By Drew Grant 3/26 7:59pm

off the record

vice02_tca

The Vice Guide to Serious Journalism: How a DIY Drug Mag Became Serious Business for HBO

When Shane Smith, one of the founders of Vice Media, pitched a television show to MTV in 2010, it seemed unimaginable that the company that came out of Vice magazine could establish itself as a respected informational source about, well, anything (other than how to decorate your heroin stash). And yet the network bit, and The Vice Guide to Everything ran for eight episodes, balancing ridiculous segments against heavier fare.

With its latest television program, VICE, which premieres next Friday, the media company is once again trying its hand at American television. Not just television. HBO. And this time, it’s not trading on its nihilistic reputation. Instead, it’s asking audiences to trust in its international-relations acumen. It wants to be taken seriously. Or at least as seriously as it takes itself. Read More

By Ryan Holiday 8/29/12 2:20pm

opinion

OFFTHEMEDIA

Forget Lehrer and Zakaria—Most Online Journalism Is Rotten to the Core

The state of journalism is bad. Of course, Jonah Lehrer and Fareed Zakaria—high-profile writers at The New Yorker and Time, respectively—were recently exposed as frauds and plagiarists, but that’s not the worst of it. Not even close. The phone-tapping scandal that nearly imploded NewsCorp’s news division last year? Nope.

In fact, nothing illustrates the distressing state of affairs more clearly than the reaction to Judge William Alsup’s recent order that Google and Oracle turn over the names of the reporters and bloggers whom the two companies had paid for potentially positive coverage supporting their case in a high-stakes copyright lawsuit.

Wait, what reaction? Oh, you didn’t even hear about this? Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/21/12 11:13am

MEDIA BRIEFS

The PALEY CENTER For Media, Annual Benefit Dinner Honoring TOM FRESTON

Media Briefs: Let Pat Kiernan Live!

Can we just let NY1’s Pat Kiernan live? Fareed Zakaria apparently can’t, at least not with all these haters. Neither can a food journalist upset over food journalists dictating the world’s food fads, as she dictates a food fad. But at least New York Post staffers have reason to celebrate (because the Post will let them do so, in the paper). These are your Tuesday Morning Media Briefs: Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/16/12 4:48pm

Fareedgate

Fareed Zakaria Won’t Be Out of Time

Time contributor Fareed Zakaria’s fate at the magazine just came in via press release. Here’s what we got:

We have completed a thorough review of each of Fareed Zakaria’s columns for TIME, and we are entirely satisfied that the language in question in his recent column was an unintentional error and an isolated incident for which Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/15/12 7:35pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

Some Blogger, as Forgotten By History.

Media Briefs: Salon Blogger Made Irrelevant by Single, Brilliantly Incisive Tweet

It’s raining me…dia items. Hallelujah. With so much to get through today, rather than act out the pretense that people are ever going to click on media news roundups from a landing page, we’re just going to skip the obligatory formalities of teasing anything out and just get right into them. Starting now. 

As such, here are your Wednesday Evening Media Briefs.  Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/14/12 2:06pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

ngbbs4f0085a39e202

Power Lunch: Fareed Zakaria, Real Talk Update

A real-talking editor gets a really visible new gig. One Hollywood mag honcho may want to watch his shoes. Which uncorruptable writer took money from the Koch Brothers? Which Daily Beast editor changed her last name … on Twitter?! Which Fareed Zakaria conspiracy theory holds water? Is everyone out to get him? Is everyone out to get you? Is everyone out to get everyone? Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. Maybe you’re just projecting on these Tuesday Afternoon Media Briefs: Read More

By Foster Kamer 8/10/12 5:36pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

PLEASE TURN AROUND.

Media Briefs: Contain Your SchadenFareed!

Another day, another marquee writer who is bus-ted. The New York Times will sometimes respect their readers and the people they quote, and other times, have no respect for their readers and the people they quote. But they do have respect for learning, even if it’s something you should have learned as a child. They’re not the only one! Also, there’s no new news about Jay Penske pissing on some woman’s boots, so if that’s what you’re here for, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

Otherwise, here are your Friday Evening Media Briefs: Read More

By Drew Grant 5/10/12 4:23pm

Vice

Shane Smith, Vice founder (Getty Images)

Vice TV on HBO: Bill Maher and Fareed Zakaria Join Mad Media Venture

We shouldn’t be surprised that Vice Media’s stunning transformation over the years– from a dirty Canadian hipster zine founded by anarchists and ex-junkies, to a slick site (thanks, Viacom!) focused on original video  content–has lead to a pot of gold.

Since its inception, Vice has been pitching shows to networks, none of which panned out into anything, as the Vice brand wasn’t exactly TV friendly (no, not even to the audiences of Jackass). But 2.0 Vice (and Vice.TV), with its lack of Gavin McInnes and new-found social consciousness, has landed founder Shane Smith his first network show. Forget Vice.TV…this is Vice TV! Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/05/11 2:00pm

Starchitects

Video

Frank Gehry, you're a genius!

Frank Gehry Really, Really Regrets His Guest Appearance on The Simpsons

Because of his successful style, Frank Gehry sometimes comes under criticism for being a hack whose buildings all look the same—even if in their 50th iteration, those waving bands of metal still look amazing, fresh and different. This sensibility was, like so many other things, immortalized on The Simpsons, in which Mr. Gehry was perhaps the first and only architect to ever make a guest appearance—an appearance that still haunts him to this day. Read More