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new york times
Why Is Arthur Sulzberger Getting Divorced?
The New York Times publisher and his wife Gail Gregg said their decision to divorce was "amicable"—which nobody believes. Divorces are never amicable. There's no information beyond the statement, buried on a Friday afternoon: even the Post, which would normally relish the opportunity to embarrass the liberal snobs at the Times, left the story alone. So here's some speculation from the gossip mill to fill the vacuum. 1. " I always just assumed a guy who still carried around a stuffed moose was either a plushie or a furry and therefore not interested in vaginal sex," says one gossip. 2. Given the Times' lackluster share price under Sulzberger's rule, and collapsing advertising revenues, the motives could have been financial. "She probably wants a divorce while he's still worth something." 3. Most likely: the younger girlfriend. Sulzberger and his wife, both 56, have been married for 33 years. Anyone know who the new model is?
personalities
Rogue Doodler May Be Drawing You Now
25-year-old sketch artist Jason Polan has an unachievable goal: to draw every person in New York. He moved here from Michigan, and was seized by the desire to capture all of us—you, me, Graydon Carter—in quick, vague line drawings. So far he has "a couple hundred sketches," which means that, assuming a static city population of 8 million and a generous rate of 50 sketches per day, fives days a week, Jason will be finishing his project up in a little more than 615 years. If you like, you can email him and tell him where you're going to be at a certain time and he'll show up and sketch you. Cute, but not really doing wonders for your time efficiency, Jason. After the jump, a few samples of his work. At least he's quick! More »
cablevision
Uncomfortable Family Psychodrama Purchases 'Newsday'
Rupert Murdoch's secret, sneaky plan to destroy Long Island tabloid Newsday: let a dysfunctional company buy it for more money. Cablevision purchased the paper for $650 million and Murdoch withdrew his bid this weekend. Now, everyone is a bit confused. Because Cablevision owns many odd things, but none of them have been newspapers up til now. "The Newsday bid had the backing of both Charles Dolan, who founded the company, and his son James L. Dolan, the chief executive," the Times reports, even though generally the Dolans hate each other and disagree about everything. And according to witnesses of the meetings between the Dolans and former Newsday owner Sam Zell, the "tension between the two has been obvious." As have the tensions between Cablevision and its shareholders. Because Cablevision is a company that does one thing quite well and everything else quite poorly. More »
The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis
Former 'WSJ' Editor Notes Rupert's 'Dark Side'
Former Wall Street Journal managing editor Paul Steiger was tapped to write News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch's profile in Time's "100 Most Influential People" feature. So what does Steiger, who retired from the Journal last year after handing it over to Murdoch—who is evil—think of the media baron? More »
print is dead
Former Newspaper Editor: Stop Caring About Newspapers
Tim McGuire used to edit the Minneapolis Star & Tribune. Now he gives cranky speeches about journalism. He recently told the Northwest International Circulation Executives that they have to "make their own sandwiches," which is maybe code for something. Or maybe literal! He goes on to say that thousands of newspapers will soon die but let's not worry about it, they were weak and deserved to go. Also: Thomas Friedman wrote a "tremendously important book" so you really don't have to take anything he says seriously. [McGuire on Media via Romenesko]
belated finds
The World's First Electronic Newspaper Display
Maybe there is a future after all for newspaper front pages, and mammoth articles that stretch across six columns. Japan's Bridgestone recently unveiled an e-ink display which can display a broadsheet page in actual size. There's only one hitch: the text and graphics take 15 painful seconds to appear. So 100-word charticlets it is then.
shouters
The Loudest Mouth At The New York Times?
This week Susan Edgerley, an assistant managing editor, is answering questions from the public on the New York Times' website. Her job, according to her, is "to listen to the career aspirations of the people in the newsroom and help them realize them," and to help the paper integrate its web and print operations more closely. But according to a tipster with a grudge, Edgerley's real title at the Times should be Shouter-In-Chief!: More »
cartoons
US Newspapers Remembered As Cowards
Flemming Rose, the Danish newspaper editor responsible for publishing the controversial Muhammad cartoons that caused a global Muslim fundamentalist uproar in 2006—and which still threaten the life of one of the artists, who has been condemned by Osama Bin Laden— has a message for all the American papers that refused to publish pictures of the cartoons even as they were writing news stories about them: thanks a lot, pussies. More »
blind item guessing game
Who Is 219west?
Our hard-partying reporter has no trouble finding bedmates among his media colleagues, but he plays fratboy when trawling for one-night stands on the notorious Manhunt. "I'm a writer, runner, ex-football player and Zeta Psi brother, bar-hopper, people-watcher—and I'm a blast," he writes. There's nothing that shocking in the profile: he lists the usual menu of kinky gay sex; and he's not the only person to have been caught out with an online ad. Here's the mystery: this journalist is on the biggest and most sensitive story of his career, and he's been rooting around in other people's personal lives. How on earth does he have time to trawl gay hookup sites? And why would he leave so many clues as to his real identity when he's so much in the public eye?
advertising
Economy's Innocent Victims: Weird Ads
Sure, the current dicey economic climate has reduced America to nation of terrified food hoarders. But more importantly, it has cost us some of our annoying and unnecessarily strange advertising icons: Applebee's Wanda Sykes-voiced talking apple, and a bunch of guys running around in bizarre red pigtail wigs on behalf of Wendy's. Take a moment to mourn them. "Both campaigns were meant to attract younger diners," the Times reports. But they failed, because kids aren't doing as many drugs these days, I guess. The companies' new advertising strategy? "Hey, look at our food." More »
new york times
David Carr Was A 'Fulminating Crackhead'
David Carr is a charming and competent media reporter, commuting to the New York Times from bourgeois Montclair where he lives with wife Jill and three children. But once he was in his own words a fulminating crackhead. Here's a sample from his forthcoming addiction memoir, obtained by Daily Intel: "Both of us were chronically, psychotically high, and I was spending all of my time lifting the blinds and peeking out at a world that I was increasingly scared to venture into."
trendbusting
Steampunk
Steampunk! According to the NYT's Thursgay Styles, it's a "subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives." They describe steampunkers as fusspots with a taste for gaslight-era style: "he owns a flat-screen television, but he has modified it with a burlap frame. He uses an iPhone, but it is encased in burnished brass." But steampunk's been around for a while, of course. Despite the length of the piece, glossed over is the fact that this hot new movement started with a book called the Difference Engine—in 1990! More »
new york times
At Easy-Going New Times, Experts Don't Need To Be Real
There are several ways for reporters to sneak opinion into the supposedly hallowed news pages of the New York Times. The opinion can be dressed up as a "point of view"—which is different, somehow, executive editor Bill Keller recently explained in an interview with the newspaper's public editor. Or, in time-honored fashion, the reporter can simply find an academic or other expert to parrot the sentiment. But there's a third way: don't bother finding a real authority, which is so tiring; just make up the source, as the newspaper's John Broder just did, in today's article on Hillary Clinton's bitter-ender campaign: "A pop psychologist might say that Mrs. Clinton was showing symptoms of denial or of being divorced from reality, but she has said for months that she will not quit as long as there remains a mathematical possibility that she could capture the nomination."- Previously: Why the Times should abandon the news-opinion divide
Times Forced Out 15, Faces Grievance
The Post's Keith Kelly has been keeping close watch on the Times' recently-completed cull of 100 editorial staffers. He puts the number pushed out involuntarily at 15. Meanwhile the Newspaper Guild has filed a grievance over the way the cuts were carried out, and offered to negotiate better severance for older laid-off newsroom employees.
newspapers
When Microsoft's bid for Yahoo fell through, hotshot reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin produced a scathing analysis of the deal-making skills of the Redmond software giant's boss, Steve Ballmer. 'Microsoft has tried to spin its reversal as a show of “discipline” and “self-control.” But what it really shows — painfully — is Mr. Ballmer’s indecisiveness about this deal.' Ouch! And fun! But you won't find Bill Keller and his fellow editors boasting about Sorkin's punchiness: because they're still in denial about the blurring of news and opinion, and so much else.
More »
Why The Times Should Abandon The News-Opinion Divide
When Microsoft's bid for Yahoo fell through, hotshot reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin produced a scathing analysis of the deal-making skills of the Redmond software giant's boss, Steve Ballmer. 'Microsoft has tried to spin its reversal as a show of “discipline” and “self-control.” But what it really shows — painfully — is Mr. Ballmer’s indecisiveness about this deal.' Ouch! And fun! But you won't find Bill Keller and his fellow editors boasting about Sorkin's punchiness: because they're still in denial about the blurring of news and opinion, and so much else.
More »
crusades
Starbucks Doesn't Have Any God Damn Lemons
Denver Post columnist Al Lewis is on a crusade. A cranky Starbucks crusade! "How 'bout a slice of lemon to go with that $2.10 iced tea?" he asks, rhetorically. Because there is no lemon! Other places, they give you lemons. But fancy-schmancy Starbucks? No lemons. Don't blame Al Lewis. He's written (multiple) columns! He's sent his concerns all the way up the chain to the CEO! And now he knows why Starbucks' stock has lost half its value in a year: because they can't get Al Lewis a freakin' slice of lemon: More »
journalismism
