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The Kicker

  1. February 09, 2010 11:08 AM

    Flip Through The Years, with Palin and Fey

    The Magazine Publishers of America and the American Society of Magazine Editors have jointly produced a neat little video that retells the story of the 00'-10' decade via magazine covers.

    Some are eerily prescient, like the ESPN Magazine that features a baby faced Yao Ming alongside the tag line "He's Next," or the February 2000 People cover asking if Britney Spears was "Too Sexy Too Soon." That's the benefit of a retrospective, I suppose.

    I especially love the odd resonance that the videomakers found between two very famous covers of two very famous and closely-linked women: Tina Fey and Sarah Palin's turns on Vanity Fair (Jan '09) and Newsweek (Nov '09).






    Especially amazing, because it has to be coincidental. As you may remember, the Newsweek photo was actually taken by a photographer on assignment for Runner's World. Still: both photos are flag-draped and leggy with the right-knee-cocked. The Fates are winking.

  2. February 08, 2010 02:45 PM

    “John Murtha Dead”: ‘Funny’? ‘Typical’? ‘Finally’?

    Sometimes, the systems news organizations have put in place to make news more social--admirable as those systems generally are in spirit--really, really don't work in practice. To wit, the Huffington Post's rather unfortunate treatment--WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?--of today's sad news: the death of Representative John Murtha.

  3. February 05, 2010 06:32 PM

    Isis, Oh, Isis

    Earlier this week, Max Blumenthal, a journalist who has written for The Nation and other outlets, wrote a piece for Salon detailing James O’Keefe’s history with issues of race. For an article that will appear in CJR next week, Greg Marx examined Blumenthal’s allegation that O'Keefe, along with another man, planned a 2006 event at which white nationalist Jared Taylor spoke.

    One of Blumenthal's sources for this point was a D.C.-area photographer who goes by the name of Isis. Earlier today on his personal blog, a post by Blumenthal called into question Marx's reportorial diligence in attempting to get in touch with Isis. Blumenthal wrote that Isis told him Marx had never attempted to contact her, and that Marx "could have easily have obtained her contact information from me or Daryle Jenkins, the founder of One People’s Project. But Marx did not do so." After CJR provided him with audio evidence that Marx had indeed tried to contact Isis via Jenkins, Blumenthal updated his post to confirm that Marx and Jenkins had spoken. The update initially failed to mention that Marx had clearly asked Jenkins to put him in touch with Isis. Blumenthal has since revised the update to reflect that fact. Which we appreciate.*

    For the record, here’s a transcript of the relevant portion of the conversation between Jenkins and Marx: 

    Greg Marx: I tried to, um, contact the photographer, Isis, through her Web site, but it appears that that e-mail address is no longer functioning. Would you be able to either provide me with her contact information or let her know that I'm trying to reach her?

    Daryle Jenkins: Um. You said you're with the Columbia Law Review or Columbia Law Journal?

    GM: Columbia Journalism Review.

    DJ: Columbia Journalism Review. Do you have an e-mail from Columbia Journalism Review, because, um, she's also... she does tend to be a little apprehensive about speaking to folks. I mean, Breitbart, um, kind of, like, tried to do a hit-and-run with me yesterday. So, um, we're pretty much on guard. We want to make sure that -- she wants to, in particular, make sure that, uh, she's talking to legitimate people.

    GM: OK. Um.

    DJ: She's definitely going to tell me that. That's why I say that.

    GM: OK. The, the, the address that I use most of the time is my Gmail account. Uh, I don't have a, a -- our Web site is cjr.org, I don't have a CJR e-mail account. I do have a columbia.edu account, because I was a journalism student at Columbia last year before becoming -- before going to work for the magazine.

    DJ: OK.

    GM: And I can give you that address. That's functioning.

    DJ: OK. Um. I'd better do it quick because I'm -- I'm actually on the train and I'm about to go under a tunnel. What would be the, uh, what would be the e-mail address?

    GM: It's g-a-m

    DJ: Uh-huh.

    GM: 2-1-2-8.

    DJ: Uh-huh.

    GM: At columbia dot edu.

    DJ: G-A-M-2-1-2-8 at columbia dot edu.

    GM: That's it.

    DJ: OK. I'll try to contact her now.

    GM: I appreciate it, Daryle.

    DJ: All right.

    * In the second paragraph of the original version of this post, I wrote that "Blumenthal suggested that Marx had not attempted to get in touch with Isis." That line could have been misinterpreted to mean that Blumenthal had flat-out written something similar to those words. He did not. The line has been deleted, and the rest of the paragraph has been adjusted to clarify this point.

  4. February 02, 2010 12:18 PM

    Working at Home in Pajamas Sounds A Lot Like Being Laid Off

    After reporting on the phenomenon of start-ups as virtual workplaces, telecommuting, the rise of the four-day work-week and other cost cutting workplace innovations made possible thanks in part to technological things like Google and the Internet and electricity, Inc. magazine is conducting its own experiment in the virtual workplace.

    This month, the business mag has sent its own staff home to work remotely and blog the benefits of Skype vs. IM and about what happens when an industry "where it is still common for an editor, a designer, a photo editor, and a writer to gather around a table to look at a page proof" cannot be in the same physical space. They're capping it off with "a definitive piece on virtual work—a look at pros and cons of running a highly-dispersed team" in their April issue.

    If I were a staff member at Inc., I'm not sure if I would be approaching this experiment a clever bit of participatory journalism, an innovative, cost-cutting measure that could help save the future of the ailing magazine industry, or just be really freaked out that it sounds eerily like what happens when a title in said industry goes to that virtual workplace in the sky and shuts down for good. From Inc.'s announcement:

    So how does being a virtual workplace affect a company’s culture—and the quality and efficiency of its output? To find out, we’ve decided to conduct a little experiment: Starting right now, Inc. magazine will cease to exist as a physical place. We, the members of the magazine’s editorial staff, are packing up our things, turning off the lights, and leaving our offices (which happen to be really, really nice). The idea: If virtual companies are so good, why not give it a try ourselves?
  5. February 01, 2010 01:36 PM

    Ironic Hed of the Day

    From The New York Times, without further comment:

  6. January 29, 2010 10:47 AM

    Historical Precedents for Criticism of the Court

    Adam Liptak does great work covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times, and his piece today about Barack Obama’s very public criticism of the Citizens United decision is worth a read. But I want to provide a little bit of context for this paragraph:

    Presidents have mentioned the Supreme Court only rarely in State of the Union addresses, usually to make a general point or to note the nominations or retirements of individual justices.

    For post-World War II presidents, that is true. But as Jack Balkin noted yesterday at the legal blog Balkinization, in his 1937 address Franklin D. Roosevelt went far beyond criticizing a particular decision—he faulted the Court’s entire framework of constitutional interpretation, and singled it out as an obstacle to political progress. This passage comes at the conclusion:

    The United States of America, within itself, must continue the task of making democracy succeed.

    In that task the Legislative branch of our Government will, I am confident, continue to meet the demands of democracy whether they relate to the curbing of abuses, the extension of help to those who need help, or the better balancing of our interdependent economies.

    So, too, the Executive branch of the Government must move forward in this task, and, at the same time, provide better management for administrative action of all kinds.

    The Judicial branch also is asked by the people to do its part in making democracy successful. We do not ask the Courts to call non-existent powers into being, but we have a right to expect that conceded powers or those legitimately implied shall be made effective instruments for the common good.

    The process of our democracy must not be imperiled by the denial of essential powers of free government.

    That sounds not too different, actually, than what some of our current president's impatient liberal supporters were hoping he would say about the Senate, which has become an obstacle to his agenda in much the same way the Court was to Roosevelt's. So when they say Obama’s no FDR...

  7. January 27, 2010 03:51 PM

    “We Have the Right Heart. I’d Go Down with You If I Could Brother.”

    Support for James O'Keefe, via his Facebook wall:

    [h/t Dave Weigel]

  8. January 27, 2010 02:55 PM

    Magical! Revolutionary! Transcendent! Resplendent!

    This is the actual description of Apple's iPad, copied verbatim from the actual iPad landing page of the actual Apple Web site:

    "Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."

    Oh, Apple.

  9. January 27, 2010 01:18 PM

    “It’s so much more intimate than a laptop, and it’s so much more capable than a smartphone.”

    Here it is, folks: The Future. Sleek and slick and thus far unicorn/leprechaun/fairydust-free.

    And they shall call its name...the iPad.

    [images via]

  10. January 27, 2010 12:35 PM

    Frum: Send O’Keefe to J-School

    My roundup of right-wing reaction to the arrest of James O'Keefe and three others missed this from David Frum, bolstering his unpredictable conservative credentials:

    I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict: the James O’Keefe/Landrieu phone interference case will be resolved with a very stern talking to by a judge, no criminal record, and 100 hours of community service each for the four arrested young people. Which seems about right. After which … you know there really IS a case for aspiring journalists going to journalism school!
  11. January 27, 2010 12:14 PM

    Politics Ain’t Beanbag. But Maybe it’s a Lawn Party?

    The New York Times is a great newspaper, and just three weeks ago I was defending its prerogative to maintain the style, voice, and general approach that it has for many years. Even I’ve got to admit, though, that the Timesian habit of writing as if with pinky extended can verge on self-parody.

    A case in point, from today’s story on the war of words between Kirsten Gillibrand and Harold Ford:

    The tart comments from both sides suggest that a Democratic primary between the two would be quite a rumpus. It is highly unusual for a United States senator to directly attack a rival who is not even officially in the race, let alone with such personal edge.

    Quite a rumpus, indeed.

  12. January 26, 2010 10:41 AM

    All They Had to Do Was Ask

    Eric Schmitt’s front-page story in today’s New York Times—a report on the details of cables sent in November in which Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, expressed strong concerns about the quality of the Karzai government and the commitment of further American troops—includes this interesting note on how the Times obtained the documents:

    An American official provided a copy of the cables to The Times after a reporter requested them. The official said it was important for the historical record that Mr. Eikenberry’s detailed assessments be made public, given that they were among the most important documents produced during the debate that led to the troop buildup.

    At his blog, Spencer Ackerman remarks: “You can see why a civic-minded leaker wants the record to reflect that. I think I read similar cables in some book written by David Halberstam.” But Ackerman also offers a fuller explanation than the Times story does for why Eikenberry, despite his objections, now says he supports the Obama administration’s plan “without equivocation”: the plan, as enacted, addressed most of his concerns.

  13. January 26, 2010 10:22 AM

    Maybe We Should Call it the Loch Ness Tablet?

    I know that rolling your eyes at all the hype around Apple’s latest hotly anticipated device has now become nearly a cliché in itself, and the example I’m about to flag is surely not the most egregious thing out there. But this bit about a potential sighting of the holy Tablet, which was leading Mashable.com earlier this morning, might almost come from The Onion* (emphasis in last paragraph added added):

    New pictures claiming to be the Apple Tablet have surfaced, and they’re the most realistic ones we’ve seen yet.

    The images, posted by designer and user interface guy Dustin Curtis, reveal what appears to be the tablet on top of a MacBook pro. He posted the images on his Posterous.

    While we cannot verify or debunk their authenticity, they are the most complete images we’ve seen yet of the rumored device. Without the interface running, any video, or a picture of its backside, we can’t even guess as to whether they’re real. Our gut says no, but they’re convincing images.

    What’s next? Maybe a documentary-lite TV special with grainy black-and-white images that dares to ask the bold questions: What did Janitor Johnny see in the warehouse that fateful night? And might rumors of the Tablet—rumors that the "experts" dismiss, but that persist among the honest, plain-spoken folk of Silicon Valley—actually be true?

    *The Onion, of course, has already properly skewered the Tablet pomp. See the results below. And for Ryan Chittum’s take-down of all the hacky Steve-Jobs-as-Moses lines circulating in the press, click here.


    Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

  14. January 25, 2010 06:23 PM

    “The bittersweet chocolate and cab was a match made in heaven.”

    Behold, the unholy union of Fawning Political Profile and Fawning Restaurant Review that is Politico Click's dinner with (Napa) California Representative Mike Thompson.