Rick-Roll the Presses

Even though I'm a little late with this video, I'd like to think of it as a news update. I found it while perusing Rolling Stone's 25 Funniest Web Videos, a list that is equally hilarious and terrifying. Although mostly the latter, if you're the kid on the roller coaster...

jSTEAK summer index

Most posts: 19 (by Daniel)
Second most posts: 14 (by Andrew)
Most used non-name tag: Internship
Tag at the bottom of the list: Waffle
Tag that surprisingly shows up twice: Eating Lots
Blog start date: May 12, 2008
E-mails I sent out about the blog: 127 128
Contributors: 11
People who contributed every sked: 3
Posts not by the people who posted them: 1
Posts on Zimbabwe: 2
Amount of problems still going on in Zimbabwe: 99
Number of non-number answers the real Harper's Index uses: 0
The number this index used: 3

Other contributors, feel free to add your own facts.

If I Ask Dan for a Byline, He'll Fire Me...

For all of us who whined about our internships this summer, things could be worse.

Not sure if it's entirely legit, because it reads as if it was written in the days of ol' timey, but Gawker has posted a copy of the internship agreement at The New York Sun. Not only are suits and ties mandatory, but pants and jackets must match and shirts must be blue or white.

Is this really the paper that celebrated Middle Eastern women who defiantly wear tight jeans, bikinis and punk-rock-inspired clothes under their burkas in the name of not being "dressed like everybody else?"

Nice dig, Gawker. Also off-limit are subway rides of more than 30 minutes between 6pm and the end of the press run, less they miss a mobile phone call. Okay, so that's just a recommendation, but you have 30 minutes to return the call or else you're fired.

(Image: Sorry Tom Jones... no dice!)

Under the Bus Goes Mariotti

Last week notorious Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti submitted his resignation after a controversial 17-year run as one of the most hated scribes in the business. The people he covered reviled him, rival columnists couldn't stand him and even former colleagues weren't above throwing him under the bus on his way out.

Ostensibly Mariotti says he decided to leave the newspaper after returning from Beijing and realizing that the way of the future is with the Internet. However, Deadspin reported in the days following that Mariotti's move was actually sparked by yet another tiff with fellow Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander.

While at first Mariotti's former newspaper attempted to be diplomatic about the situation, once the truth started to surface it seems the Sun-Times decided to give Mariotti what he had coming. Former colleague Chris De Luca penned a biting piece that read more like a mean-spirited obit. Apparently, Mariotti somehow even managed to piss off the copy desk during his tenure as the deck on the story stated: "The self-proclaimed tough-guy columnist never faced his targets, and that's the main reason he was considered a coward in the clubhouse."

Known for spewing often unsubstantiated vitriol yet never having the guts to face those who he spurned, Mariotti was regularly criticized by fellow columnists for giving the profession a bad name. His relationship with the one local sports team, the Chicago White Sox, became so rocky that it was said he actually couldn't enter the clubhouse any longer for fear of his safety.

In De Luca's column, Sun-Times editor Michael Cooke said it best: "We wish Jay well and will miss him - not me personally, of course - but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days. A paper, like a sports franchise, is something that moves into the future. Stars come and stars go, but the Sun-Times sports section was, is and will continue to be the best in the city."

To close, Del Luca added: "Today, it's a little better." Ouch.

Election on the mind

Maybe it's my U.S. passport, but I really can't get my self interested in the Canadian election we'll be having. Maybe it's because less is at stake here, maybe it's because, in all likelihood, nothing will change in Canada's next election. Or maybe it's because Canadian elections just don't have enough dirty tricks.

BTW: Obama was just accused of being pro-baby killing. For reals.


Image from Online Offbeat.

Money Makes the Papes Go Round...

After finding this post on the UK's Online Journalism Blog, I just wanted to share. Its 10 ways that ad sales people can save newspapers is great! It offers approaches that maximize the dynamic nature of the web, provide incentives, go after small business, and include video content.

Now maybe this is old hat to some of you, but I found these ideas, and their ideology, pretty interesting.

Enjoy!

All Palin, all the time!

I saw this image of Sarah Palin killing a Caribou and I thought: "Wow, that's exactly why the left hates her and the right loves her."

EDIT: Wow since I wrote up this post and put it in the go tray Palin has said that her unwed, 17-year-old daughter is pregnant and it's been revealed that Palin was a member of an Alaskan independence party. Damn!

Image from the Hollywood Elsewhere blog.