Media

By Peter Sterne 4:06pm

Dubious Claims

Michael Kinsley (Photo credit: Simon and Schuster).

Did Michael Kinsley Invent Gay Marriage?

Does The New Republic editor at large Michael Kinsley think he invented the idea of gay marriage? He sure sounds so. Mr. Kinsley published an article in last week’s issue of TNR in which he explains that it’s okay for people to be uncomfortable with gay marriage, since it’s only been around for a couple decades. And he should know, he wrote, since he introduced the world to the idea of gay marriage back in 1989.

“The first known mention of gay marriage is an article (“Here Comes the Groom” by Andrew Sullivan) commissioned by me and published in this magazine in 1989. And I would bet that there is no one born before 1989, gay or straight, who didn’t, when he or she first heard the idea, go, whaaa?” Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 2:00pm

New Grub Street

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New York Magazine Shuts Non-New York Food Blogs

Grub Street, New York magazine’s food blog, will shut down their local food blogs that cover cities other than New York, they announced in a post this afternoon. The URLs for the local food sites, which covered Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Boston will be redirected to Grubstreet.com, starting later today.

But foodies located in those other American cities need not worry about going hungry–Grub Street is expanding its scope to become more national.  Read More

By Peter Sterne 5/20 4:59pm

Petty Politics

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Andrew Cuomo Shares Fred Dicker’s Private Email With All His Competitors

After a New York Post reporter sent a confidential email inquiry to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, the Cuomo administration released the email to other journalists, reports the Associated Press.

This comes on the same day that The Washington Post revealed that the Department of Justice had snooped on a Fox News reporter’s private emails, and only a week after the AP reported that the DOJ had surreptitiously obtained their reporters’ phone records, making it an easy addition to the government versus press narrative. Three, after all, is a trend. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/20 4:35pm

Village People

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People Still Want to Work at The Village Voice

The Village Voice is going through the latest in a series of rough times–in the past two weeks, following the resignation of their top two editors, the downtown alt-weekly laid off some of their most beloved writers. Today, two more writers resigned. But the fact that it might not seem like the most stable of places to work hasn’t deterred what we can only assume are young writers from sending in their applications.  Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/20 10:09am

TV News

Charlie Rose. (Photo via Twitter).

Charlie Rose Will Host Charlie Rose Weekend

Is waking up to Charlie Rose on CBS This Morning and ending a hectic weekday by watching Mr. Rose’s interview show just not enough Mr. Rose?

Good news: starting in July, PBS viewers will be able to kick off their weekends with the well-respected newsman. Charlie Rose Weekend , a new 30 minute series hosted by Mr. Rose, will air on Fridays at 8:30, the non-profit public broadcasting service (funded by “viewers like you”) announced this morning.  Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/17 4:39pm

books

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Changes at The New York Times Book Review

The New York Times Book Review is modernizing under the editorship of Pamela Paul, who was appointed to the positon in early April. The section announced three changes in a new column in this Sunday’s issue (it was posted online today). Starting this weekend, the e-book bestseller list, which first joined the printed list in early 2011, will be online only. Additionally, book prices will no longer be included for any books. Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/17 1:34pm

Blogs

Geoff Manaugh. (Photo credit: Patrick McMullan).

Gizmodo Pivots From Gadgets to Design

Gizmodo, Gawker media’s tech blog, is getting a new editor and a new focus. Geoff Manaugh, a former senior editor at Dwell Magazine and contributing editor at Wired UK, will take over at Gizmodo. Mr. Manaugh will bring BLDGBLOG, his architecture and design website, along with him.

“We’ve hired Geoff Manaugh, one of the very coolest writers on design and technology, as EIC,” Gawker owner Nick Denton told us. “He’s a big deal in his field. The only non-architect to lecture at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture.” Read More

By Matthew Kassel and Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/17 12:16pm

LAYOFFS

Michael Musto (Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Longtime Writers Out at The Village Voice

We knew this day would come. The Village Voice has made good on its threats and fired three longtime writers: nightlife columnist Michael Musto, theater critic Michael Feingold and food critic Robert Sietsema. Last week, which was particularly devastating for New York media, two top Village Voice editors–Will Bourne and Jessica Lustig–resigned rather than lay off five writers, as Read More

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke 5/16 2:31pm

websites

A preview of the homepage, which is still under construction. (Via Nicholas Jackson).

Nicholas Jackson Plans to Launch a ‘Smarter Version of MediaBistro’

Last week, Pacific Standard’s digital director Nick Jackson announced on Facebook and Twitter that he was starting a new website that would “be a place for inside-baseball coverage of the media industry and serve as a home for resources for both aspiring and professional journalists.”

Mr. Jackson actually came up with the idea for The Feature Well back in 2011 when he was covering technology as an associate editor at The Atlantic. Read More