'Phil Rosenthal's story on Arianna Huffington's foray into the local blogging market included this line: "Writers work pro bono." "Pro bono" means "for the public good." What Rosenthal should've said is that Huffington wants writers to work for free so she can sell ads around their work. That ain't the public good. That ain't good, period.' [Romenesko]
CNN has plans to supplement their staff with non-traditional (read: not real) reporters, who will gather all their newsiest news armed only with a laptop and their bookmarks to The Drudge Report. Typically we call these people bloggers, but what do we know, we would never have called Richard Quest a reporter either and apparently he is.
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Backtracking off previous backtracking, the International Olympic Committee says it never reached a deal with China to permit Internet filtering, and says all along it's insisted there must be unrestricted access to the web just as there was in previous host cities. They're blaming the mix up on a miscommunication; IOC president Jacques Rogge made his statement in English, which isn't his first language. So now that the IOC's position on censorship has been cleared up, where does the media's Internet access stand? CONTINUED »
"But the most idiotic of recent idiocies is the Huffington Posts's column "Unearthed: News of the Week the Mainstream Media Forgot to Report," by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brendan DeMelle. This could be a great service if the column actually "unearthed" anything – which would take some work and perhaps even actual reporting. But, incredibly, nearly every single item they post is based on, and actually links to, a mainstream media story. They cite stories by The New York Times, the Associated Press, CNN, and many other mainstream media outlets as proof that the mainstream media isn't covering those stories.
"It's beyond bizarre. These men are not merely doubting reality — they are using reality itself to cast doubt on reality. Even more disturbing, their audience doesn't even seem to notice. The comments section is full of people lauding the writers' efforts to "unearth" these stories, with many of them decrying the "MSM's" ignoring them." [Romenesko]
ED2010, the magazine industry newsletter for those who don't realize print is dying, is hosting its FIRST-EVER!!! dot-com class later this month. Led by Huffington Post's Rachel Sklar, attendees are asked to fork over $100 for "a very good chance you’ll get a clip on huffingtonpost.com." You will, of course, not be paid for the privilege.
(Sklar writes in to make very clear, should you misconstrue this item as anything but satire, there is no play for play deal here, and she takes her teaching and reporting responsibilities very seriously. Your $100 class fee will not guarantee you a clip on HuffPo. We even offered $200.)
Hilary Rosen may very well be Wonder Woman.
The New Jersey-born activist acted as the Recording Industry Association of America’s chairman for five years, acted lesbian social networking site Ourchart’s president, served as Human Rights Campaign’s interim executive director back in 2004 and currently serves as Huffington Post’s political director, a gig she accepted earlier this year.
With all that experience under her belt, you can be sure Rosen, who previously endorsed Hillary Clinton’s campaign, has scads to say about the current electoral climate, including the increasingly “blurred” lines between press and politics, her feelings on Clinton’s departure, sexism in the press and how the lived experience shapes one’s political views.
Screen grabbing TMZ, Team Arianna kinda forgot they were also exposing the identity of Billy Bob Thornton's 14-year-old son. [HuffPo Media]
Keep up people! Rob Lowe, dreamy star of Brothers & Sisters, is suing three former employees (two nannies and a chef), for violating non-disclosure agreements, theft, defamation, and infliction of emotional distress.
Lowe took to the Huffington Post on Monday before any of this became a headline, where he announced the nanny of kids Matthew and John Owen, Jessica Gibson, tried extorting he and wife Sheryl Berkoff for $1.5 million; if he didn't pay up, she would allege the actor sexually harassed her. So he sued her for $1 million; ex-chef Peter Clements and ex-nanny Laura Boyce were sued separately, for violating non-disclosure agreements.
But much of this sounds quite suspicious. From the allegations on each side to the way the parties are handling the fall out. Is Lowe trying to shape himself into the victim when, theoretically, it's quite the reverse? Quite possibly. Let's look at where the suspicion falls.
First, Lowe is playing a game of aggressive defense. By blogging on HuffPo, he gets to frame the story as he sees fit, before the nanny or other employees can reach out to any of the tabloid press to tell their side. Commanding the direction of the story is crucial, and being first out of the gate, he gets the prize as the sympathetic party. It's a smart PR move, whether he's guilty or innocent.
Second, Lowe claims he's the victim of alleged extortion, but refuses the help of law enforcement officials, who offered to open a criminal investigation. When the police get involved, Lowe could lose control of the situation's press spin. Authorities would also have interview the ex-employees he's accusing, which means their version of events would become public fodder. For now, Lowe gets to maintain the upper hand. But, generally speaking, victims of extortion refuse police help when they want to handle the matter privately, usually by meeting the blackmailer's demands, so nothing reaches the press. But in this instance, Lowe volunteered to make headlines, guaranteeing the details of the scandal would become public, sooner rather than later. That he doesn't want police help after airing the situation publicly rings sketchy. (TMZ says Lowe and his attorney didn't want police help because it would cause the three ex-employees to go silent.)
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Is Arianna Huffington's group blog getting more traffic than the indefatigable Matt Drudge? Third-party sources who are often completely off base say yes! Nielsen Online says HuffPo snagged 3.7 millino unique visitors in February, to Drudge's mere 3.4m. comScore's numbers are tinier than Nielsen's, but report the same trend: HuffPo's 2.3m to Drudge's 1.6m. Maybe Bill O'Reilly's ambush tactics are working in her favor? [Boomtown]
“EXCLUSIVES” The Huffington Post is more than a fancy RSS of celebrity blogs. It’s also a news source, and don’t you forget it. And they’re running an exclusive that Charlie Kireker succeed Stephen L. Green as owner of Air America. They may be the first with the story, but they may also be the only ones who care. [HuffPo]
Being a designer, philanthropist and part time copyrighter isn’t enough. Kenneth Cole is starting his own blog because “I've always been a frustrated activist.”
Based on his billboards, his issues include dress sizes and shoes. One wonders why KC doesn’t take his brand of celebrity activism to the one-stop blogspot for celebrity activism, the Huffington Post. Maybe Kenneth Cole thinks he better than the Huffington Post.
We’ve been to the midtown store. He’s not.
Bonnie Fuller has real insights into what Britney Spears might really be suffering from, going beyond our diagnosis of just bat-shit crazy.
According to Fuller, Spears has "histrionic" personality disorder and is probably bi-polar, too.
After all, she's speaking with an English accent, wearing a pink wig and according to some sources, her mood and her personality can do a 360° switch in a matter of seconds.
So her personality can make a "360° switch" in a matter of seconds, meaning she acts the exact same way from one moment to the next?
Since we're a marginally better source on usage, trust us, Britney is just bat-shit crazy.
Green might not have been Time magazine’s person of the year, because green is a color, and it was a stupid idea.
But green still is an adjective that comes up a lot. And if the Huffington Post has anything to say about it, it will become synonymous with sexy, which will encourage unsexy people to recycle.
The site just released their “7 Sexiest Green Celebs of 2007” list. Considering it’s January 7, this list is about a week late. And if the Huffington Post really cared about the environment, shouldn’t it be the “7 Greenest Sexy Celebs of 2007”? What’s important here: The environment or sex appeal?
Well, either way, now that stars care about the environment, being green is totally palatable. If Sheryl Crow is conservative with her toilet paper and she’s famous, that means environmentally friendly track marks will get you on the cover of Us Weekly.
The Easiest Job In The World Watching The View and waiting for Sherri Shepard to say something stupid and/or offensive to white people, black people, Christians, Jews, scientists and/or historians. Today it’s about how she would beat her child if she weren’t at a “rich white folks' store.” Don't let the man keep you down, Sherri! Casting department of the View: You’re doing A+ work. [HuffPo]
PET NAMES Rachel Sklar's vernacular so far includes: Brian Williams as "BriWi," Katie Couric as "KaCo," and, as of today, Tom Brokaw as "ToBro." What's next? Diane Sawyer as "DiSaw" and Robin Roberts as "RoRo"?
Editorial Director
