Dan,
Damn it, we agree on too many things! Like you, I would never read Stephen King on a PalmPilot–although I never read King, period. Like you, I think all e-book articles sound the same. And, of course, I think Herb Caen’s getting dissed by J. Edgar Hoover is an honor. It reminds me of the time a pharmaceutical company dubbed me a “warped conspiracy theorist” because of a piece I wrote for The Nation. (Not online yet, but maybe on The Nation’s Digital Archive someday soon.) Those were the days, writing about things I truly detested. Now, it’s my job to investigate journalists, a job we might very well disagree about. Unlike you, I can understand why people don’t want to talk. For the subjects, I imagine, media reporting feels like being strip-searched in an airport. It’s involuntary, a hassle, and a waste of time.
Was Jim Cramer’s piece really as ”incoherent” as you think? Today, as Bill Gates is getting kicked in the stomach, the New York Post reports that George Soros’ hedge fund lost $3 billion this month. Then again, the Post takes every chance to slam Soros, because of his progressive political views. And they lo-o-ve Henry Kissinger, who moderated the Post’s “Global Forum” in New York today, courtesy of host Rupert Murdoch. Wonder how much those two lost in the crash?
Speaking of Murdoch–People reports the media mogul “will begin a course of radiation treatment for prostate cancer sometime in May.” Is it tasteless to mention that? Wouldn’t the Post report the same thing about Castro? After all, Murdoch controls a vast media network, including Harper Collins, which published that new book on Ken Starr. (Take my word: It’s a dud, just like his investigations.) When Murdoch exits the stage, maybe some of the blather will go with him, like that Peggy Noonan Op-Ed from yesterday’s Journal–which showed up again, with the money shot, in today’s Post. I confess a curiously strong appetite for the conservative press. In the Journal today, under the headline “Zany Brainy To Acquire Noodle Kidoodle,” there’s a tiny item announcing the New York Times Co. has postponed its board meeting by a month. Something to do with the Times’ decision to issue tracking stock for New York Times Digital, the company’s Internet unit, and having to get SEC approval for it. I don’t know what that’s about, but for a look at how Times Digital is affecting free-lancers at the Boston Globe, check out my latest column in the Village Voice. I’d love to hear what your sources say.
In media res,
Cynthia
