So who was that mystery "celebrity" chef trawling Craigslist for his (or her!) new apprentice? Officially speaking, we have absolutely no idea. Unofficially speaking? The results are in, and an overwhelming majority of you (or at least 30%) avow it's Rocco DiSpirito.
There’s no better cure for the Mondays than looking for jobs, and no better cure for hating your job than reading job listings. Each week, we remind you that as bad your job is, it could be a lot worse.
This week, Working Mother magazine is looking for a new photo editor. If you have four years of experience photographing tuna casseroles, this job could be yours. Plus if you like dealing with stressed out moms. Full listing after the jump. CONTINUED »
Because it wouldn't be the holiday season without job cuts at big media companies, USA Today is getting a jump start on stuffing stockings with coal: They're slashing 45 newsroom jobs, or 9 percent of its 500-ish editorial staff. Reason? Despite the header you read on its green Money section, the paper isn't making it like it used to.
"Employees with more than 15 years experience or fewer than five years of online experience will be eligible for a buyout, USA Today Editor-in-Chief Ken Paulson said yesterday in a memo to the staff." Translation: If you're an old, stodgy newspaper veteran, get out! And if you're an old, stodgy online veteran, please stay. [Bloomberg]
There’s no better cure for the Mondays than looking for jobs, and no better cure for hating your job than reading job listings. Each week, we remind you that as bad your job is, it could be a lot worse.
This week, Donald Trump is hiring. As if working for Donald, the real estate mogul, wasn’t repellent enough, here’s an opportunity to promote Donald, the scholar. Trump U. is looking for a creative director for the only online university with the Trump seal of approval.
If you have five years of marketing experience, this terrible job could be yours. Full listing after the jump. CONTINUED »
Do you watch ABC's Ugly Betty? Neither do we! But that doesn't mean we're not more than happy to acknowledge its multifaceted contribution to society.
First and foremost, it's inspired strong, intelligent women with great personalities and below-average looks to follow their dreams of working in completely superficial environments where they'll constantly be judged based on their physical attributes.
Second, it's proved an invaluable comeback vehicle for previously forgotten-about actress/singer Vanessa Williams!
And third, it's evidently helped to generate a significant rise in employment opportunities for Hispanics at all the major networks.
The BBC is planning to cut 2-3,000 of its 23,000-member workforce, or 12 precent. And if the Thomson-Reuters merger goes through, they could be looking at 3,000 axed.
According to a new report, specialized job sites (like Healthcaresoure.com) are seeing significant increase in traffic while general job-finders like Monster and CareerBuilder are experiencing a noticeable drop in circulation.
Meanwhile, professional ladies interested in making upwards of $1000/night by working the occasion foot fetish party (or earning up to $1300, "no strings" for "totally platonic sensual massages") still need look no further than Craigslist.
[WSJ]
The latest victim of misabbreviation gets properly chastised by an attentive Jossip tipster, who promptly emailed us with the subject-line "Girls Life Currently Hiring Asses; Boobs Need Not Apply." Touché. [Mediabistro]
Careerbuilder writes a helpful article about what should/shouldn't be on your resume. What they fail to mention is that if your resume truly does contain either a description of your physical attributes, false information, excessive bragging and/or numerous spelling/grammatical errors, you probably have bigger problems besides the fact that you're generally unemployable. [CNN]
They just happen to be in the "digital" realm. Which, for all intents and purposes, means "blogging." [MediaShift]
Are you young? Borderline ambitious? And, most importantly, willing to work for free? If so, you might be qualified to follow Intern Joe's illustrious footsteps!
That's right, we're looking for another intern (or two!) to help us with the day-to-day intangibles like fetching us coffee, debating who's the worst character on Fashionista Diaries and attending events we're not interested in.
REQUIREMENTS: In order to be like Joe, however, you're going to have to start thinking like Joe. And that means staying up every night until 4am for no reason, unabashedly listening to Kelly Clarkson, wearing the same (unwashed) olive green shirt every single day, chain-smoking and cultivating an irrational appreciation for Thousand Island Dressing.
But wait, there's more!
The only reason most of you visit Poynter's website is to troll through Jim Romenesko's blog link dump. Hey, we do too! (Where do you think half our stories come from?)
But did you know Poynter, the "the number one journalism site in the industry," also has a job posting board, like Mediabistro's, only cheaper? (Seventy-five dollars to MB's $279. Ouch.)
We had nearly forgotten about it — until we posted a job opening on JournalismJobs.com (in case you hadn't heard, Jossip is hiring!). It took about a half hour between the job listing going live on JournalismJobs before our inbox was stuffed with a note from Poynter's director of biz development Colleen Eddy — asking us to use their job listing service.
And we thought it was Andy Serwer's day for poaching.
Why can't working at a women's fashion magazine be as easy as the lifestyle perpetrated by women's fashion magazines? For starters, Elle creative director Joe Zee does not exist in the lifestyle portion of the previous sentence. CONTINUED »
NYU and Columbia aren't the only j-schools where professor hopefuls can find work. Our alma mater, Syracuse University, is looking to staff up its magazine department — and there's even a chance at tenure! (Does that even exist for new profs anymore?) As they say: "Those can't do, teach." Or, in its updated version, "Those who have been fired from Time Inc. more than three times, teach." CONTINUED »
What's it been? Like, five seconds since Sam Zell took over Tribune Co.? Just wanted to check and make sure we knew what ground we stood on, 'cause word arrived that the Los Angeles Times is slashing five percent of its staff, or some 150 jobs. (That would be 70 editorial slots.) And, as you've managed to guess by now, most of those axings will come in the form of voluntary buyouts, at least at first.
The news, announced by L.A. Observed, also brings word that LAT design director Joe Hutchinson is departing for Rolliing Stone.
And when Jann Wenner's Rolling Stone starts looking like a crazy better option than the LAT, well, that's significant and stuff.
Goodbye Kendrick Reid. We hear as part of Viacom's job cuts, Comedy Central's chief graphic designer is among the casualties. He was the man in charge of branding efforts for all of CC. He joined the company in 2000 to help spearhead the network's reshaping. And, naturally, he's repaid with a firing squad.* Cheers.
* Update: We hear Ken was let go in person by boss-slash-friend Peter Risafi, according to a well-placed source.
Update 2: Comedy Central's PR department checks in with this statement: "Please note that your item today on Kendrick Reid is inaccurate. Kendrick’s leaving the company has nothing to do with the recent layoffs at MTVN. Months ago he started a transition to work with Comedy Central as a consultant in order to have the flexibility to work on the launch of Comedy Central International channels and on other outside projects." Spin makes you dizzy, doesn't it?
We'd be remiss if we didn't at least mention that MTV is denying our report that they've gone ahead and canceled TRL. Oh, and they're also claiming they didn't kill VH1 Classic and such.
"There is no truth to the rumors about TRL, MTV2 and VH1 Classic going away," states David Bittler, a spokesperson for MTV Networks. "Some of the staff have been let go from positions within those networks, but those networks will continue. And from the consumer's point of view, there will be no changes to the programming on those networks or on [TRL]."
So we'll take their word for it.* Until we see Vanessa Minnillo begging the Naked Cowboy to let her introduce his next song. Then again, her ass is quitting anyhow.
* Well, not really. It's kinda hard to believe their official denial when more than one now-former MTV staffers has told us TRL is a goner.
So, about our earlier report that Tina Exharos, MTV's exec VP of marketing, was fired? (And staffers were thrilled?) At least one insider says it's not the case — and that she's still in the office.
Files a tattler: "Tina was walking down the hallways saying to people, 'I know it's on Jossip, but it's not true, I have not been let go.'"
All of which brews speculation that either a) She may not even know yet that she's fired; or b) She's choosing not to say anything.
But, either way, TRL is still canceled. So there's THAT to think about.
Unfortunately, MTV doesn't publish a newsletter chronicling who they're firing. Even on MTV Overdrive, nothing. Can you believe? Must be something about those cutbacks.
Alas, since the updates keep coming in (read this morning's lengthy report here), we'll do our best to chronicle who's leaving 1515 Broadway and its diaspora, and other related news. Like who will be around to fetch coffee, and who will be around to have coffee fetched.
And so begins our regularly updated feed:
• VH1 communications chief Laura Nelson, who's been there since '02 and came over from Comedy Central, is a goner, says a knowledgeable source. We're told Laura is a "really a good person" and among the well-liked crowd.
• More names are sure to surface, but it's becoming quite clear that MTV prez Judy McGrath and MTV Music Group head Van Toffler have "fired their entire inner circle of long time advisors, and very close friends," says a well-placed insider.
• As we reported earlier, marketing EVP Tina Exharos has been let go. Now we're hearing that's one axing many MTV staffers are pleased about. Same feelings for the removal of programming EVP Paul DeBenedittis. "Good riddance," says one tattler.
• One insider says all these firings will be a precursor for a major announcement: the retiring of TRL. With just 300,000 viewers tuning in on any day, the veteran flagship show has "outstayed its welcome." But we're told "any announcement will probably come later on [...] after they've removed the personnel infrastructure."
(And yes, our mothers are so proud we've managed to incorporate Anna Nicole in all of this.)
Exclusive
The MTV bloodbath isn't over with yet. Not only has VH1 Classics been dismissed along with Affiliate Marketing & Sales and pretty much all of MTV World, but we hear top ranking executives – who impressively survived previous rounds of layoffs – are getting pink slipped as well.
An insider tells us that at the top is Salli Frattini, senior vice president of production and – more notably – best friend to MTV prez Judy McGrath. It's Sally who was behind big events like the VMAs and Movie Awards. She's also been there since Day One, a tattler tells us. And now she's gone, as is everyone under her. So too is Kathy Flynn, the SVP for production events, and her staff.
Elsehwhere, in a shock to even the most cynical staffers, we hear executive VP of programming Paul DeBenedittis is also out the door. No matter that he's best friends with MTV programming president Brian Graden.
And with MTV World folding, you can also wave goodbye to Nusrat Durrani, the department's head.
CONTINUED »
