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rumormonger

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rumormonger

First Signs Of Media Recession?

1:45 PM on Thu May 8 2008
By Nick Denton
467 views, 6 comments

Latest by Smitros: At first I read "entrails" of Elle. Then my hopes were dashed. more »

rumormonger

No One Dies In Sex And The City Movie

So, this one time, actress Cynthia Nixon supposedly said a character would die in the Sex And The City movie, and since then everyone has been champing at the bit to find out which one. But the Times just profiled the head writer for the show and movie, and he mocked the idea of killing off a character. Although, in a way, he is killing someone, Carrie and Mr. Big's parents to be precise, by writing them out of Carrie and Mr. Big's wedding, because, he says, having parents at weddings is so cliché. The relevant quotes about the death and about the wedding: More »

1:11 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Ryan Tate
3,767 views, 25 comments

Latest by Zorica: @spanktastic: *throws down glove* Mikhail Baryshnikov is a one of my personal demi-gods, and I cannot allow his old crusty honor to go undefended. I would so go back to 1977 for him. + Watch video more »

TV Guide Anyone have news on the bloodshed at TV Guide in the wake of the merger of its parent company? We're hearing editor-in-chief Ian Birch, executive editor Steve Sonsky and managing editor Lois Draegin have all been dismissed from the TV listings magazine, but no confirmation. Email tips.

13 comments

rumormonger

Might Murdoch Skip A Generation At Wall Street Journal?

At a farewell party last week, some Journal staffers bitched that Marcus Brauchli, the managing editor pushed out by the paper's new owners, had sold his silence for a generous severance package. "It was disgusting," one told David Carr of the New York Times. But there was some more intriguing scuttlebutt from the event. Brauchli's predecessor Paul Steiger was overheard saying that Rupert Murdoch's lieutenants were looking externally for a replacement atop the newspaper. The name Steiger mentioned: Andrew Ross Sorkin, the Times' blue-eyed mergers and acquisitions correspondent. More »

4:25 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Nick Denton
3,742 views, 21 comments

Latest by Nick Denton: By the way, Secret Diary of Steve Jobs makes a good point. The Journal dissenters are disgusted that Brauchli won't speak out against Murdoch. But they themselves will only talk off the record, to Carr. "Curiously, however, those brave Journal hacks more »

rumormonger

Journal Withholds Journal News... Again

Reporters at News Corp.'s The Wall Street Journal had a story all written and ready to go on the ousting of managing editor Marcus Brauchli, but were forced by Journal higher-ups to sit on it, a source at the paper tells us. That decision resulted in the paper getting scooped on its own news. Granted, covering your own news organization is a tricky business, but you'd think Brauchli would have learned his lesson last year when he held back breaking news regarding News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch's initial move to take over the paper, and got scooped on the news by CNBC, leading to an investigation. More »

1:34 PM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By ian spiegelman
1,019 views, 5 comments

Latest by howdydoo: Let's move on from this ouster to the next: Which of Brauchli's lieutenants and lower-level bureau chiefs are now set to be shown the door? There. Will. Be. Blood. more »

rumormonger

Journal Held Back Journal News... Again

Reporters at News Corp.'s The Wall Street Journal had a story about the ousting of managing editor Marcus Brauchli all ready to go in advance of his departure, but were ordered by Journal higher-ups to sit on it, according to a source at the paper. That decision, of course, led to the paper getting scooped on its own story. Granted, covering your own news organization is a tricky business. But you'd think they would have learned from making the same wrong move last year when they first got involved with News Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch. More »

1:21 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By ian spiegelman
59 views, Comment

rumormonger

Convincing Graydon Carter Imitator Writing Waverly Inn Blog

It's fun to imagine Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter personally typing up the VF blog for his restaurant Waverly Inn. Launched by an anonymous author in January, the journal does have an air of middle-aged confidence about it, as in this bit about restaurant manager Emil Varda turning on a dime to face a demanding celebrity: "Old habits die hard; a former occupant of a Polish prison camp for political dissenters, Emil has mastered the protective, cat-quick pivot." Alas, we hear the author of the blog is not Carter, but rather someone close to him: More »

8:27 PM on Wed Apr 2 2008
By Ryan Tate
1,143 views, 11 comments

Latest by chickenjungle: "An air of middle-aged confidence..." ?? Really ? Well, let's see now-- I have "bits" about Emil Varda mastering the arts of Plebeian Disdain, Hostess Massage, and Browbeating Til You Want to Punch Him Right in the Fucking Face. What sort more »

rumormonger

An Untimely Embarrassment For Barry Diller

Could Barry Diller's Fi Life, a misconceived financial portal for young investors, already be in trouble? Several journalists who joined the outfit, a joint venture between Diller's IAC and Dow Jones, are said to be scrambling for new jobs. (Email if you have details.) The project involved Dave Kansas, a veteran of online financial news with a jinx; partnerships between big media conglomerates usually work better as cocktail party fantasy than they do as actual businesses; and Rupert Murdoch, who acquired Dow Jones last year, prefers full control. So Fi Life was obviously doomed. But one would have thought Diller, who's in a Delaware court fighting for control of his internet conglomerate, would want to arrange a more elegant unwinding.

2:49 PM on Mon Mar 17 2008
By Nick Denton
715 views, 4 comments

Latest by soiheard: @narnio: agree. where's the proof? i'm sure this is having trouble for obvious reasons...but what about all the other IAC-funded startups? more »

Rumormonger Anyone have an internal email confirming the closure of Genre? We've had a couple of tips, and the newspaper's editors aren't taking calls. (The only people mourning the moribund gay title's demise, apart from the staff, will be the strippers of all sexes who have benefited from the generosity of proudly pan-sexual editor, Neal Boulton.) Update: Damn. False alarm. Boulton, a special friend of Rolling Stone supremo Jann Wenner, writes in to say Genre is walking taller and stronger than ever before. (Don't push it, mate.)
This is the problem with blog responses. They set aflame raging rumours. Genre is NOT only NOT closing, but it is experiencing record growth, the addition of a new bright team of staffers, as well as an increase in circulation, and advertisers across many key categories. What's more, Genre, unlike it's competitors, who seem to be staggering around the competitive set looking for help, is walking taller and stronger than ever before. Mark my words: Genre will be an irrepressible force in publishing, so stay tuned!

123 comments

rumormonger

Birthday Gifts Encouraged

Flak-cum-designer Jonathan Cheban is throwing a party in Miami for his upcoming 32nd birthday. Could he really be encouraging guests to buy gifts off a list? The unconfirmed rumor: that Cheban, a friend of B-list celebrities like Nicole Richie, is registered at Barney's. Undying gratitude to anyone who can send us a screenshot, or a link.

12:33 PM on Thu Feb 14 2008
By Nick Denton
967 views, 15 comments

rumormonger

The Missing Three Minutes

The New York Post claimed yesterday that police were looking to interview Mary-Kate Olsen about the death of her friend, Australian actor Heath Ledger. Police spokespeople and the tabloid's competitors, including Gawker, may have been too quick to rubbish the line of inquiry. Today, The Post ups the pressure with a set of questions unanswered the hard-partying actress: "Why did she send her bodyguards to the scene? Why didn't she tell the masseuse who found Ledger's body to call 911? Why did she think her security guards could help in a medical emergency?" But there's more: an eyewitness account to be published in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph, in Australia, claims Mary-Kate Olsen's bodyguards entered Heath Ledger's building three minutes before the arrival of paramedics at 3.33pm, not simultaneously, as previously reported. Which begs another question. The police discovered a wide array of prescription drugs in the Brokeback star's apartment, but no illegal substances. Would Olsen's bodyguards have had time, or instructions, to remove any embarrassing evidence? (TMZ.com sources still maintain police were present at all times one of Olsen's bodyguards was present. Hunh?)

8:04 PM on Sat Jan 26 2008
By Nick Denton
5,140 views, 72 comments

Latest by CaptainFantastic: @VoxPopuli: I believe the report was that no illegal drugs were found on the $20 bill. That leads me to think that prescription drugs were being snorted, possibly to get around the time-release aspect of the drug chemistry. more »

rumormonger

Tipster: FBI Agents Seek Judith Regan

Anyone else hearing that FBI showed up to the McGraw-Hill building in Manhattan looking for Judith Regan? The Feds thought the controversial publishing impresario would be at the Sirius office, in the 6th Avenue skyscraper, for her Wednesday appearance on the satellite radio network, according to a tipster. But the show is pre-taped on Tuesday, so she wasn't there. The FBI agents told the Sirius receptionist they were sending a team to Regan's house as well. What on earth would they be looking for? More »

4:42 PM on Wed Jan 23 2008
By Nick Denton
2,893 views, 18 comments

Latest by web_mom: Even money that Gawker's sightings could get her quicker than the FBI. more »

rumormonger

Bill Clinton And Gina Gershon

The Wall Street Journal, in the newspaper's excellent investigation into the ties between Bill Clinton and Ron Burkle, explains why the former president is disentangling himself from the supermarket billionaire, as Gawker mentioned last month. Clinton will put some distance between his wife, the leading Democratic candidate in 2008, and politically toxic associates of the Yucaipa owner such as the Sheikh of Dubai and the official Chinese news agency. But is that all? More »

4:05 PM on Wed Jan 23 2008
By Nick Denton
21,461 views, 40 comments

rumormonger

Where Did Condé Nast's 'New Media' Exec Run Off To?

We're hearing that Condé Nast Media Group senior vice president Amy Churgin, who was in charge of new media, left the publishing company in a bit of a hurry last week. She's bounced around there a bit this year, spending just seven weeks last winter as the publisher of the group's Gourmet after a seven-year stint at Architectural Digest. Know anything else? Let us know.

4:38 PM on Thu Jan 17 2008
By Maggie
1,475 views, 9 comments

rumormonger

Longtime 'Interview' Editor Ingrid Sischy Out At Magazine

Is this the end of days? We're hearing that Interview editrix Ingrid Sischy left the title yesterday. She was a downtown publishing fixture, if a minor one, known mainly for her famous friends from an earlier New York era, like Robert Mapplethorpe, Calvin Klein, Elton John and the Versaces. True to the mission of the magazine, she interviewed them at length, often at excessive length. More background, after the jump. More »

2:45 PM on Thu Jan 10 2008
By Maggie
3,017 views, 28 comments

rumormonger

Funny Or Die

There's one interesting angle to the sighting in Las Vegas of Julia Allison, Star Magazine's talking head, with Mark Kvamme. The Silicon Valley venture capitalist is the main backer of Funny Or Die, the comedy site co-founded by Will Ferrell; and Julia Allison's said to be pitching her own show. Related? One hopes not. The former sex columnist's humor, despite all her other talents, is usually inadvertent. Allison would be better off choosing a platform in which the options — be funny, or die — are less stark.

11:24 AM on Wed Jan 9 2008
By Nick Denton
5,254 views, 92 comments

Latest by econdave: @raincoaster: I could make a joke about beating off the Deadspin commenters (I'm one myself), but I'll refrain from stooping that low. more »

Kliger's Rat Overlords We wish Jack Kliger happiness in his forthcoming marriage. Because the Hachette boss' job certainly isn't much fun. The magazine group's titles, such as Elle, are mostly also-rans; and the 60-year-old publishing veteran is both starved of funds by the company's French owners, and second-guessed by agents of head office. "I'd heard the French were rats," he's known to complain. "But now I know." This might be the opportunity for the magazine exec to spend more time with the family.

3 comments

rumormonger

Fleet Street Editors To Take Over New York Tabs?

Oh dear. Could it be that not one but two new British tabloid editors (insert obligatory Denton joke here) are coming across the pond? Over at Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, Keith Kelly is reporting that the Daily News has been wooing Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace for the better part of a year. We're also hearing that Rebekah Wade, editor of the Sun, Murdoch's other tab, is the heir apparent to truculent Post editor Col Allan. Of course, this could also be complete crap or a conflation of the facts—two Fleet Streeters (with the same initials—conspiracy!) headed to New York's tabbies at the very same time? Both of whom have pretty pretty hair? Not possible. Possible? You tell us. More »

12:27 PM on Fri Jan 4 2008
By Maggie
803 views, 14 comments

Latest by GothamTomato: Rebekah Wade can come as long as she brings her hubby, Ross Kemp, with her. more »