Smart Washington Post magazine beat reporter Peter Carlson, who's taking a buyout, comes clean in his final column: he thought Rosie magazine was a stupid idea. But hey, whatever; he's "heading off to pursue other interests, such as sloth and gin." [WP]

John McWhorter—Bill Buckley-esque NY Sun columnist and bizarre racial thinker—has taken his bizarre racial thinking act over to the New York Times for a day, presumably because conservative black academic columnists are hard to come by in New York City on a holiday weekend. In a video debate on the Times' website, McWhorter advances the novel theory that Barack Obama doesn't have to worry about racism; just his race. Here's an example of a statement that he says is not racist: "I won't vote for a black person because he's a radical type and would bring in Farrakhan." And hey, how come black people can hang around each other and it's okay, but white people can't? It's because "white people aren't allowed to be diverse." Okay! The other guy is, frankly, no match for McWhorter's secret redefinitions of words that negate their own meaning. The baffling debate, after the jump.

A new newspaper-insert magazine called RiseUp, which will feature "race-related content," is launching next month. It will have a circulation of 4 million, appearing in papers like the NY Daily News, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune. If RiseUp helps drive a true national conversation on race, it will be a good thing. But it will have to break the First Law of newspaper insert magazines: "We all suck." [FOLIO]

We've stopped reporting most buyouts and layoffs at America's troubled newspapers because the story is repetitive-and morbid, even for an internet outlet that stands to gain from the flight of readers and advertisers from print. That's why the new Paper Cuts is such a boon. The blog summarizes the latest staff reductions, and displays the data as points on a Google Map.

For former Gawker blogger Emily Gould's raw "Blog-Post Confidential" essay in the upcoming New York Times Magazine, she was photographed by Elinor Carucci, who specializes in "portraits of everyday female vulnerability." The photo on the left is Emily Gould by Carucci, the one on the right is Carucci, from her Closer series. Shoot the Blog remarks that Carucci, admirably, is able to "delivers editorial imagery that is barely distinguishable from her own [fine art] work." That's the photographer equivalent of making it big writing personal narratives! (Click to enlarge.)

Sultry beach hero hottie set to save journalism! [NYDN]

Last weekend Barack Obama once again revealed his anti-Americanism when he told a crowd, "We can't drive our SUVs and, you know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees all the time, whether we're living in the desert or we're living in the tundra, and then just expect every other country is going to say OK." Hey, maybe Barack can speak for the Muslims who won't eat as much as they want. But Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Patrick McIlheran is sick of you arugula-scarfing elites telling him and his family what to eat. And his trip to some Jewish restaurant in New York proves he's right, somehow!

Times editors are apparently tired of people saying mean things about Emily Gould and about their own decision to publish her meditation on blogging, because they've shut down the comments section attached to Gould's magazine piece. Some 727 responses flooded in before the shutdown, even though the article won't be physically published until the Sunday issue. Many called the former Gawker editor narcissistic, self-indulgent and a bad writer and said her story was a waste of space; there were supporters, including people who praised Gould for having moved on from vicious, inconsequential Gawker and for pushing them to reexamine their own online personas. Whatever was said, the decision to shut down comments is bizarre, because just yesterday Times Magazine editor Gerry Marzorati told FishbowlNY the story was worthy of his cover precisely because of the discussion it would spark:

Popular Page Six gossip hack Paula Froelich had a party thrown in her honor last night, complete with her own signature cocktail: the IZZE FROLIC. Awww! She sent an email to all of her contacts saying, "It seems someone has decided to name a drink after me. I think we can use it as a good excuse to go play." But when the party happened, one boldface name was conspicuously absent: New York Post reporter Paula Froelich! So what happened? Bothersome ethics, of course.

Daily News reporter Caitlin Millat went crazy yesterday. Crazy for journalism, that is! "I stabbed an innocent victim, got shot by a police officer, and suffered a severe asthma attack on Wednesday in Brooklyn," she writes, "all in a day's work for the Daily News." She now languishes in an isolation cell on Riker's Island. No, just kidding! She was just playing the role of a crazy person to help out with the city's annual EMT competition. Don't scare us like that, Caitlin! As an added bonus for all of us curious readers, she was able to turn her unique first-person experience into a story in today's paper. Synergetic! There's also a video. Near the end is when she stabs a guy. [NYDN]

Design blog Signal vs. Noise today reminded everyone of the 1997 Times infographic reproduced above. Nicholas Kristof, whose article on world disease featured the chart, declared in an old-but-recently-surfaced email that "no graphic in human history has saved so many lives in Africa and Asia." Apparently it persuaded billionaire Bill Gates to start donating his money to disease prevention instead of global internet access. Kristof said the Microsoft founder was too lazy to read the full, 3,500-world article:

College newspaper site UWIRE recently announced the UWIRE 100, their estimation of the top college journalists of last year. Our personal favorite? David McSwane of the Rocky Mountain Collegian. Along with the editorial staff, he wrote a two-word, full-page editorial saying, simply, "Fuck Bush." He was very nearly canned. Click to see the glorious original version.

A source tells us that Metro ed Gregg Gittrich is indeed out at the Daily News. Gittrich was widely consdered a rising star, maybe even next in line for the managing editor gig. But the NYDN isn't great about holding onto talent. And maybe Greg's taste of TV glory on unwatched 2006 reality program Tabloid Wars inspired him—we hear he quit the Daily News to go to NBC. If you know what he may or may not be doing at NBC, drop us a line.

The Roswell Beacon, a small paper in Georgia, ran this cover (which is not a spoof) last week to illustrate a story about how area "White Supremecy [sic] Groups" have been making threats against Barack Obama. The story itself is pretty straightforward, but the cover now has wild-eyed liberal types upset. But the Beacon's publisher has vowed to stand up to "liberal blogger thuggery"! Honestly, this one's not so bad. At least they didn't put it on an overpriced sweatshirt. Larger picture after the jump.

Though he does not know it, Verlyn Klinkenborg is my nemesis. He's a member of the New York Times editorial board. Like all of the board's members, he has the privilege of using the most valuable op-ed space in American newspapers as a bulletin board for his personal musings. Verlyn takes advantage of this power to write regular items about "The Rural Life," all of which I can summarize as follows: "As I strolled through the country or gazed out my window, I saw nature, which I ruminated upon. Tra la, tra la, tra la." If I have to open up the Sunday paper one more time and see a chunk of editorial page real estate occupied by an "Editorial Notebook" essay inspired solely by window-gazing, I simply don't know what I will do. So Verlyn: I'd like to offer you a gentleman's agreement.

It would be too obvious as well as unreasonable to suggest that Aron Pilhofer, the New York Times's editor for interactive news, drag himself into the 21st century. Here's a more modest objective: understanding the mindset of his own colleagues. At this week's dire Mediabistro conference, Pilhofer scorned the "ridiculous" obsession of organizations such as Gawker with the popularity of individual articles: "I think we're a long way from reporters paying attention to page views." Wot?!

Living at home with your parents well into your 20s and even 30s: it's not so bad! A full third of 18-34-year-olds currently do it, a figure that's been rising for 25 years. And studies indicate that the politely-named "open nest" trend will keep going strong, which the WSJ says will mean that "the stigma traditionally linked to young adults' living at home will fade." We say: not bloody likely.

The Wall Street Journal launched a new section on its website today, Journal Women. It's a separate but equal page for ladies—just like synagogue. Yet, according to the lead article in their new section, the separation may not be necessary: "Conventional wisdom says women and men want different things out of their jobs. But a new study says that's not true — women want the same things as men, they just don't get them." But here's an article on high heels—did we know? They're a total bitch to commute in. The following excerpt on this topic leads me to believe... boy, maybe we do need our very special, remedial section of the Journal.

Last month, Page Six ran an item about a sex tape featuring Bam Margera Bam-ing the fiancee of radio shock jock Opie. Opie said the whole thing was false, and offered $100,000 to anyone who could produce the tape. A couple of weeks later the Post ran a retraction of the item—but laid the blame at the feet of Steppin' Out editor Chaunce Hayden, who they said gave them the bad info in the first place. Well Chaunce Hayden, unrepentant media whore, wouldn't let such a thing pass without turning it into a feud! And he helpfully forwarded on the snippy emails between himself and Page Six boss Richard Johnson. Watch out for flying spittle!

Which recently separated newspaper publisher has been seen regularly in the company of a woman from an even more famous dynasty? They're longstanding friends; she's still married; and she's too preoccupied with an illness in the family to think about the future. But that hasn't stopped the speculation. (Okay, so the newly separated newspaper publisher is pretty obvious: the New York Times' moose-loving Arthur Sulzberger. But the identity of his supposed lover is a surprise.)