Some people really think you should buy an iPad. Others really think you shouldn't. Some people think it will save magazines. Others think it will not. We would like to point out that it's just a computer.
In your proxy Friday media column: MSNBC's David Shuster shot a pilot for CNN, Barack Obama demands (metaphorical!) oral sex from reporters, Smithsonian magazine stiffs a war-damaged correspondent, and losing just $80 million means you're Publisher of the Year.
Magazines that spring to life with video. Gorgeous, instantly-updated newspapers. Custom-tailored broadcasts. The iPad could revolutionize news along these lines, which helps explain why it makes people so giddy. The new era begins with these nine news apps.
Here is Bill O'Reilly telling a blogger to be more respectful of Al Franken. This happened yesterday, so I'm reasonably sure it's not a hilarious practical joke. (Bill has finished repositioning himself as Fox's moderate voice of reason, I guess.)
Stefano Tonchi landed one of the most coveted jobs in fashion when he was named editor of W ten days ago. Good thing he doesn't start until April 12. He went on trial today in Beverly Hills for a DUI.
In your beautiful Thursday media column: Keith Olbermann takes back a joke, a hedge fund withdraws from the NYT, price wars from the WSJ, and Bill O'Reilly has a little advice for ya, kid.
Freelance journalist Alexander Zaitchik wrote several stories about Glenn Beck for Salon late last year. This February, the Daily Beast's book imprint published John Avlon's book, Wingnuts. Avlon's chapter on Glenn Beck borrows very liberally from Zaitchik's work. [UPDATED].
People keep asking us if we've seen this Times article about up-and-coming young bloggers. Yes, we are a young blogger, of course we have seen it. So what. Wait... you don't actually think we're jealous?
Provocative point for you online do-gooders: Think the internet is "green?" It soaks up power and basically supports turning the Appalachian Mountains into one long strip mine. Print was not so bad after all. Now you tell us! [PBS Mediashift]
In your untrustworthy Wednesday media column: College journalists prepare for a wild April Fools, Alexander Lebedev's not in it for the money, Wonkette loses a writer, and layoffs hit USNWR.
Sarah Palin will present a TV special on Fox tomorrow night called Real American Stories. But some of the interviews were taped years ago, and LL Cool J didn't know his would eventually be used in a Sarah Palin-hosted show.
The media world—it changes. A few years ago, Conde Nast was a golden castle on the hill, and the internet was a squatter's hovel/ "artist's colony" far below. But lo! Now, former Nasties are flooding the internet themselves.
Russian tabloids don't play. Life News has published photos of the severed heads of the two female suicide bombers who blew up the Moscow subway trains earlier this week. Do not click through unless you really want to.
In your soggy Tuesday media column: debating the Hot List, photographers are in trouble, Martha Stewart's voracious appetite is coming to peer into your household, and alt-weeklies are back in style.
Glenn Beck is writing a novel. It's about a group called "the Founders Keepers" starting a civil war. In a classic Beckian touch, he's given it a title designed to enrage smart people who find him repellent: The Overton Window.
As media jobs grow ever scarcer, the chance that you'll ever behold the inner sanctum of a newspaper or magazine grows slimmer. Until now. We are here, dear readers, to expose media bathrooms far and wide. With your help.