There's a big night of Media Christmas parties tonight, including the one we're perhaps most excited for: New York's karaoke party at Encore. (Though we wouldn't mind being invited for dinner at Ruth Reichl's, either, as is her Gourmet editorial staff is this evening.)
• Murdoch, Newhouse, Philbin, and friends: Meet the city's media Power Geezers. [NYO]
• CBS wants Katie so badly that they're offering her a pay cut. [NYP]
• Food and the City: HBO buys rights to Ruth Reichl's memoirs for a new memoir. [WWD]
• A new front in the War on Christmas: Plano, Texas, where the school district bans kids from wearing red and green, according to Defender of the Faith O'Reilly. Except for one thing: It's not true. [Dallas Morning News]
• LAT to shutter national edition, ending its print presence in Washington and New York. Yeah, we're as surprised as you are to discover it had a print presence in New York. [NYT]
The Observer went to the anniversary party for the Chelsea club that simply won't die, Marquee — but the who's-who hilarity of typical Transom items gives way to nightlife philosophy in the bathroom. Of course, only an Observer reporter would go to a big night at Marquee and then spend most of his time hiding in the men's room, getting quotes from the attendant:
By the time we got to the third page of Mark Lotto's ode to Brooklyn in today's Observer, we were starting to think that, in fact, Brooklyn might be the way. The borough's celebrity-friendly neighborhoods, sprinkled with "Sesame Street idealism" and domesticated couples clutching soy chai lattes, very well may be the antidote to the perpetually adolescent woes of Manhattan living. And, God, it just sounds so damn nice out there. Why don't we just take the leap and cross the river?
We asked a bunch of media folks why they're thankful on this Thanksgiving, and many of them told us. Here, the media reporters. We start with the Observer boys, and, first, Gabe Sherman:
• Come on, Pinch, you're breaking poor Tom Scocca's heart. [NYO]
• Was Bob Woodward the first reporter to learn of Valerie Plame's identity? And why didn't he mention that to anyone till now? [WP]
• Ah, but at least Ben Bradlee says it's OK Woodward didn't tell his nominal bosses. [E&P]
• Turns out Bush-crony public-broadcasting chief Kenneth Tomlinson — you know, the guy determined to get more conservatives on PBS — broke all sorts of laws and regulations. [NYT]
• Who's to blame for Arrested Development's (latest) demise. America, obviously. [NYO]
• Rupert: This internet thing is gonna be huge! [Hollywood Reporter]
• What reference in a headline will conclusively show that boomer media dominance is over? [Slate]
• MSNBC's Chris Matthews name-drops, and Jon Friedman loves him anyway. [MW]
Oh, thank you, Gabriel Sherman, for finally bringing us some new Judy Miller news: She's leaving again! So what if it's a double-reverse of what you told us last week — at least it's something. (And, in fairness, you nicely explain away last week's she's-sticking-around story, reporting that the don't-go plan was a hopeful, quixotic trial balloon from Sulzberger, floated to see if maybe — just maybe — they could all be friends again. They can't.)
This much we know: Generalissimo Judith Miller is still not dead.
Hey, so remember last week when everyone said Judy Miller was on her way out of the Times? Well, hold up there, cowboy, because the winds they are a-shiftin'. As of today: Judy's back!
A headline from today's Observer:
• You may mock Ashton Kutcher's choice of headwear for his wedding attire, but be aware that the white fedora is the yarmulke of choice for Kabbalahists everywhere. [Oh No They Didn't]
• Fanciful Gawker alum Choire Sicha takes 3000 words of the Observer's precious pink space to tell you that which you already know: He's a big 'mo cruising public restrooms for love. [NYO]
• Cynthia Nixon and her lover, presented without comment. We don't think our words could do the union justice. [JJB]
• Camel toads are a rare breed, often found hiding in the warm, soggy crotches of ill-advised stretch pants. [Revo1]
• Somebody better tell this bitch to close her legs. [CNN]
• The artist in her element: Paris Hilton pretends to record her album. [Hello]
• And, because one Paris link is simply not enough: Simple Life cancelled mid-production? [WoW]
We would have noted this at the start of the month, but some of us were out of the country and woefully, blissfully far away from any access to Movable Type:
You have been crying for more and more books about "New York nightlife, public relations, youth culture, [and] downtown culture" to shove into your gaping maw, and author Lauren Weisberger is here to do the shoving. Her second novel, You and Me and Everyone Worth Knowing Is Illuminated, was bought by Simon and Shuster for a million damn dollars; unlike us, the Observer read it:
• Confessions of a (granted, emergency-landing-surviving) media whore. [NYO]
• Bossman Denton cruises the Jersey Turnpike on a bathwater-powered scooter, apparently. Also, he has a large head. [NYO]
• Nonfamous writer Matt Haber's past was pillaged by adorable and now-famous writer Benjamin Kunkel, and Haber'll be damned if you don't know about it. [NYO]
• Dan Rather wants to revisit Bush National Guard story; CBS brass won't let him. We await Public Eye's take, presumably that spirited debate is a good thing. [NYP]
• A day in the life of Us editor Janice Min — in which no one cares about Britney's baby. [asap/AP]
• Geraldo won't sue Times, but his feelings are still hurt. [NYP]
• Washington Blade launches a "gay Romenesko" site. We always thought that was us. [E&P]
• Turns out, SCOTUS nominee Roberts might not hate the press as much as the Times thought. Which still doesn't mean he likes it. [NYT]
• Sly gets up off the mat. [WWD]
We here at Gawker cover New York City, and we cover media. So you'd think we'd have nothing to say about a story in today's Times recounting the tale of a JetBlue flight that took off from the Burbank airport, in Los Angeles, discovered a problem with its landing gear, circled for several hours, and then quasi-crash landed at LAX. But you'd be wrong. Because, naturally, there's a New York media angle to the story, buried at the end:
Remember yesterday when the Observer said Lloyd Grove was not much longer for the Daily News? The pink paper said that Grove had a contract for two years, rather than the three previously reported, and that his tenure "may not extend through a third year." Grove himself wasn't quoted in the piece — we've got to assume the Observer tried to reach him and he declined to talk, or at least only spoke off the record — but as of today he's on the record totally denying the item.
Well, yes, the new Vogue is big. And it really weighs 4 pounds. But, er, it doesn't actually put last year's to shame.
Huge schnozzes on Jewish pols: It's not just for rightwing opinion journals anymore. From the cover of this week's Observer:
In today's Times, Stephanie Rosenbloom taps into the cult of female friendship. More specifically, she's tracking the "girl crush" phenomenon:
The Times and the Newspaper Guild finally worked out their differences on ethics training for newsroom employees, and now each employee must take and pass the big ethics testby next Monday. The Observer's Gabriel Sherman scored a copy of the exam.
