Looking Back: 2011′s Most Swoonworthy Media Power Singles

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:32:00 -0400

The Nation" src="http://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/photo_small.jpg?w=264&h=300" alt="" width="264" height="300" />While looking over all of the posts from The Observer this year, a few seem obviously ripe to revisit. Over the summer, we put together the list of 2011's Media Power Bachelors and Bachelorettes—100 of the most powerful single people currently running the media world. We combined the lists, crunched the numbers, and took a look at the individuals who rose to the top. But instead of ranking the guys and dolls by raw clicks, we decided to look at those whose pages were kept open the longest—those who caused readers to pause as they passed through the list, to take a more thorough glance of appreciation. Back in middle school, these would be the people whose yearbook pictures would be torn out, covered in hearts, and secretly tucked into lockers. Below, you'll find, ranked in order, the Media Power Singles that you swooned over the most.

2011 Media Power Singles, ranked by average time spent on page:
1. Arianna Huffington
2. Zeke Turner
3. Miriam Markowitz
4. Keenan Mayo
5. Lorin Stein
6. Sarah Kunst
7. Sloane Crosley
8. Nicole Lapin
9. Cameron Winklevoss
10. Justin Rocket Silverman
11. Jenna Wortham
12. Jen Doll
13. Miss Info
14. Andrei Scheinkman
15. Lizzie Widdicombe
16. James Del
17. Dave Zinczenko
18. Annie Karni
19. Brian Stelter
20. Chris Wilson
21. Edith Zimmerman
22. Jon-Jon Goulian
23. Kelley Hoffman
24. Devorah Rose
25. Rina Raphael

(All numbers sourced from Google Analytics)

CNN’s Don Lemon Pens Column Regarding Media Power Bachelor Status

Foster Kamer — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:30:02 -0400

As the fallout from last week's reveal of our Media Power Bachelor and Bachelorette lists continues to unfold—and then some—we took note of one of the more famous names to publicly acknowledge having made our list, the openly gay and supposedly taken CNN anchor Don Lemon. In a column penned for CNN's website today, Mr. Lemon clears up any misconceptions one might have about his marital status (or his inclusion on the list).

Titled "A New Marriage Dilemma," Mr. Lemon—who's won praise both as a news anchor and as a prominent figurehead for openly gay broadcast journalists (especially with regards to his memoir, Transparent)—tackles the question facing many gay couples as individual states' marriage laws continue to be amended: Is it time to get hitched?

After an encounter with a New York Magazine reporter asking about his current "status" that left him ever-so-slightly irritated ("it didn't go well," he notes), it was likely going to take a little more to draw his personal notions about the nature of signed and sealed commitment into sharp focus. Enter a certain Media Power List:

Honestly, I hadn't pondered marriage since I came to terms with my sexuality almost two decades ago. But it really hit home for me when to my and my boyfriend's surprise The New York Observer named me a 2011 media power bachelor, and I got the news in an e-mail that my colleague Joy Behar had tied the knot with her long-time boyfriend, Steve Janowitz. While the power bachelor thing was fun, the Joy thing got me thinking.

Nevertheless, it was obviously the "fun" power bachelor thing that helped him draw an important conclusion, emphasis ours:

...Just as I did when I came out publicly this summer, I'll get ahead of all those "fishing" for an answer about my marriage plans. While I respect the gay couples who have or are planning on tying the knot soon, the truth is, just like straight people, not all gay people want to or should get married.

But perhaps the best answer and the one closest to my own comes from a personal quote on the website IMDB from another confirmed bachelor, Leonardo DiCaprio: "People always like to make up stories. I am not planning on getting married. Then again, I might wake up tomorrow and decide to get married!" Thanks Leo.

With great (media) power comes great responsibility; in continuing to exercise the virtue of transparency, Mr. Lemon more than transcends the superfluous superlative any list could anoint him with (though, should he choose to get hitched, we obviously already have a contingency plan in place).

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

Observer » Media Power Bachelors

Looking Back: 2011′s Most Swoonworthy Media Power Singles

CNN’s Don Lemon Pens Column Regarding Media Power Bachelor Status