Off the Record
Church Cuddles Up to State: Media's Glossy New Reality
In the late 1990s and early part of this decade, a young journalist named Andrew Essex was on the rise in Manhattan. He was a Talk of the Town editor at The New Yorker under Tina Brown; then a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly; then executive editor at Fairchild’s revamped Details. There were also stints at Us Weekly and Salon.
In 2005 things took a turn for Mr. Essex. He was hired to be editor in chief of a magazine called Absolute—one of those shiny luxury publications that straddle the line between advertisements and editorial and leave the reader (flipping through it idly in a shiny luxury condo lobby, perhaps) feeling glazed and hollow, not sure exactly why.
NYTV
David Gregory: NBC's Lame-Duck?
On the morning of Sunday, July 20, NBC News paterfamilias Tom Brokaw was wrapping up Meet the Press, where he has been anchor since the sudden and untimely death of Tim Russert.
The weekly round table had ended, and it was time to say goodbye to his guests, NBC political director Chuck Todd and NBC White House correspondent David Gregory.
When the segment ended, both reporters sat with their hands neatly folded in front of them and awaited the frugally dispensed approval of Mr. Brokaw.
“Thank you very much, David Gregory, our NBC White House correspondent and, of course, star of MSNBC’s The Road to the White House,” said Mr.
Pub Crawl
The Wood Workshop: How Critic Became A One-Man School
Mark Sarvas has read James Wood’s new book three times already. That’s a lot, especially considering Farrar Straus & Giroux, its U.S. publisher, only put it out yesterday. But Mr. Sarvas, a lit blogger (his site is called The Elegant Variation) who recently published his first novel, really, really likes James Wood. He has a Google alert on his name, even, and thinks this new book he’s written, a concise and spirited defense of realism called How Fiction Works, is going to be “a key text of this age.”
“It just feels fundamental to me,” Mr. Sarvas said Monday. “I’m going to urge it on anyone who’s thinking about setting pen to paper to write a novel.
Media
Gold Star for Doubleday Publicity! More Advance Press for The Gargoyle
There's a myth among book publicists that if a title gets coverage before it hits stores then the press has been wasted. This is an absurd notion, not only because advance press can stir anticipation but because these days, people just go online after they read about a thing and preorder it on Amazon.
Kudos, in light of the conventional wisdom, to Doubleday's Alison Rich, who has managed to place not one but two major pre-pub features—one in The Wall Street Journal on June 20, the other in this morning's USA Today—about Andrew Davidson's historical thriller The Gargoyle. It's a coup, really, to have two pieces like this comparing the thing to The Da Vinci Code and asking whether it will be a massive best seller, and it'll be interesting to see whether it becomes one as a result. read more »
Cartoonists Agree: John McCain Old; Wife Fond of Pills; Constitution Very Flammable
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair's Power & Politics blog posted a satire of The New Yorker's now legendary Barry Blitt cover of Barack and Michelle Obama as flag-burning, Osama bin Laden-honoring terrorists. In VF's version, drawn by illustrator Tim Bower, John and Cindy McCain are portrayed as their own worst caricatures: The presumptive Republican nominee for president is seen hunched over a walker, while his wife is juggling various prescription pills. On the wall is a painting of George W. Bush; in the fireplace, the Constitution.
But to several commenters—you know, those scourges of civilization—on VF.com, the cartoon was a little too similar to one by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's David Horsey that ran a week earlier. In it, the McCain's appear on the cover of The National Review, he's drooling in a wheelchair (mumbling to himself, "Bomb, bomb, bomb—bomb, bomb Iran"), she's pouring prescription pills into her hand. On the wall is a painting of Dick Cheney; in the fireplace, the Constitution. read more »
Sam Zell, Now in Delicious Cake Form
Jim Romenesko posted the above photograph of a Sam Zell-themed cake served up by employees at the Tribune Company's Hartford Courant. As Mr. Romenesko wrote, "A Courant staffer couldn't resist poking Zell's eyes out—on the cake, of course."
Mmmm. Revenge has never tasted so ... bitter.
What's Really Real? Literary Critic James Wood Responds to Mischaracterizations
Remember that scene in Annie Hall where some blowhard is standing in line for movie tickets and loudly saying things about Marshall McLuhan? And then McLuhan himself shows up and tells him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?
Literary critic James Wood kind of did that last night with an item on New York magazine’s Vulture blog. The item was based on a piece in yesterday’s Observer that asked whether Wood’s criticism—which we said has always been "uncommonly and unapologetically prescriptive"—was influencing aspiring writers. read more »
Vulture briefly summarized our piece, referring at the top to Wood’s new
Monocle Is Not A Lifestyle Magazine
The nice folks at Monocle, Tyler Brûlé's younger, chic-er take on The Economist for whoever remains of the international jet-set, sent Media Mob a copy of the latest edition featuring its "Global Quality of Life Survey."
There are many things to learn in this issue, like the fact that Copenhagen is now the world's most livable city (suck it, Fukuoka!), but we were most intrigued by the short fact sheet Monocle's PR reps included with the issue.
Printed on the sort of heavy-bond paper people used to print their résumés on (back when people printed résumés) and under a bold header that reads "Note to editors," the flack wrote in perfect English grammar:
Monocle magazine offers a briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design. read more »
Nas on Colbert: 'I Think O'Reilly is Afraid of Me'
Yesterday, The Observer's Bharat Ayyar reported on MoveOn.org and rapper Nas' protest outside of Fox News headquarters in Manhattan.
Last night, Nas appeared on The Colbert Report to explain himself. When asked by Mr. Colbert why he thinks Fox is racist, Nas (real name Nasir Jones) said, "It's obvious. Everybody that has eyes and ears can see that this guy [Bill O'Reilly] is out of control. He knows what he's doing, you know what I mean? It's out of line. The things he's saying is worse than the worst rap lyrics I ever heard."
The rapper also told the host, "I think O'Reilly's afraid of me. read more »
Los Angeles Times Collateral Damage: Small Circulation Magazine Flees L.A.
Jay Babcock, the founder of culture magazine Arthur, has decided to move his operations from Los Angeles to Brooklyn.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times' the Guide, Mr. Babcock told August Brown why he chose to leave the City of Angels:
New York is just a more hospitable environment than L.A. ever has been or will be. L.A. is devolving quickly, and I think I got out in the nick of time. The L.A. Times is imploding, our public radio is terrible, the [L.A.] Weekly’s been devolving for years. Local media’s being run into the ground and I don’t think anybody cares. read more »
A Virtual Get-Well Card for Dominick Dunne
In her New York Post column today, Liz Smith points us toward a new Web site. (How's that for a phrase we never thought we would type?)
Dominick's Diary is a site devoted to sending good wishes to Vanity Fair's special correspondent Dominick Dunne. The site, which Ms. Smith says was co-created by TMZ's Harvey Levin (who should really get someone to fix its header tag), consists of some intro copy that reads:
Dominick Dunne, the iconic writer and world's most charming yet democratic dinner companion is having a serious operation. He’s been generous with words that have entertained and educated us. read more »
WSJ Report: New York Times Company Nearly 'Junk'
More bad news for the suddenly beleaguered New York Times.
A report in today's Wall Street Journal by David Gaffen claims that as shares of the company continue to fall, "Standard & Poor’s said it is facing a potential downgrade, which would drop the credit rating into junk territory."
(Conservative press critics have been saying that for years without all the fancy numbers and statistics.)
According to an analyst from Barclays Capital quoted by The Journal, “We can not envision a single positive scenario." Well, not unless you're Rupert Murdoch, that is.
Harvey Weinstein, Blogger
Harvey Weinstein has finally—finally!—started a blog. The former co-chairman of Miramax and current head of the Weinstein Company has written a post for Portfolio's newest blog, the hiply titled Playas, which will be guest-edited by celebrities and executives. (No, it's not about beaches en Mexico.) According to a press release, Mr. Weinstein will be writing for a week.
In his link-free and comment-disabled post [Update, 2:27 PM: Looks like links and comments have been added], Mr. Weinstein bemoans how superhero movies are eclipsing indie films like the Weinstein Company's Boy A, which Mr. Weinstein plugs throughout as a four-time BAFTA TV Award winner and recipient of "rave reviews after its premiere. read more »
Moe Tkacik Off the Radar
Fox News, Fox Television Stations Group, NBC Universal Filing Joint Copyright Suit Against Redlasso
Lineup for July 23, 2008
Sexton Says: 'Love Jersey'
