Although we can’t always shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.

With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about last-minute costume ideas. And this year, instead of frantically hunting through the on-sale rack at Ricky’s for that elusive half-priced garment that says “Slutty, yet sophisticated,” why not be creative? There are plenty of do-it-yourself costumes* that require minimal effort on your part and are guaranteed to please potentially capable of suiting your needs.

Moderately intrigued? Read on, anyway! After the jump, a complete rundown of the scariest media personalities around with useful tips on how to capture their “essence” without breaking the bank or sacrificing your unique rebelliousness.

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Kicking it old school, MySpace has partnered with HarperCollins and entered into publishing.

Figuring that kids are the only ones who still use MySpace and care about the environment, the first book will be called MySpace/Our Planet: Change is Possible and come out on Earth Day.

The book will be penned by freelance writer Jeca Taudte and include suggestions from MySpace users. One potential snag: Taudte is not a member on MySpace but is on Facebook.

Well, at least the writer they found probably isn’t a child predator.

There are reporters who are stupid. There are reporters who are lazy. There are reporters who are drunk. I’m none of those things. And I didn’t want to be judged on my challenges. I wanted to be judged on my work.

I believed that I had enough of a reputation and enough of a track record that, when I say to other journalists, I don’t remember, that they could simply accept that — or prove me wrong … But instead, it just became fodder for more attacks — and for people saying, suggesting, that I was obviously hiding something, because I was saying I forgot.

–Kurt Eichenwald defends his motives, claims epileptic seizures (triggering “significant memory loss”) caused him to “forget” that he’d given the subject of his child pornography story monetary compensation during the course of his research. [via NPR]

It was about two years ago that Kurt Einchenwald broke the story of Justin Berry, an underage internet hustler. The story was creepy and disturbing, but now that Justin is of age, the creepy and disturbing part is Kurt Eichenwald.

A Tennessee federal court released last week that Einchenwald, using a fake name, bought $1,184 worth of digital photos from Justin. Whether or not these were pornographic or taken when Justin was under 18 is unknown. But Eichenwald made comments like “I found a pretty good one but the lighting sucks… still worth 100″ and “I found 3 so far that I either didn’t already have and were good.” What exactly constitutes “good” is unclear; presumably Eichenwald wasn’t referring to how the lighting would look in the Times.

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Jeffrey Chu, senior associate editor at Conde Nast’s Portfolio, is leaving the mag to join Fast Company. Chu’s departure follows that of senior writer Kurt Eichenwald and deputy editor Jim Impoco, who recently left for various undisclosed reasons otherwise known as “Joanne Lipman.”

Notorious Times‘ scribe Kurt Eichenwald* resigns from Portfolio just weeks before the second issue hits newstands. Since Eichenwald has yet to publicly address his reasons for stepping down, it has yet to be determined whether his leaving was prompted more by another journalism ethics scandal or simply by the irrepressible urge to jump ship before Joanne Lipman the crazy lady at the top ruins everything.

Earlier: Portfolio Deputy Editor Axed After ‘Night Of The Long Words’

*Best known for paying upwards of $2500 in exchange for internet pornography a story about internet pornography

While we much enjoyed Kurt Eichenwald multi-thousand word NYT pieces on then-child Internet porn star Justin Berry, it must be said: the fall out is even more riveting. Eichenwald’s $2,000 payment to Berry – which, by this point, you already know he requested to be returned – has caused the current Portfolio byline to reappear in the headlines, with all sorts of ethics cliches attached.

But he didn’t do anything wrong, Kurt continues to claim.

Eichenwald says that the thought of telling his editors that he had made a $2,000 payment to a source “slipped my mind in the flood” of events.

“Paying for news is the quick, simple line that people are using,” Eichenwald said. “But it’s not what happened.”

In unrelated news, Candace Trunzo just sent a memo to Star staffers: The above is their new mantra.

This summer, the New York Observer lost one of their star reporters to Conde Nast when the greatest magazine launch ever, Conde Nast Portfolio, grabbed up Gabriel Sherman for their staff.

Thanks to Nat Ives, we have now have the whole file full of new CN Portfolio staffers. Joining Gabe are a gaggle of other A-List reporters, including the New York Times‘ Kurt Eichenwald, Time’s Matt Cooper, and of course, EIC Joanne Lipman. (Gotta’ keep that Google search up.)

But today we, along with everyone else, learn that Gabe is not the only Observer gone the way of the glossy. Sheelah Kolhatkar, NYO’s culture writer, is also leaving the weekly paper for a staff writer position at CN Portfolio.

Looks like quite a team, but everyone still better hit the ground running. There’s only seven months left until the first issue comes out.

You’d think after writing for dailies and weeklies, seven months would be a solid amount of time to get the first few issues rolling — and to hire Katherine Seelye, Rebecca Dana, and Adam Fisher.

A Portfolio of ‘Portfolio’ Hires [Nat Ives, Ad Age]

Did anyone really think that, after throwing all that money into Portfolio, Conde Nast was going to be happy with a less-than-stellar staff? Nope. The in-the-works biz mag continues to beef up its staff, this time adding New York Times‘ star reporter Kurt Eichenwald.

You remember Eichenwald — he’s the guy who saved that Justin kid from his online webcam porn rig, and then needed to enroll in months of psycho-therapy. Well, he’s going to be hanging out at Conde now, working at CN Portfolio, the greatest magazine of the past 30 to 40ish years.

“[It’s] the chance to be a part of one of the greatest magazine start-ups of my lifetime, to be there on the ground floor and have an effect on its direction.”

Wow. And to think all this time we thought Cosmo Girl was going to be greatest launch in magazine history.

TIME TO GO [Stephanie D. Smith, WWD]

If you actually still have a water cooler that you gossip around, surely Monday’s New York Times omnibus on Justin the drug-addled self-made underage teen porn star caught the attention of you and your Us Weekly-reading colleagues. Media critics, however, let it fly by for the most part (well, not Jack Shafer, which makes us love him even more, and the pandering CBS Public Eye blog). Even we crossed our fingers that the its moment of relevancy would pass, but alas, two days later, we can’t get it out of our heads: This is the biggest piece of hypocritical bullshit the Times has run since reneging on Judy Miller. And that was, like, just a few weeks ago.

The story in question goes a little something like this: A 13-year-old boy named Justin turns his interest in technology into a web porn operation that earns him hundreds of thousands of dollars over several years, as well as a cocaine addiction. He reunites with his absentee father, who ends up going into business with Justin and arranges him to sleep with whores on camera for more paying customers. In the end, Justin gives it all up and helps the government track down his johns to “protect” other at-risk children.

Like holding editors unaccountable when reporters crap a big one, the Times has a longstanding tradition of saying one thing and doing another. Remember B’s much-rebuked item accusing Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera of staging a Hurricane Katrina save for the camera? It was just one of a laundry list of Times-isms coming straight out of a j-school textbook: Journalists shouldn’t interfere with the story or they risk becoming the story. And we happen to agree (though perhaps we’d intervene if a man was lit on fire and we ran out of notebook paper to chronicle the horror).

So the Times has plenty of explaining to do for allowing its Enron beat reporter Kurt Eichenwald spend six months tailing Justin Berry to spit out “Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World” (and the accompanying series of sidebar items). The 6,000 words are undoubtedly a push for a Pulitzer, which just might be the only (still illigitimate) excuse for NYT editors OKing actions like persuading Justin to give up his cash-minting porn operations, cooperate with federal authorities in prosecuting skeevy old men who paid him to masturbate on camera, and see a therapist so he could one day make peace with his absentee father who, it turns out, became a short-lived business partner and pimp. And through Kurt’s greased hand, Justin also lands himself immunity against child porn charges (he was 19 before he finally gave up his operations, which included exploiting other underage boys) under a deal for him to testify.

We can hate on OK! magazine for paying for its stories, but at least Sarah Ivens & Co. aren’t making claims of prize-winning journalism (instead, she’s making out). But the NYT – through finding Justin’s legal counsel, a place to stay and other rehabilitative perks – went ahead and bought its way through a sensational story (though we can’t blame Kurt for that) that may win him journalism’s top prize. Let it be known, however, that there will always be an asterisk attached to any superlative. And we’re going to stain it pink.

Through His Webcam, a Boy Joins a Sordid Online World [Kurt Eichenwald, NYT]
Documenting a Crime That Thrives on Anonymity [Kurt Eichenwald, NYT]
Where the Credit Card Trail Leads [Kurt Eichenwald, NYT]
A Shadowy Trade Migrates to the Web [Kurt Eichenwald, NYT]
Making a Connection With Justin [Kurt Eichenwald, NYT]
Related: The New York Times Legal Aid Society [Jack Shafer, Slate]