The Twitter Song Is Media Thing of The Year
In your monstrous Monday media column: TWITTERTWITTERTWITTER, a German plan to save newspapers, the shockingly democratized Portfolio.com, and Chicago sports writer wars. TWITTERTWITTERTWITTER.
Fallen Portfolio Editor Joanne Lipman's Self-Serving Feminism Screed: 9/11, Sissies, Etc.
Remember Portfolio? The nearly stillborn Conde publication's fallen editor Joanne Lipman's back, with an editorial for Sunday's Times entitled "The Mismeasure Of Woman," where she argues that feminism's stalled out. Great, except: it's inaccurate, intellectually offensive, and gratingly pompous.
Maer Roshan's New Secret Project Located In Sunnier Climate
In your tanned Wednesday media column: Maer Roshan is up to something in LA, Portfolio('s picture) gets a new life, the NYT mag has a new, pretentious slogan, and booty skills translate between magazines.
Zombie Portfolio.com Is Here
Portfolio is dead and buried, but Portfolio.com is back! "I like to think of us as just undead," says the site's very own zombie editor. Will it be good? Maybe!
Dead Magazine Replaced With Dead Magazine
This is what happens when magazines die too fast. Conde Nast folded Men's Vogue last October. But don't worry, Men's Vogue subscribers! We're hooking you up with a subscription to Portfolio. Wait.
NBC, The Boston Globe, Reader's Digest & Go-Karting
• It's been two years since Ben Silverman became co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. And what a two years it's been, huh? [LAT]
• The largest union at the Boston Globe will vote on a new contract on July 20, even though it's yet to iron out a deal with the New York Times Co. [BG]
• Reader's Digest's plan to remain…
Kitschy Portfolio Cufflinks Will Save the Media
Some brash "can-do" entrepreneur is selling a historic pair of ugly Portfolio cufflinks bearing the nonsensical slogan "Linking Business and Pleasure," which describes "Gossip" much better than "Portfolio" or "cufflinks." Please use this priceless item for the good of mediakind!
Resurrections, Meltdowns & Frenemies
• Portfolio isn't over and done with, after all: An affiliate of Condé Nast—based in Charlotte, weirdly—plans to revive the magazine's website. [NYO]
• Josh Marshall has accepted Maureen Dowd's apology for swiping some of his copy; and Dowd's new column today is Marshall-free, thankfully. [TPM, NYT]
• Upfronts 2009:…
Portfolio May Rise Again! In North Carolina
Conde Nast sunk $100 million into Portfolio before it folded last month. Why let all that brand value go to waste? Why not move the whole operation down South, for maximum fall-from-grace effect [UPDATED below]?
Lady Layoffs at Men's Journal?
In your cloudy Monday media column: Rumors of woman-centric layoffs at Men's Journal, Warren Buffett gives up on newspapers, Newsweek goes through "the change," job moves galore, and more!:
The Times Backs Down, Wolverine's Big Weekend
• Tense negotiations over proposed budget cuts continue between the New York Times Co. and unions that represent workers at the Boston Globe; in the meantime, the Times has postponed plans to shut down the paper. [NYT, WSJ]
• Another way the Times is planning to rake in some much needed cash: It may raise newsstand…
All Joanne Lipman Knows Is It Wasn't Her Fault
What's deposed Portfolio editor Joanne Lipman been up to since her magazine folded, besides lying about not reading this website? Partying, vacation planning, and blaming others!
Magazine Award Winners, Hollywood's Best Year Ever
• Esquire, The New Yorker, Backpacker, and Wired were all big winners at last night's National Magazine Awards, although the mood was much more subdued this year, not surprisingly. [ NYT, WWD, NYP]
• Portfolio's Joanne Lipman reflects on what went wrong. [Newsweek]
• Hollywood might be on track for its best year ever…
Joanne Lipman's Dream That Could Not Be
A year before Portfolio's launch, the magazine produced mock-ups, obtained by the New York Observer. The titles are awful, but the cover lines reveal a compelling vision editor Joanne Lipman couldn't pull off.
Marriage in Hollywood, A New Boss at USA Today
• William Morris and Endeavor have agreed to merge the two agencies. The new company will be called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, or WME, which should not be confused with WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment, although the testosterone and aggression levels are comparable. [WSJ, NYT]
• Is the New York Times…
Tina Brown Terrified That Burning Money Now Frowned Upon
When Tina Brown looks at the closure of Portfolio, she must worry for her future. Publications are now expected to turn a profit? Time for the notorious spendthrift to panic.
Inside Fort Polio: A Former Staffer on What Went Wrong
Paul Smalera, a Portfolio staff writer who was laid off before it shut down today, argues that it was hubris and an obstinate editor — not the economy — that doomed Conde Nast's business mag.
All the Suckers in the World Can't Save Newspapers
In your bitter Monday media column: Newspaper circulation predictably declines, Martha Stewart is predictably scared of us, old people predictably get conned by media hustlers, and Portfolio's unpredictable burn rate:
The End of Portfolio, Newspaper Circulation Falls
• More on the decision by Condé Nast to shut down Portfolio. [NYO, Gawker]
• Newspaper circulation figures for the past six months show steep declines at most major papers, including the Times, Post, and Daily News. One bright spot: the Wall Street Journal, which experienced a tiny, 0.6% gain. [E&P]
• Phil Falcone's…
