video 19-year-old Sarah Killen has become America's most beloved celebrity-for-no-reason since Levi Johnston and this time, the love isn't ironic. Killen, whose life changed dramatically when a bored, unemployed Conan O'Brien decided to follow her on Twitter at random, has been making the internet media rounds since last Friday, answering questions about her wedding, her newfound fame, and all the freebies that came with it. Today she made the jump from the internet to national television, sitting down with CNN's American Morning crew to try to explain why tens of thousands of people now want to be in the know about her life. (more...)

Anyone who needs reminding of how jagged the ironies of cost-cutting can get ought to hotfoot it over to The New York Observer’s homepage.  There, amid a quartet of articles centralized under the rubric “Today’s Top Stories,” you’ll find the wryly titled “My Town of Kind!” by Meredith Bryan.

Be warned: depending on the depth and genus of your news-addiction, “My Town of Kind” may also induce sensations in the realm of déjà vu.

(more...)

On a sojourn upstate, my wife and I stumbled on a little antique market and, there, a 1977 issue of New York magazine. In this particular issue: Seattle Slew's chances in the Triple Crown (good), the opening of Studio 54 (bananas), and a review of Annie Hall, which is printed below in its historically embarrassing entirety.

While we're feeling superior: check out the cover story. For our friends in the media industry, it should be considered inspirational. For if you're struggling every day to publish magazines and newspapers that, unfortunately, probably won't be along much longer (or websites that, unfortunately, will) - at least you're not making $23,200 a year.* That princely sum was the 1977 annual salary of Eileen Shields, Time's New York reporter. On the plus side, it was a 10% jump over her $21,000 1975 salary. In 2010, twenty-one grand is below the Federal poverty level for a family of four. Ms. Shields wasn't alone - the Times' Judy Klemesrud made only $37,000. Eugene Maleska, that era's Will Shortz, got $26,000 (earning a place on the magazine's "Cushiest Jobs in Town" call-out). Peter Fleischmann, Chairman of The New Yorker, only got $76,800. I know people that make more than that! (Demonstrating that 1977's priorities weren't completely out of whack with our own, A. O. Sulzberger pulled in a much more robust $285,000 - just over a million dollars in 2010 money.) Hundreds of salaries are detailed. Sandy, the dog from Annie (which is also reviewed in this issue), earned $200 a week, twice as much as the doorman with whom he shares the cover. Mario Cuomo, then Secretary of State, made $47,800 - bested by "Duane", a pimp in Midtown who made $54,000. (See, media drones! Some of you are making more than stereotypical late '70s pimps!) The list is amazing - so many names you recognize in jobs that you didn't know they held. (David Dinkins was City Clerk! John Marr was the city's Chief Epidemiologist!) Here is the list, in full. New York has done this since, multiple times, most recently (as far as I can tell), in 2005. This newest list is also very much worth a look, if only to see the athletes and now-disgraced titans of industry and who make their 1977 counterparts look like relative hobos. (Lehman's Dick Fuld made $35,000,000 in 2005; Frank Cary, CEO of IBM, earned $595,000 28 years prior. Raise your hand if you still do business with Lehman Brothers.) These comparisons aren't fair, of course. A dollar in 1977 isn't the same as a dollar today. (In fact, a 1977 dollar is worth about three-and-a-half times a 2010 dollar.) But it's more fun comparing your salary to Rose Ann Scamardella's $60,000 annual earnings than her actual $214,000-in-2010-dollars haul. ("Tony", who passed out flyers for the Harem massage parlor, gets boosted from $3 an hour to only $10, so feel free to act superior.) So ignore those dollar conversions. Our goal here is to make you feel rich, that you're worth more than the Director of the FBI ($42,500) or the Chancellor of schools ($53,000) or, at the very least, the Chair of the Arts Department at Paterson State College ($16,993). And here's another way to feel better. Punch your salary, however meager, into the Global Rich List calculator, and you'll learn that, pretty much no matter what, you're in the 95% of wealth in the world. (Don't ruminate on what that means for the rest of the world. Just feel rich.) I'll leave you with one last ego boost. Robert Moses, the architect of much of modern New York City transportation, earned $35,000 in 1977. In 2005, New York's survey discovered that Anna Wintour's assistant made $40,000. I think we can all agree that when assistants at magazines earn more than public servants, it's a sign that the universe is shifting into proper alignment. Just don't adjust for 2005 dollars.

* Unless, of course, you do. In which case... man. I mean... man.

New York magazine lost two high-ranking employees this week, as announcements surfaced that deputy editor Hugo Lindgren would move to the revamped Bloomberg BusinessWeek, while online managing editor Jessica Coen would reenter the Gawker Media world that spawned her, this time as executive editor of the women's blog Jezebel. But apart from possible bellwether changes at New York, Gawker Media's reacquisition of Coen is the fourth in a recent trend: medium-to-high profile bloggers and reporters, nursed as neophytes on Nick Denton's teat, coming back to Gawker Media for a second time. Doree Shafrir, Richard Lawson, Joel Johnson and Jessica Coen: If these names make you think of people you follow on Twitter or Tumblr, read on. It seems like their movement -- usually away from corporate or old guard institutions -- means that this is the future. Right here on the internet? (more...)

Dueling stories about up-and-coming actor Ben Whishaw are out in Out and New York this week, with different takes on the actor's ambiguous sexuality. New York's headline dubs Whishaw and Hugh Dancy, co-starring in provocative-sounding play The Pride together next month, "Heterosexual Actors," whereas Out went with "Mysterious Skin" for its headline and attempts to argue that Whishaw doesn't want his sexuality labeled, before attempting to label it anyway. Neither story gets a sexual confession from Whishaw. So does Out, a gay publication, try to instill gayness in their subjects, no matter what? And does New York's "innocent until proven gay" approach show that mainstream publications still dub actors "straight" until an actor has explicitly stated his homosexuality? (more...)

The New York Times is finally ready to start charging users for access to content online and the plan will be announced by Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. imminently, according to a report this morning by New York magazine's Daily Intel. In a highly anticipated and not at all unexpected business move, the paper has decided on a "metered" payment plan, similar to the Financial Times, in which readers have access to some free content before a subscription is necessary, Gabriel Sherman is reporting. (more...)

Now that the dust has settled over the initial and headline-making revelations of the new campaign book Game Change, a number of people are beginning to question how authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin managed to get all the juicy quotes they included in the book. Halperin described the process to Time managing editor Rick Stengel: (more...)

Who says no one is reading books anymore! Washington is still reeling today from revelations made in the uber-gossipy yet-to-be-released Game Change penned by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. A copy of the book, which was technically under embargo until today, was discovered by the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder in a D.C. bookstore who shortly thereafter began posting the "juiciest bits" which shortly thereafter made international headlines. Not to be outdone the NYT apparently shortly thereafter got their hands on a copy and whipped up an embargo breaking review that called it "a spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations and allegations — some that are based on impressive legwork and access, some that simply crystallize rumors and whispers from the campaign trail." It's true! Thus far the headlines sound like D.C.'s version of the behind the high school gymnasium gossip mill. And who could resist that. (more...)

video Past is prologue? Just in time for the 2010 mid-term election bonanza comes the much-anticipated Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. So anticipated in fact that what is billed as a "sweeping, novelistic portrait of this historic and unusual race" is under embargo until Monday. Ahead of the release the two are being interviewed on 60 Minutes this Sunday along with John McCain's former top campaign strategist Steve Schmidt. Additionally, Drudge has devoted a entire box to it, including what yesterday looked like an excerpt, but which appears to have since been removed. (more...)

The media establishment in New York may frequently feel that the dismantling of their industry has reached what could be described as biblical proportions of the "dogs and cats living together" type. Be that as it may, it apparently is not yet bad enough for the New York Post and the New York Daily News to consider "printing together," despite the fact such an arrangement would feasibly be to their mutual benefit. (more...)

The year 2009 was a remarkably troubled year for magazine publishing — filled with lay-offs, declining ad revenue, and serious questions about the viability of the medium as a whole. Yet, in this sea of bad news, a few titles were able to eke out some positive attention and influence over the field — thanks, in part, to the vision and leadership of their editors. Who among them did we find to do his or her job the best? Jon Meacham, Editor-in-chief for Newsweek. His runner-up and reader poll winner after the jump.

Editor of the Year: Jon Meacham

Newsweek did the unthinkable. And its not that they re-invented their magazine by layout, design and mission. No, they decided to aim for a smarter audience instead of appealing to the lowest common denominator. And for that alone, Jon Meacham deserves certain laurels from his media brethren. Don't get us wrong - there are still significant questions about the long-term viability of the magazine; some have even said that it won't survive the next year. It is true that the magazine has lost money this year, but their quarterly losses are trending in the right direction: from an estimated $20MM in Q1, to $5MM in Q2, to $4MM in Q3.

But Meacham deserves this honor for reasons more important to the bottom line. Of course, he's spent most of the year at the top of the Magazine Editor's category in the Power Grid. And why? Because nobody has more consistently nailed the national zeitgest better than Meacham and his team of editors -- special shouts-out goes to Ted Moncreiff and Bonnie Siegler, two incredibly important deputies to Meacham who had major hands in the editorial and visual reimagining of Newsweek.

Runner-up: Robbie Myers

Industry insiders claim that there was one magazine party that actually was incredibly festive because there was reason to celebrate: the year-end party for Elle. And what was the reason? For the first time ever, Elle sold more total ad pages than its competitor Vogue. Of course, it's worth noting that ad pages in Elle come at a much more affordable rate than Vogue, but good news in this economic climate is to be cherished and celebrated, so cherish and celbrate we will.

Much of the success at Elle can be attributed to the smart savvy and industry respect of Robbie Myers, its editor-in-chief. Its super hot creative direction led by Joe Zee is complimented perfectly by its super-smart entertainment coverage, which consistently features writing that rivals any other magazine out there. But it's also about buzz -- lately, it's become hard to watch a television talk show without seeing an Elle employee. Also, their Women In Hollywood event didn’t just garner great attention, but it practically got Alec Baldwin the gig to host the Oscars. Congrats to Ms. Myers for having a great 2009.

Reader's Choice: Jess Cagle Mediate held an online poll for Magazine Editor of the year and our reader's spoke loudly - Jess Cagle was the winner going away. Why does he deserve this laurel?

Weekly magazines have a particularly hard time keeping up in the Internet age. Editorial staffs have to work harder and think far more analytically than the staffs at monthly magazines just to compete with blogs who cover the same terrain. Jess Cagle took over a shaky ship, amidst rumors of Entertainment Weekly's imminent demise, and not only killed off those rumors, but re-invigorated an editorial product that has regained much of its enthusiasm and energy from yesteryear. Of course, its worth noting that reader polls often measure the enthusiasm behind an individual nominated, but judging by the voter turnout, it appears that the Entertainment Weekly staff is firmly behind Cagle's leadership. And that spells good times ahead for EW.

Special Mention - Of course there are many other editorial stars that deserve special mention for navigating their respective titles through a particularly stormy sea that was 2009. Judged purely on consistent editorial product, it's hard to top The New Yorker's David Remnick . Rick Stengel of Time has reinvigorated that weekly title as well. New York's Adam Moss always merits inclusion in these lists because, well, he's Adam Moss and he does an amazing job week in and week out. Representing the little guy, Backpacker's EIC Jon Dorn has deservedly received numerous plaudits from his publishing peers this year as well. Ruth Reichel deserves notice, but for sad reasons, but she has never received more love and support than when Gourmet was shuttered.

collection The recent New Yorker Christmas cover, featuring a brilliant Barry Blitt illustration of President Obama bowing deeply to Santa Claus, reminds us of how much we like the long tradition of magazines making bold holiday statements on their covers for the December issue. We went to our local newsstand looking for more of these covers and found… very little. What was once considered essential for any magazine worth its ink and paper has now obviously been banished by an aggressive War on Christmas Magazine Covers by the Forces of Evil. (more...)

video

On yesterday's Hardball, Chris Matthews got testy over the suggestion that President Barack Obama is having trouble with the left. When New York Magazine political correspondent John Heilemann suggested that the Democratic base was wavering about Obama over concerns that he had "sold out to conservatives" and was "too mushy and too centrist," Matthews swatted back, saying that the netroots "get their giggles out of sitting in the back seat and bitching:" (more...)

Layoffs have finally arrived at the New York Times. After completing a round of buyouts last week, which totaled 74 (slightly more than was expected) the paper yesterday started laying off the remaining 26 people. Earlier this year executive editor Bill Keller said the paper was looking to shed 100 people. Here's what the list looks like thus far as put together by New York and Gawker: (more...)

As the decade we've dubbed The Aughts winds to a close, many magazines are celebrating with giant interactive features that attempt to encapsulate ten years of tragedy, victory, controversy and beyond. Newsweek, for example, has dedicated an entire website to The Decade In Rewind and endless content flows, from videos to think-pieces. Mediaite, too, has a section designated for The Aughts. It's an exciting time, and the nostalgia washes over us all.

But to praise (or denounce, right Time?) the end of the decade with a magazine cover is truly a special sort of honor -- and oddly enough, it's rare. So far, not too many titles have given the early 2000s the newsstand treatment, so we figured for the final edition of Cover Wars this year (and this decade!), we would celebrate those commemorating The Aughts. That means New York vs. Time vs. Rolling Stone vs. New York. See below for the winner, and as for Cover Wars, see you next year! (more...)

At this point it's just depressing. New York magazine's Chris Rovzar -- the Daily Intel blogger who is absolutely all over the media beat these days -- is reporting that the Washington Post Company's Budget Travel will be the next magazine to fold outright, based on tips from numerous sources. (UPDATE: Not the case, actually! See below.) (more...)

"The best analogy I can think of is — have you ever heard of the Titanic Fallacy?" he asked. We hadn't. "What was the critical flaw to the Titanic?" We tried to answer: Poor construction? Not enough life boats? Crashing into stuff? "A captain trying to set a world speed record through an iceberg field?" he said, shaking his head. "Even if the Titanic came in safely to New York Harbor, it was still doomed," he said. "Twelve years earlier, two brothers invented the airplane." -- New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. demonstrates the correct Titanic analogy to employ when discussing the future of print. The fact he is clear on the problem (and the future!), alas, does not mean he has a solution. Where are the media world's Wright Bros.? Will the Zuckerbergs one day fill the void?

When it comes to keeping it all in the family, online banner ads are a new frontier. If you check out the media page of the New York Observer today you might be met with the serious stare of Donald Trump's businesswoman daughter Ivanka in an advertisement for her new book The Trump Card, complete with the tag line "Inspiration. Success. Confidence. Passion. The ultimate apprentice shares her secret to winning at work and life." See the screenshot below. (more...)

In this week's New York Times Magazine's online preview, writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis explores the world of gay youth in a story boldly titled "Coming Out in Middle School." The result is a poignant tribute to brave teenagers across the United States and their supportive families and educators -- the article represents firm, confident steps in the right direction. But centering such a controversial piece around the painfully candid words and experiences of minors veers dangerously close to exploitation, and despite being such an engaging read, leads me to wonder if it's not, in fact, wrong. After all, the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics states: "Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects."

Denizet-Lewis writes:

(more...)

Grab the latest issue of New York or Fortune magazine, roll it up and smoke it — you might get high. Both are full of weed. Both titles ran full-length features about marijuana in their most recent issues, taking a look, in their respective ways, at the relationship between marijuana and American law. Both stories notice that marijuana is more legal these days than you might think. But both stories mention The Volcano, a $600 vaporizer. And both make passing jabs at the Reagan era, a backward slide after the pot-smoking progress of the '70s. (more...)

VIDEO Neil Patrick Harris is a magician, literally. He does magic tricks (video below). He's on the board of theMagic Castle the infamous LA magic club. And he hosted the World Magic Awards last year. He also likes scavenger hunts! But Harris' career has also been magical. In the past five years, Harris has both come out publicly and played a rough-around-the-edges lech on CBS' How I Met Your Mother. And during his transformation from Doogie Howser to gay grown-up, Harris has magically remained somebody that straight men kind identify with and women can fall for. (more...)

How bored or self-important does a person have to be to make a name for themselves posting in the comments section of a blog? Ever wonder how these people have time to pay the bills? Wonder no longer. Being a blowhard pays! And not just on cable news. -

video Where do the neo-conservatives go to get fair discussion of the issues? To find "genuine intellectual curiosity"? The Daily Show, of course. Jon Stewart, "America's Most Trusted Newsman," appears to be enjoying the similar acclaim from the Right these days. Neo-con Cliff May tells New York's Daily Intel, that while initially hesitant to do a Daily Show interview, he had one of the best discussions of his life with Stewart when he appeared on the show back in May. (more...)

VIDEO Today on MSNBC Jennifer Senior was on to talk about her article in the newest issue of New York Magazine (check out Mediaite's take on it here). What transpired was one of the stranger technical glitches we've ever seen. (more...)