Browse FishbowlNY April 2007 archives - FishbowlNY

Christopher Hitchens: Va. Tech Shootings A ‘Non-Story’

Dylan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:55:49 +0000

Virginia Tech was a “non-story,” no more important than news of a “traffic accident.” Magazine editors should be ashamed of themselves for not publishing the Danish cartoons. Anna Nicole was a “fat slut.” Religion “poisons everything.”

Oh, and women? They still aren’t funny.

Some words of wisdom offered by Vanity Fair contributing editor, author, National Magazine Award finalist and newly-ordained American citizen Christopher Hitchens at the American Society of Magazine Editors’ annual board meeting/luncheon at the Princeton Club this afternoon in New York.

Hitchens, politely grilled by Slate editor Jacob Weisberg, sounded off on everything from Imus to Saddam to George Tenet in front of a roomful of magazine editors, but his comments about the slain Virginia Tech students seemed to be the most provocative.

“Virginia Tech is a non-story,” said the British-born Hitchens, who said he took his oath as a U.S. citizen earlier in the day. “There were no implications” of anything bigger, explained Hitchens, who compared the shootings to a “traffic accident.” When one editor suggested the massacre pushed gun control to the forefront of the American conversation, Hitchens argued that the laws in Virginia were adequate — shooting people is already illegal, Hitchens said.

Weisberg suggested Hitchens — whose latest book, god is not great: How Religion Poisons Everything is out tomorrow — was a provacateur; Hitchens bristled. As a journalist, your job is to “take nothing on faith,” he said.

When asked about his controversial piece in which Hitchens argued women are not funny, he pointed to male friends who “would not have a prayer of getting laid without being amusing.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Daily News Claims Victory Over Post

Dylan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:54:22 +0000

The latest newspaper circulation numbers are out, and the Daily News wasted little time in claiming victory over its arch-rival Post in New York-area circulation, which the News defines as “31 counties in the New York metropolitan area,” topping the Post by 60,000 copies. Despite the grim state of the industry, both the Post and Daily News posted overall circ gains.

The Wall Street Journal and (#2 nationwide) and USA Today (#1) were the only other two newspapers to post percentage gains in the top 10. The New York Times (#3) dropped roughly two percent.

The Post, though, still holds a razor-thin lead on the Daily News in overall circulation. The News‘ proclamation comes six months after the last circ report, when the Post blasted a historic headline after it surpassed the News for the first time.

Still, it’s a weird time to claiming any sort of victory, considering how grim the industry’s overall numbers appear. Circulation for the Star Ledger and Newsday, for instance, dropped plunged six percent.

The top 25:

1. USA TODAY 2,278,022; (+0.23%)
2. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2,062,312; (+0.61%)
3. NEW YORK TIMES, 1,120,420; (-1.93%)
4. LOS ANGELES TIMES, 815,723; (-4.24%)
5. NEW YORK POST, 724,748; (+7.63%)
6. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, 718,174; (+1.37%)
7. WASHINGTON POST, 699,130; (-3.47%)
8. CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 566,827; (-2.12%)
9. HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 503,114; (-2.00%)
10. ARIZONA REPUBLIC 433,731; (-1.14%)

continued…

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Fox & Friends Reports Fake Story As News

Noah Davis — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:13:21 +0000

The real story: Caucasian students at Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Maine left a ham steak on a cafeteria table to offend Somali teens.

The fake story: An article on Associated Content, a site of user-generated content, reported that L-town students put a ham sandwich on the table to anger the Somalis. The story included humorous made-up quotes from superintendent Leon Levesque and Stephen Wessler, the executive director of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence.

Fox News then aired at least eight segments referencing Associated Content’s article.

On Tuesday, Fox & Friends reported these parody quotes and details as actual news. Poking fun at the students, hosts asked whether ham was “a hate crime… or lunch?” and showed screen shots of ham sandwiches, starving Somalians, belching, animal noises, and mock “reenactments” of the incident. Ironically, the hosts assured viewers several times, “We’re not making this up!”

“Fair and Balanced” for sure — even if it’s fake.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New York Times Building Sold: $525 Million

Noah Davis — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:30:36 +0000

Tishman Speyer is selling the NYT‘s old building on 43rd street to Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev for about $525 million, almost three times what the former company paid for the spot in 2004.

Unrelated to the sale, the paper is moving down the street to a beautiful new skyscraper. Sounds like a pretty good trade to us.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Rosie’s Options | Why Bloomberg Can’t Be President | Zinczenko’s Bright Star | Howard Stern On Imus | Stealing From Radar

Noah Davis — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:10:04 +0000

Where Will Rosie: Land? [NYP]
Bloomberg For President: Will “never happen.” [The Week]
The Z Man: Takes over New York media. [Marketwatch]
Shock Jock: Glad Imus is gone. [[Daily Intel]
Did A Chilean Mag: Steal Radar‘s “Toxic Bachelor” story? [NYT]

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Media Events: 04.30.07

Dylan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:00:30 +0000

Parties, panels and other notable media gatherings

MONDAY 04.30.07

WHO: Don Cheadle and John Prendergast
WHAT: Not on Our Watch: A Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond
WHEN: 7:00PM
WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 33 E 17th St
WHY YOU SHOULD GO: Co-written by A-list actor Cheadle and activist Prendergast, the book takes yet another long hard look at the crisis in the Sudan and gives ideas for how you can get involved. And yes, because Don Cheadle rules.

WHO: David Ortiz
WHAT: Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits, book signing
WHEN: 12:00PM
WHERE: Barnes & Noble, 555 Fifth Avenue
WHY YOU SHOULD GO: Big Papi? Book-signing? In New York? Perfect.

Events Listings [mediabistro.com]

Post Your Own Event

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Times To Boycott White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Dylan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:13:18 +0000

Frank Rich let a cat out of the bag in the 13th paragraph of his Sunday op-ed:

After last weekend’s correspondents’ dinner, The Times decided to end its participation in such events. But even were the dinner to vanish altogether, it remains but a yearly televised snapshot of the overall syndrome. The current White House, weakened as it is, can still establish story lines as fake as “Mission Accomplished” and get a free pass.

No word on other media outlets (somehow, we doubt Fox News is going to put the kibosh on coverage, even though C-SPAN televises it). But if next year’s host is Rich Little again, the entire press corps would be smart to follow the Times‘ lead.

EARLIER:

A Year After Colbert: Little Bombs White House Dinner

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Ex-MB CFO To Curbed

Dylan — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:02:54 +0000

Kyle Crafton, mediabistro.com’s former publisher and chief financial officer, got married over the weekend. He also disclosed where he’s landing next: real estate-focused Curbed.com and grub-gossip centric Eater, Gawker managing editor Lockhart Steele‘s burgeoning side empire. Crafton announced he was stepping down in February to explore entrepreneurial opportunities.

No word on a start date for Crafton or a title, for that matter.

RELATED:

Steele, Curbed Prepping Shopping Blog

mediabistro.com Publisher to Step Down in April

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Week In Media Video: Sassy, Rosie, Barack & ‘I-R-A-K’

Dylan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:30:02 +0000

Click To Play

Sassy Book Party @ Lolita

Rush Limbaugh’s ‘Barack The Magic Negro’

Rosie Explains Her Exit To View Audience

Russert Spells ‘I-R-A-K’

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Forbes‘ James Brady Edges — Creepily — Into Teen Oblivion

Dylan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:47:13 +0000

Reading Forbes‘ serial namedropping media columnist James Brady‘s columns has become one of FishbowlNY’s favorite weekly rituals. A guilty pleasure, if you will. So you can imagine our feverish excitement when we read the title of this week’s Brady gem:

Bimbos or Sweet 16

We, of course, were ready for a creepy cringefest of a column. We were almost disappointed. Almost:

continued…

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Esquire‘s Granger: ScarJo, Sienna ‘Would Offer Distinct Delights and Complications’

Dylan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:45:46 +0000

Leading up to next week’s National Magazine Awards, mediabistro.com is publishing a special package of our popular “So What Do You Do?” series with daily interviews of selected nominees, ranging from the well-known to obscure. Today we chat with Esquire editor David Granger:

Who’d you rather, ScarJo or Sienna Miller? Also, how has the “Women We Love” franchise grown for the magazine?

That’s an impossible choice and one that’s entirely irrelevant to the possibilities inherent in my life. I can imagine, though, that each would offer distinct delights and complications. As for “Women We Love,” we just have fun with it. A couple years ago, we started doing this long, slow, six-month reveal of who we would be naming the sexiest woman alive in our November issue. It’s been funny and well-received. Against all expectations, men continue to be interested in women, and we try to offer some insight in various places in the magazine in amusing ways.

So What Do You Do, David Granger, Editor, Esquire?

So What Do You Do, Moisés Naím, Editor, Foreign Policy?

So What Do You Do, Jay Stowe, Editor, Cincinnati?

So What Do You Do, Ted Genoways, Editor, Virginia Quarterly Review?

So What Do You Do, Mark Strauss, Editor, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Will Leitch Doesn’t Live In His Parents’ Basement, Doesn’t Own Pajamas

Noah Davis — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:00:14 +0000

Will Leitch, the brains behind the Gawker Media blog Deadspin, is not your typical live-at-home, stay-in-your-pjs blogger, as the audience at mediabistro.com’s “Get In The Game: Breaking into Sports Journalism” panel, learned. He also doesn’t consider himself a “sports journalist,” but “people insist on calling me one,” he said.

The panel, which, in addition to Leitch, featured ESPN The Magazine‘s Allison Overholt, Robbyn Footlick, and Seth Wickersham, the WSJ‘s Sam Walker, and freelance writer Steve Friedman, concluded that today’s sports journalists miss topics that interest true fans. “The most emailed list is the greatest invention in the history of newspapers,” Walker said, because it allows him to see which stories resonated with his audience.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

VV Snags Newsday‘s ‘Award-Winning’ Reporter

Noah Davis — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:08:00 +0000

The Voice scored a coup by poaching investigative reporter Graham Rayman from Newsday. He’ll start at 36 Cooper Square on May 14.

From: Ortega, Tony
To: Editorial
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 11:42 AM
Subject: Announcement from TonyO

Folks,

I am extremely pleased to announce that award-winning investigative reporter Graham Rayman will join the Voice as a staff writer on May 14.

For the last eleven years, Graham has been a reporter and editor at Newsday covering New York City’s courts, politicians, crimes, and disasters. A talented and respected city reporter, Graham also has foreign chops, reporting from Iraq as Newsday’s war correspondent there.

The winner of three New York State Asssociated Press Awards for his 2004 work on the Staten Island Ferry crash and the Republican Convention, Graham has also won awards from the New York Press Club, ASNE, and the New York Newspaper Association for, among others, his coverage of JFK Jr.’s plane crash and a series on the human trafficking industry.

Graham was a member of Newsday’s 1997 and 2004 Pulitzer Prize finalist teams for coverage of Flight 800 and the New York blackout. He was born in Ankara, Turkey and has lived in Nigeria, Honduras and England.

Needless to say, Graham will be a tremendous asset to the Voice’s long-standing investigative news tradition. Many of you already know Graham or his work; please join me in welcoming him in person on May 14.

Thanks,

Tony O.

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Woodruff To Cuba | Imus’ Producer Defends Himself | Bye Bye Socialite Rank | Gawker Media Avoids Lawsuit

Noah Davis — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:56:17 +0000

Wounded ABC Anchor: Headed to Cuba for reporting assignment. [USA Today]
Bernard McGuirk Tells: Hannity and Colmes his side of the Imus story. [Jossip]
Tinsley Mortimer’s Fave Site: Closing shop. [NYP]
Judge Throws Out Suit: Against Kotaku. [ETP]

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Video: Sassy Book Party @ Lolita

Dylan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 10:00:29 +0000

Click To Play

Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer, authors of the Sassy magazine love letter, How Sassy Changed My Life, hosted a book party at Nolita’s unassuming Lolita bar Wednesday. We dispatched videographer/producer Kelly Loudenberg to shoot it. Watch as Gawker’s Emily Gould compares Sassy to Spy using the “old white men” metaphor, Atoosa Rubenstein tries to scare up an “Alpha Kitty” and a literary scout recalls Sassy‘s thorough masturbation coverage. Enjoy!

[video by Kelly Loudenberg]

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