Vanity Fair: “And I believe I have discovered the contours of a new genre of nonfiction, one that has yet to receive its cultural due and perhaps never will: the tawdry porn-star memoir. As pornography’s popularity has mainstreamed out of its once mole-like existence, the porn-star memoir has graduated from cheap paperbacks released by no-name publishers to Judith Regan high-profile schlocktaculars. A genre that should be investigated with an open mind and with a dispenser of anti-bacterial wipes handy, the porn-star memoir packs the center-stage, spotlit “I” of the confessional memoir, the celebrity memoir, and the recovery memoir into one overnight kit. Each tell-all reflects the personality or absence thereof of the porn star who buckled down to bare the hidden recesses of their “inner me” to a tape recorder. ” (via Porn Happy)
Year / 2005
Robertson Clarifies
Pat Robertson now says that his quote was misinterpreted. He didn’t really want to assassinate Hugo Chavez. Rather, he hoped that special forces could storm into Venezuela, kidnap President Chavez and send the President to Robertson’s private bungalow, where Chavez would then be converted to Christianity and, should Chavez not prove flexible, be subjected to the Problem Child films and have his skull converted into a bookend for Robertson’s study.
Robertson, you see, is a scholar and a pragmatist. Not a hatemonger and an assclown. And we’re grateful that he’s come clean with his intentions.
David Ulin to Head LATBR
Mark has the scoop on the next LATBR editor. His name is David L. Ulin and Mark says he’s okay. His credentials certainly look spiffy. And based off of this, he looks more down-to-earth and far less humorless than Wasserman ever was. But can Mr. Ulin stand the scrutiny of Mark’s LATBR Thumbnails?
Naughty Reading Entry #3
Agism Going Down at the Dailies
There’s two extraordinary stories from Romenensko. The first deals with political commentator Jim Witcover, who at 78, had his column at the Baltimore Sun reduced his frequency, with the sun cutting his salary down to a third of its previous rate. When the year on the contract renewed, the Baltimore Sun then sent a termination notice by overnight mail. Could it have been Witcover’s anti-Iraq stance or the fact that he was older?
The second item concerns this memo from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which offers a retirement package to those “who are 50 ages and above as of November 1, 2005.”
With both of these stories, there seems to be a clear and resounding message here. If you’re a journalist, even a syndicated columnist, getting up in years, don’t expect to be respected. Don’t even expect to be treated with any polite exit procedure. With newspapers already facing possible threats from major advertisers looking for a “younger, lowbrow” demographic, rather than an “older and elitist one,” could it be that newspapers are panicking and taking this attitude too much to heart?
[UPDATE: The Baltimore-based Live by the Foma offers his perspective on Witcover’s career and how it ties into the Baltimore Sun‘s legacy.]