Ken Kurson - FishbowlNY

A Lot of Media People Partied Last Night

Chris O'Shea — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:45:19 +0000

The whirlwind surrounding the New Republic continued last night as Chris Hughes, editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazine, threw a party to celebrate the glossy. Since those in the publishing business love nothing more than to hobnob with people just like them, there was a slew of big names in attendance.

Now you might be saying “I don’t care about yet another event full of media people congratulating themselves for being themselves” but we know you do! Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. So allow us to give you what you want, a list of people who went to Hughes’ shindig, via The Huffington Post.

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Aaron Gell Departs New York Observer

Chris O'Shea — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:50:54 +0000

Aaron Gell has decided to move on. Only weeks after Ken Kurson was named editor-in-chief at the New York Observer, thereby demoting Gell, he emailed staffers to announce that he was leaving the paper. Gell had been with the Observer since 2010.

In the memo obtained by Capital New York, Gell said he is leaving to do some consulting for a start-up.

A snippet from the note:

Working for the Observer has been the best experience of my career; I credit that to all of you, especially, but also to Peter and all the writers and editors who passed through and helped create a newspaper that despite, ahem, everything has remained such a special place to work. It has been an absolute blast. There really is no publication like it in the world. Maybe for a reason, but still.

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New York Observer Names Ken Kurson EIC

Chris O'Shea — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:18:07 +0000

Ken Kurson has been named the new editor-in-chief of The New York Observer. Kurson has been a contributor to Esquire since 1997, a political consultant and speechwriter for Rudy Guiliani, and has worked at Jamestown Associates, a political communications firm in New Jersey. No word on what will happen to Aaron Gell, who was named the paper’s interim editor after Elizabeth Spiers departed in August of last year.

As the New York Times notes, Kurson’s Republican ties will certainly cause some to wonder (perhaps more than they already do) about the objectivity of the Observer.

Kurson, of course, thinks it’s no big deal. “People will think what they want,” he told the Times. “I will have to earn their trust. I have had a long and honorable journalistic career, calling it like I see it and being a straight shooter.”

“Ken knows the ideas, stories and voices that make up New York better than anyone,” wrote Jared Kushner, in a note to staffers announcing the move. “He is a journalist and an author and through his years as a consultant observed the figures who create the framework of business, politics, media, tech, culture and real estate in our city.”

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