Hans Eisenbeis Last night, we stayed late at the office in order to crash a party upstairs. We were finishing the new issue, too. Needless to say, we were thirsty. Someone here in the art department (always the hipsters at any magazine) had received an invitation to the WEA/ADA office holiday shindig up on the seventh floor. … Read more
We were thrown into a mild fit of nostalgia today, courtesy of Slate magazine. In graciously quoting an article from The Rake written by Albert Eisele, Timothy Noah erroneously cited it as being from the current (December) issue of the magazine. We certainly don’t mind if Slate quotes us and makes us look smart and … Read more
We were amused to see StarTribune.com, along with virtually every other online news outlet in the country, trot out the “Breaking News!” banner yesterday for the Scott Peterson trial, whatever that was. In an effort to string this along, first the big news was that the jury had reached a decision. Then, a few minutes … Read more
We’ve carped a lot lately about that annoying person who claims that “the mainstream media” does not cover this story or that story. Our boilerplate response is that this person has simply not looked hard enough. (Hint: Most public libraries now provide free web access—when they are open.) As an afterthought, we often ask: What … Read more
You might find this hard to believe, but we get writers around here who constantly want to use the F-word in their stories—and presumably in their lives. (My daughters call this the “F-swear,” which they’ve heard daddy say once or twice, I’m sorry to say. To which I have responded, “Do as I say… not, … Read more
Today, the AP reports the tragic news that a person with a gun charged the stage at a rock concert and opened fire. Last night in Columbus, Ohio, Damageplan was one song into its first set when a man opened fire and killed three people before being shot and killed himself by police officers. Among … Read more
We were surprised to open up Monday’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune to see Jon Tevlin’s article on religion in the workplace. Surprised, because it was very similar to a feature story that was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine about a month ago. We’d noticed Russell Shorto’s feature, not only because it was a … Read more
We have very little patience for the ongoing conversation about blogs and whether anybody cares about them or not. Like most things, it makes very little sense to judge a whole medium or phenomenon generically. There are good blogs and there are bad blogs. (Helpful hint: paid professionals are paid professionals for a reason. They … Read more
In yesterday’s Sunday Times, Frank Rich makes a point we were trying to make ourselves a few weeks ago. In the aftermath of the election, USA Today had published a story that suggested Big, Bad, Liberal Media was scratching its collective head, wondering where it had gone so terribly wrong in understanding the country–and more … Read more
Yesterday at Slate, Jack Shafer claimed that “the best place to judge journalists is on the printed page.” That seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say… if you’re judging them on their journalism. But that was not the point of his article—which purported to follow up on an “anonymous tip” regarding the speaking fees … Read more