More than a thousand people had RSVPed on Facebook. The wait outside of The Dalloway—the lipstick lesbian hot spot that opened last December—was 30-plus minutes.
What the fuss!
Last year, Jason Diamond, the founder of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and deputy editor of Flavorpill, and Ryan Chapman, Penguin Press’s marketing director, decided to throw a party—and Read More
Jack Gray probably would never have written Pigeon in a Crosswalk, his first book, if not for his boss, Anderson Cooper. And he certainly wouldn’t have gotten the publicity he has without the silver-haired anchor.
About five years ago, Mr. Gray, a 32-year-old producer for the CNN news program Anderson Cooper 360°, began writing blog Read More
Last week, Stephen B. Shepard, the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, emailed departing Columbia Journalism School Dean Nicholas Lemann to tell him that he was planning to announce his resignation—just as his uptown counterpoint had emailed him last October.
“I told Nick that I was once again following in his footsteps,” Mr. Shepard told Off the Record on Monday, soon after announcing that he will leave the school he helped found in 2005. Mr. Lemann, who has been at Columbia for a decade, will leave at the end of this school year. When Mr. Shepard leaves after this year’s class graduates in December, he will have been at the school for nine years. Like Columbia, CUNY will now form a search committee to find a new dean. Read More
An army of Miley Cyrus faithful—or “Smilers,” as they call themselves (adorable, we know)—gathered outside of Acme last Wednesday night, waiting to catch a glimpse of their mohawked idol on the red carpet.
When Ms. Cyrus, wearing a black leather biker jacket over a flowing white dress, arrived at the Soho restaurant to celebrate Cosmopolitan’s March issue, even those who were on the list acted the part of fangirl, rushing to grab cellphone pictures of the issue’s cover girl as she sprinted through the crowd and into the waiting arms of new editrix Joanna Coles. Read More
With Fashion Week in full swing last week, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal waged rival relaunch parties in their ongoing war for high-dollar luxury advertisers, seemingly far from the front-line trenches of hard news.
T: The New York Times Style Magazine celebrated its redone glossy at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar. The classic New York haunt evoked days gone by, when publishing and advertising types rarely ventured below 14th Street (unless they were visiting their libertine beatnik mistresses). Befitting the location, there were the inevitable oysters, martini shakers and flutes of champagne. Cigarette girls purveyed magazines, cookies emblazoned with the new T logo and gift cards for a one-month subscription to the paper of record. (Hey, this is Bloomberg’s New York now.) TVs around the bar area played Sofia Coppola’s interview with cover girl Lee Radziwill. Ms. Coppola was in attendance, as were Drew Barrymore and media heavies like Arianna Huffington and Chris Hughes (fresh from his own relaunch party), along with the Times’s top brass. Read More
Last week, Time Inc. became the latest media company to announce a round of layoffs. The company, a division of Time Warner, is one of the world’s largest media companies, publishing titles like Time, People, Sports Illustrated and InStyle.
“Today we are beginning the painful process of reducing our global staff of 8,000 by approximately six percent,” CEO Laura Lang wrote in an email to staff. “I know the coming days and weeks will be hard and I want to thank you in advance for your patience as we work through this period.” Read More
The buzz has been coming steadily from BuzzFeed ever since Ben Smith became the editor in chief there early last year and started hiring journalists—real journalists—with abandon: politics, long-form, Hollywood, tech, food. Every week brought news that BuzzFeed had added a new vertical, staffed by talent poached from more traditional outlets. The site that had made its bones by figuring out that people like scrolling through pictures of pets better than, well, almost anything was stretching out and scooping up young and old reporters alike. Read More
For much of its history, a party for The New Republic might not have brought to mind lobster hors d’oeuvres, custom-printed napkins and tray liners, and a grand Soho apartment just a couple floors below the penthouse that Lenny Kravitz sold to Alicia Keys.
But Chris Hughes has invigorated the venerable old brand, not just with a cash infusion befitting a Facebook co-founder, but with youth, buzz and a vision that he articulated to the hundred or so guests who had landed hard-to-come-by invites to the magazine’s relaunch party Monday night at Mr. Hughes’s home. Read More
As Off the Record readers already know, the deadline for New York Times employees to take voluntary buyouts was last Thursday. This past Monday, executive editor Jill Abramson unveiled a restructured masthead and announced fewer layoffs than anticipated, since more employees had decided to go quietly into that particular good night than expected—including old-timers like columnist Joyce Wadler, classical music editor Jim Oestreich, managing editor John Geddes, assistant managing editor Jim Roberts, and arts and culture editor Jonathan Landman.
Why do people decide to take such offers? Reasons vary, but timing is often key. Read More
Last week was a bleak one at Thomson Reuters, the financial news and wire service giant. According to sources, as many as 3,000 people were let go, out of approximately 50,000 employees around the globe. Most of the layoffs came from the financial sector—the sales, training and analysts’ divisions—but some were on the editorial side.
“Yes, I can confirm there have been layoffs across Thomson Reuters today, including editorial,” Barb Burg, vice president and global head of communications at Reuters, told Talking Biz News last week. “Similar to efforts across the company, the Reuters organization is focusing attention on our global cost structure as well as the need to simplify and ensure we have the skills and expertise within our organization so we can continue to contribute maximum value to the business and our customers.” Read More
