's typically unaware of their uncouth behavior. Or someone who does something your way of going about things disagrees with. There're way too many words like it. Maybe people just enjoy the way it rolls off the tongue, or maybe people actually enjoy employing the connotation of a Feminine hygiene product (which is the point all you nu-Feminists should take to say the exact same thing Gould said three years ago).

But really, the word douche is just like the story the Times did on it, and the generalized sources—the "some people" who "may be offended" by it— they used. It's empty. It means nothing. It's a completely subjective assessment of somebody who does something you don't like. I know people who use the word "douchebag" when referring to other people; I'm willing to bet those same people use the word "douchebag" to refer to the people referring to them. And I'm most disappointed when people I know who use the word could find something more concise, or shocking, or linguistically artful to go with. It's sold at the Wal-Mart of pejoratives. It's cheap, it's made en masse, and there's nothing but bad preservatives in the ingredients. Let's all—The New York Times, Bloggers, TV Writers, Those Who Use The Word "Douchebag," Those Who You Would Call A "Douche," Bar Patrons, Sports Fans, English Professors, Joe Dolce—become better communicators, and find something better than the word "douche" and it's mediocre suffix "bag" to go with.

Or, you know, we could just judge each other a little less.

Since none of these things will probably happen in the foreseeable future, just go with "douchenozzle" until it does. At least it sounds funny.

[Related Reading - Commenter VioletViolet makes a salient point: "I still think the NY Times article on "vajajay" was worse, although at least it wasn't on the front page. When you're asking Gloria Steinem for her opinion on a term that's use was mostly limited to The Soup, you're in trouble."]

Joe Dolce, Voyeur

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:57:35 EDT

Former Star editor and Jessica Coen enemy Joe Dolce went into PR, appropriately. And he's just completed a renovation of his summer home! Cause-effect. Now he can see his mom naked:

The master bathroom received a simple update and reorientation, which added a new bathtub and fixtures. They also updated the vanity, whose mirror slides to the side, permitting a view into the bedroom. "You have all sorts of possibilities for voyeurism in this house, which is exciting-depending on who your guests are," Dolce quips. "But usually it's just my mother."

[Real Estate and mother porn, in Dwell]

Tom Cruise's Bomb-Proof Car Also Repels Thetans

Ryan Tate — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:02:54 EST

Tom Cruise bought a special car to ward off anti-Scientology protesters and other agents of Xenu; Britney Spears can ward off the blues with the sari from her new boyfriend.

Tom Cruise drives around in a bomb-proof vehicle, supposedly, because he believes anti-Scientology protesters want to kill him. He also believes he is following in the footsteps of a Galactic Confederacy faction that rebelled against an alien tyrant named Xenu who ruled the galaxy for 82 trillion years. So maybe take his threat assessments with a grain of salt.
Here's Katie Holmes no longer looking like a zombie, although the Daily Mail's parenthetical is correct: "Shame about the shorts." [Mail]
Britney Spears is now rumored dating the Bollywood dancer who choreographed her Womanizer video, and who she met at a party thrown by Madonna. Supposedly they've already been to India. Spears was previously rumored to be alternately crushing hard on ex-husband Kevin Federline or ex-boyfriend-and-paparazzo Adnan Ghalib. [Mirror]
Former editor-from-hell Joe Dolce, now a flack, has taken on client-from-hell Heather Mills. This'll be fun! [P6]
Toby Young, who wrote that book about his stint at Vanity Fair, is trying to start a charter school in Britain. [WWD]
There's a big uproar in Britain because Prince Edward may have wacked one of his hunting dogs with his walking stick. The pheasant he shot dead could not be reached for comment. [Mail]
Rebecca Jarvis may owe her CNBC job to Donald Trump, but she has the good sense not to mention this publicly, except when absolutely necessary. [P6]
Drew Barrymore hooked up with Jason Segel, 28. But she's like 33, so whatever, right? What's with the cougar pawprint, X17? [X17]

Flack Pimps Business Via Huffington Post Column

Ryan Tate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:19:16 EDT

Oh, hey, look who got a blog or column or whatever on the Huffington Post — Joe Dolce! How convenient that is for the thoroughly obnoxious former Star editor, because it turns out his new PR business, shepherded into existence by patron and fellow sometime slimeball James Frey, is promising clients it can "guide you through the new media landscape — ensuring that the attention you receive is the attention you want." The HuffPo slot will surely prove useful in that regard! Or at least it will once Dolce and business partner Davidson Goldin scare up some clients. For now, Dolce appears to be using his column to do some ambitious prospecting. He suggests a "summit" between celebrities and paparazzi, which will never work, especially given who Dolce suggests might host it:

1. The paparazzi. It's time to establish some rules that when broken have some punitive consequences.

2. The Stars... Brad and Angelina could have taken a lesson from Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick¹s playbook. When their son, James, was born, they called every photo agency in New York and organized a photo shoot at the door of hospital as they were leaving. In one five-minute frenzy of flashes, everyone had the photo..

3. The magazines and the media... Movies advertise "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." How many celebrity weeklies and tv shows can say the same about the stars they feature? Let's invite heads of photo agencies, the stars' PR agents or the stars themselves, top magazine editors, TV execs and web producers to sit and talk (no paps outside, ok?). My agenda, if I were leading such a summit, would include...

Keep leveraging those awesome communication skills Joe!

[Huffington Post]

James Frey Rewards His Saviors

Ryan Tate — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:29:18 EDT

Fabricating memoirist James Frey earned a $1.5 million advance for his novel Bright Shiny Morning, and sales are strong. Now Frey is paying forward his riches from the book, and the money seems to be making a circle back toward the people who staged his comeback in the first place. Frey, the Post reported today, hired his wife's friend Davidson Goldin, former editorial director at MSNBC, to help with publicity on Bright Shiny Morning. Now flush, it would seem, with surplus cash, Goldin is starting a "media-strategy and branding consulting firm." And who did Frey steer to Goldin as a partner in this endeavor? Joe Dolce, the former Star magazine editor-in-chief famous for his poor management and communication skills. But there's a very relevant detail about Dolce and his relationship to Frey the Post omitted:

Dolce is connected to Frey not only through friendship, but also via the business dealings of his boyfriend and reported husband, John Burnham. As we mentioned in February, Burnham is the HarperCollins editor who "stunned" colleagues by inking the Bright Shiny Morning deal with Frey, thus delivering him a big payday.

How interesting that his life partner Dolce has now been brought onto the startup of someone recently paid by Frey.

This begs several questions the Post apparently did not ask, but should have: How much did Frey pay Goldin? How much money, if any, is Dolce investing in his "partnership" with Goldin? And how much money will Dolce be taking out?

The Post described Frey's involvement in the Dolce-Goldin partnership as merely an email introduction and suggestion to do business. But it's hard to look at all the money changing hands and backscratching going on here and not imagine that a kind of laundering is taking place, of Frey's reputation and social stature, certainly, but of the author's advance, as well. Frey's Bright Shiny Morning payday came under heavy, if expected, criticism, and Frey is carefully steering some of the money to at least one friend, Goldin, who in turn is helping other Frey friends.

This is an adroit move on the part of the disgraced writer, and is a big part of why Frey's life more and more has come to resemble the narrative arc in A Million Little Pieces, his faked autobiography: A public and almost pornographically brutal descent followed by rehabilitation and unlikely redemption.

Twelve-step meeting advice aside, sometimes that redemption can't be left entirely to a higher power. It has to be engineered, one relationship at a time.

[Post]

Publishing's Facebook Friendship of Convenience

Ryan Tate — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:14:06 EST

It turns out obnoxious former Star editor Joe Dolce and lying author James Frey, who became Facebook buddies on Valentine's Day, share more than just slimy backgrounds. Dolce's boyfriend and reported husband John Burnham was the "idiot" at HarperCollins who paid Frey more than $1 million for his forthcoming novel Bright Shiny Morning, one source reminded us. Should make for some fascinating Wall postings.

"Joe Dolce And James Frey Are Now Friends"

Ryan Tate — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:39:33 EST

When he was editor in chief of Star magazine, Joe Dolce would let nothing, not even a wedding, or journalistic ethics, keep him from telling a tawdry story. At least that was the idea, until Dolce found himself looking for a new job. A year later, Dolce has dusted himself off and taken the first critical step toward rehabilitating his image: becoming Facebook friends and, no doubt, lifetime soulmates with writer James Frey, another fallen purveyor of overaggressive, ethically-challenged "nonfiction." Dolce added the lying author of a Million Little Pieces to his friends list on Valentine's Day, which is just really sweet. Maybe he can convince Frey to accompany him on one of his travel-writing assignments — it's ethically challenged and everything, James! — and then learn the secret to profiting fabulously from infamy, as Frey did with the $2 million advance on his forthcoming novel.

Joe Dolce, Moral Compass

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:58:35 EST

Former Star editor and Jessica Coen enemy Joe Dolce is apparently knee-deep in some freelance Journalismism, writing a piece in Culture & Travel about a trip to Myanmar. There's not even any dead celebrities there! But there are some dead citizens once in a while, which has Joe "contemplating the ethics of traveling to a country with an oppressive regime." We can think of no one better to judge. [WWD]

Neither Alex Kuczynski Nor Michael Cunningham Can Spell

Emily Gould — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:40:30 EDT

At the cocktail party preceding the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses spelling bee last night, former Star editor Joe Dolce was rubbing up against cheetah-sheathed Page Six editor Paula Froelich. Was he here to spell, like Paula? "God no." He was here to cheer on his boy, HarperCollins VP Jonathan Burnham. Joe has been mostly occupied by cheering Jonathan on lately, though he hasn't been completely at loose ends during his year of unemployment: "I was working on a web-based project about design, but I had to pull back from it recently," he said, as a very tall, beautiful woman in a houndstooth skirt and enormous diamond earrings came up behind him and mischievously grinned at everyone. It was Alex Kuczynski, who has been described by this website as a "pervert," a "body modification expert," "somewhat plastically-reconstructed," a "facially-reconfigured semiotician," and most often, "Times rich lady beat reporter." "Hi Bunny!," she said. "I looove your bangs! You look like a person on the 'Brady Bunch'!" Did she mean Cousin Oliver? Whatever, totally charmed! Nikola Tamindzic documented this.

Ira Silverberg, the fun-loving literary agent who organized this event on behalf of the CLMP, thanked everyone for showing up to support the organization. The CLMP exists to help small presses and lit mags at a time of unprecedented "conglomeration in book publishing," he informed us.

Jonathan Burnham—former Miramax Books honcho!—nodded sagely.

Then Ira introduced the evening's MC, his husband Bob Morris, who has that column in the Times about being a crotchety gay who is annoyed by email and babies and stuff. Bob in turn introduced the bee's judge, OED editor Jesse Sheidlower, who is the very definition of geek hot.

"Jesse is the top in this relationship," Bob told us, in what was to be the first of many adorably supergay, but sort of eldergay, double-entendres of the evening.

Seriously, imagine an elementary school spelling bee crossed with some sort of outtake scene from "Tales of The City" and there you go.

Jonathan Burnham was first up. He aced "pergola." Easy! Especially because he is British.

Things were about to get much tougher, though. The author Colin Channer misspelled "millennium." Then Michael Cunningham ("one of the tallest and most beautiful men in this room, and also he won a Pulitzer!" per Bob) also misspelled millennium. Paula Froelich was up next, and she flubbed millennium too! This, however, might have been hara-kiri: "That's how we spell it at Page Six," she told the audience, and scampered out the door with her date. (He was cute.)

Alex Kuczynski and "Cancer Vixen" author Marisa Marchetto were both eliminated by the word "cappuccino."

"Do you think I need some Botox, Alex?" Marisa asked, before her losing turn. "Leave her alone, she's disgraced," Bob chided. Indeed!

For the rest of the evening, Alex sat in the losers' area, complaining loudly that the other contestants' words were too easy and generally heckling. Occasionally she would get up to bring her fellow losers fresh rounds of drinks. "I just got a drink for Michael Cunningham," she told me starstruckly as she breezed by in a cloud of delicious perfume.

Next to me, New York's Jesse Oxfeld observed that Alex smelled amazing. I wondered aloud what her perfume was. "Money," Jesse said, and then went back to caressing his handheld device.

It's true, Alex does have an awful lot of money. But author Meg Wolitzer has the title of CLMP Spelling Bee reigning champion, and what's really more important?

My Correspondence With Joel Stein And His Wife

Doree Shafrir — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:10:32 EDT

At the Time 100 gala a few months ago, I approached Joel Stein ("humorist," LA Times and Time columnist), whose relationship with this website has been, shall we say, tense, and introduced myself. Almost immediately, he asked why Gawker hates him. He said he "really wanted to know." He also said that his wife gets really upset when she reads Gawker and sees all the mean things people say about her DH. As we parted, I offered to send Joel and his wife a Gawker commenter invite. In the grand tradition of people leaving this place with a fuck-you to the people who, despite being total hacks, have managed to wrangle themselves a lucrative, high-profile job in journalism, I've decided to post our correspondence. Joel Stein, congratulations. You're my Joe Dolce.

Subject: Hi from Gawker
To: Joel Stein, Joel Stein's wife
Hi Joel,
Good talking to you last night. If you, or your wife, is interested in commenting on Gawker, sign up here:

==============================
==============
GAWKER COMMENTS INVITATION
Click this link (or paste into a browser) to accept the invitation:
[redacted]
============================================

Cheers,
Doree
From: Joel Stein's wife
Yeah. Like I'm going to fall into that trap, so that she/they can make fun of ME as well.
From: Joel Stein
You couldn't lay off me for one day? I did not almost kill David Hasselhoff. I swear.
I need to get a copy of that book.
Nice meeting you too. I hope to meet all the people who hate me individually. It will make a fine book.
Joel
From: Doree
Ah, can't wait!
You should meet Balk. He's the one who wrote the Hasselhoff thing.

Best,
Doree

You Suck, Trunzo! Bring Back Dolce!

Emily Gould — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 10:59:08 EDT

What's that unfamiliar face peering out at all us trashy housewives from the masthead of Star? Why, it's former Globe editor Candace Trunzo, who took over the reins from our beloved punching bag Joe Dolce on April 1st. How will Star be different under Candace's leadership? "I'm on a mission," she declares in her first editor's letter, promising "more celebrity news stories, more revealing must-see photos, more fun, more pop!" Oh boy! Unfortunately, when Candace says "more," she seems to mean "less" — her first Star contained only three Normal/Not Normals (there are usually at least five!) and only three "Worst of the Week" fashion violations! Even a particularly gruesome shot of Courtney Love's fresh lipo couldn't compensate. Bring us the trash we crave, Candy! You're veering dangerously close to In Touch territory here. —Emily

Media Bubble: Race For The, Uh, Prize?

abalk2 — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 10:27:25 EDT

Ron Burkle and Eli Broad top Sam Zell's bid for Tribune by a buck a share. Why do we feel like our grandchildren will still be awaiting resolution of this fucking story? [LAT]
Joe Dolce is a free man come May. Maybe now he can resume his career in the movie business! [NYP]
The only way to get people to watch "Dirt" is to show Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston lezzing out. [WWD]
How to write a Village Voice Media story. [ Alt-Weekly Death Watch]

Joe Dolce Is Not About Being Perfect

Emily Gould — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:20:51 EDT

The Nigella Lawson episode of the Food Network's Chefography series was a joy from start to finish. Did you know that Saatchi-wife Nigella basically only pals around with hilarious homos? Here, soon to be ex-Star editor in chief Joe Dolce (identified only as 'Nigella's friend') talks about the long words that Nigella has taught people, and gets in a dig at Martha Stewart.

Media Bubble: Go To Zell

abalk2 — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 09:51:19 EST

Real estate magnate Sam Zell will probably buy Tribune, which would be nice because it'll finally put an end to this fucking story. [LAT]
Alexandra Wallace, new executive producer of NBC's "Nightly News," promises better ratings, looks for places even more dangerous than Iraq to send Brian Williams. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Kurt Eichenwald is just a generous soul, and that's the story he's sticking with. [AP]
Absolute fucking genius designer Chip Kidd soils himself in our eyes [Ed. Note: Eww? In your eyes?] by working with Jann Wenner. [NYP]

Pulitzer Prize winner gets lands on Free Parking courtesy of story subject, does not pass go, does not collect $200. Cool! [Willamette Weekly]
Joe Dolce is a survivor. Bonnie Fuller? Remains to be seen. [Ibid]
This article on the advent of content ratings for new media in Britain contains the saddest photocredit we've ever seen. [Guardian]
NYT predicts 30% growth in 2007 online revenues. Also world peace, bigger cock, flying cars, etc. [MediaPost]
Black-hating dude somehow thinks playing the Tarantino card will make him more sympathetic. [Fox News]
Good news: If Jon Friedman is covering Ann Coulter, 46, it means her period of relevance is coming to an end. [Marketwatch]
[Image via]
Tom Brokaw snaps up the late Barbara Epstein's UWS pad, possibly for his daughter. [NYO]

Joe Dolce Sets The Record Gay

Emily Gould — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:48:46 EST

We're turning over a new leaf with poor soon-to-be unemployed Star editor Joe Dolce. True, the old regime here didn't get along with him, but we wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. So we called to ask him to confirm or deny the fake rumor (uh, that we started) about him getting into business with Judy Regan.

Ring ring! "This is Joe," Joe Dolce told us. He did sound a little like Tim Gunn! But he sounded like Tim Gunn congratulating a 5 year old for shitting on a Chanel dress. We liked him already!

We apologized a few dozen times for interrupting Joe in the middle of whatever important thing he was undoubtedly doing, and then launched immediately into our questioning. Were he and Judy really starting an lit agency called Free Agents?

"Anyone knows me knows that would not be a pairing that would work."

Uh, gee whiz. Why?

"I'll leave that to your readers. They can read between the lines."

So Judith Regan doesn't seem like a fun workmate?

(Pause.) "I've had many relationships with difficult women in my life. I'm not looking for more."

Oooh!

And then, after briefly chiding us for not Photoshopping his head bigger (but we made him so tall!), he was gone, leaving us only with memories and our giant collection of Star back issues to remember him by. Well, for now.

(Clarification: Joe called to correct us: he has had many relationships with difficult women, not many difficult relationships with women. He doesn't want anyone to think he is "a misogynist!")

What If Joe Dolce And Judith Regan Joined Forces?

Emily Gould — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:20:17 EST

So far this is only true in our minds. But with Judith Regan emerging from Remi on 53rd Street this afternoon, her highlights all ablaze, there's no way we couldn't think that some deal like this is in the works:

Today, former Star Editor in Chief Joe Dolce and former ReganBooks Editor in Chief Judith Regan announced the formation of their literary agency, Free Agents. The agency will provide "a voice for the voiceless," according to Regan: the kind of criminals and D-listers that dirty lit-man David Vigliano is actually too skeeved by. "I made the decision to represent these books, and to sit face to face with killers, because I wanted them, and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives. Amen," Regan said. Dolce said that they are currently looking for staffers to fill a few more positions at the nascent agency. "We're talking to Lloyd Grove, but I think something Judy said in the interview about "biting his dick off" might have thrown him," Dolce said.

Why I Did It By Judith Regan [NYP]

Earlier: Coverage of Joe
Coverage of Judy

HuffPo Takes Sides On Whole Crazy 'Ethics' Thing

abalk2 — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:40:58 EST

Huffington Post/Radarite Peter Hyman takes a look at how the Joe Dolce-out-at-Star story played out:

[W]e had heard rumblings that Dolce's axing was imminent on Wednesday, and were tempted to report on it. But prudence dictated, and we decided that a single blind source (who, as it turns out, was spot on) was not enough.

What all of this illustrates is the difference between blogs like Jossip, or Perez Hilton and a "news organization" such as Radar, the latter of which are held to higher standards, and need to report out rumors. Both serve their purposes, and we're not taking anything away from Jossip, but as Web 2.0 evovles, the difference between gossip blogging and actual reporting is becoming sharper. There is a distinction between speculating and breaking news. But it's a slippery slope, because this same freedom allows nimble players like Jossip and Gawker to loosen the cap on a lot of stories (and to challenge the bigger media institutions).

It's a fair point, and it does illustrate the difference: "news organizations" such as Radar will at least wait until someone forwards them the same memos we all get.

But we can't not appreciate the news-gathering sites: After all, without them would we have the story of the CNN sex fridge? We think not.

La Dolce (Not So) Vita: Analysis of an Axe-ing
Happy Valentine's Day, From The CNN Sex Fridge [ETP]

Joe Dolce: Arrivederci Asshat

abalk2 — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:06:01 EST

When a good friend departs the scene, it's only customary to sit back and reflect on the times you've shared together. Is there life for Joe Dolce after Star? Who knows! But good luck, Joe. We'll miss you. We're pretty sure you'll land on your feet. Until then, let's take a look back:

Earlier: Joe Dolce: Finita la Asshat Commedia
Joe Dolce: Asshat Takes the Cake
Joe Dolce: Methods of Asshattery
Joe Dolce: Interview With The Asshat
Joe Dolce: Portrait of an Asshat
Burning Bridges That Never Really Mattered: Joe Dolce Edition

Candace Trunzo Finally Rewarded For Naming Kobe Rape Accuser, Is Next Up Against Janice Min

Choire — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:57:23 EST

Former Globe editor-in-chief Candace Trunzo has been appointed editor of Star. Most famous for naming Kobe Bryant's sexual assault accuser in 2003 on that mag's front page, Trunzo replaces long-time Gawker enemy Joe Dolce. She'll take her fight against Janice Min's Us Weekly to the streets beginning April 1.

New Editor at Star Magazine! [Radar]

Jonathan Burnham: "Industry Star," or Just Industrious 'Star'f*cker?

Emily Gould — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:20:00 EST

Joe Dolce's boyfriend has been a favorite of New York's forevs, but even we were a little shocked to see the Best/Worst issue venture so far up his ass as to create a category for him: "Industry Star." According to Boris Kachka,

With Miramax Books in turmoil in 2005, it surprised no one that founding publisher Jonathan Burnham decided to go his own way. But most expected him to spin off one of those personality-based imprints (like Jonathan Karp's Warner Twelve). Instead he became publisher of the flagship division at HarperCollins, a many-tentacled behemoth better known for celebrity tell-alls than high literature. So what's he doing under the same Murdochian tent as Judith Regan? Making Harper more respectable, for one thing.

Hmm, so he's been classing up the joint, eh? One industry insider begs to differ:

That little bit about Jonathan Burnham in this week's NY Mag is egregious. Michael Cader only linked to it and mentioned the books in Pub Lunch, but he didn't point out the ridiculousness of describing and dismissing HarperCollins as a house that was primarily known for celeb books, and needing Jonathan to pull it out of the gutter. With editors like Terry Karten, Hugh Van Dusen, and until he retired, Larry Ashmead (just to name a few, and putting aside Harper's illustrious but more distant past), Harper has published-since the 80-s and to the present-authors such as Louise Erdrich, Isabel Allende, Thomas Moore, Howard Zinn, Michael Dorris, Vikram Seth, Barbara Kingsolver, Simon Winchester, FROM DAWN TO DECADENCE by Jacques Barzun (a NBA finalist), and Herbert Bix's HIROHITO AND THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN, which won a NBCC and a Pulitzer Prize. And these are just the ones I can remember, and none of them had a thing to do with Jonathan Burnham. Frankly, if he has any class at all, he'll write a letter to NY Mag himself to correct the record-I mean, these are his editors that NY Mag has insulted.

In case our tipster lost you somewhere around "egregious," we'll translate: Harper Collins has always been plenty classy, and publishing Anderson Cooper's bio shouldn't give Burnham any respectability bonus points. Hiss! Scandal! Think he'll write that letter to the editor?

Best In Books [NYMag]