The Awl

Balls Of Justice

Alex Balk — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:20:01 +0000

In what is perhaps part of editor Elizabeth Spiers' ongoing staff training exercises, Observer reporters are now scanning the dockets of our nation's courtrooms to find all the testicle-related jurisprudence therein.

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Hometown Paper Has Tip for Dealing with Onslaught of Film Shoots

Choire Sicha — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:00:32 +0000

Today's New York Observer editorial page, as always, does not disappoint, in the form of this editorial in praise of movies and TV filming in New York City.

Some New Yorkers may grumble about the inconveniences that are inevitable when nearly two dozen film crews are on location in popular neighborhoods or near trendy nightspots. Here’s a bit of advice for those iconoclasts: It’s August. Chill out. Take a long weekend in the Hamptons.

DON'T MIND IF I DO?

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A Brief History of the Editorial Page of the 'New York Observer'

Choire Sicha — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:45:07 +0000

Today, the whole world, pretty much, is making fun of the New York Observer's editorial defending Rupert Murdoch. (It is pretty funny and ridiculous. But you know, it's tricky! The majority owner of the Observer has spent a good deal of time on Rupert Murdoch's boat, at least since his wedding, when he became more attractive socially, and honestly, instead of being a conflict of interest, I look at this as an informed viewpoint. That's what publishers are for!) But, for those just getting their first exposure, the Observer's editorial page has always been wildly wonky and fun. I mean, the other week we got an editorial headlined "PEDESTRIANS BEWARE," about allowing bikes in Central Park. "Cycling enthusiasts on the Upper West Side are delighted. The older, more-traditional residents of the Upper East Side are angry and frightened." Ha ha! Yes, those more-traditional bikeless residents of the Upper East Side. Oh, ARTHUR CARTER, MINORITY OBSERVER OWNER, YOU OLD SCOUNDREL. (Or... Joe Conason? Is that you?) But the page gets so much better. It's way funner than that new house of bloated horrors, Bloomberg View!

Here's from one of my other recent favorites:

If Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, Independence Day is the unofficial start of the summer vacation season. With the school year over at last, families are getting ready for their long-planned holidays. Other New Yorkers are fleeing to the Hamptons, Cape Cod or the Jersey Shore for weekend respites from the city’s stale air and oppressive humidity.

The city will not, of course, be vacant come August.

IT WON'T? ARE YOU SURE? How would we ever know?

Then it goes on about how we should be nice to tourists!

Still, the page is way more sane than it used to be, at least when it's not cheerleading grossly for charter schools. A few years back, there was a long outraged editorial about the Puerto Rican parade and how the City needed to be saved from this menace. No joke: "For the past several years, the parade has been an embarrassment to New York, transforming Fifth Avenue and Central Park into a slovenly garbage heap." My goodness.

This ran at the bottom of the page, under an editorial describing the firing of Howell Raines as "one of the larger mistakes in The Times’ history." GOOD STUFF. There's so much more! But really: we must celebrate this beloved institution and its unique viewpoint!

(OH PS: Here's a great one I forgot! "It is clear now that we have made a terrible mistake, for Hillary Rodham Clinton is unfit for elective office. Had she any shame, she would resign. If federal officeholders were subject to popular recall, she'd be thrown out of office by springtime, the season of renewal." Love it!)

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The Best Newspaper Staff Game in Town

Choire Sicha — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:30:52 +0000

There is something going on that is totally awesome but that none of us will ever really know how it ends, and so it is also sad. New Observer editor Elizabeth Spiers not long ago assigned her staff to report profiles of a coworker, as an exercise (or as an evaluation?) and many people there are taking it dead serious, which is great. Like, people are asking their coworkers about finances and grilling their friends and acquaintances and basically calling up their parents. And reading everything they've ever written. This has the opportunity to tear the office apart and/or unite it! Or both, and likely in a good way! So fun, so dramatic, so living on the edge. You can learn so much about people by how they behave in this situation. It's like a game of Clue! Or a little like that Stanford prison experiment! Best idea ever.

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MSNBC Talking Head Overstays Welcome, Grates

Choire Sicha — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:20:01 +0000

This attack on MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell is something I largely agree with, though I found his own recent attacks on Bill O'Reilly rather worthwhile. He's irritating (I mean, so is basically everyone on TV), and the sounds that come out of his mouth really are dripping with annoyingness! He's this odd thing, that is very captivating at first, because he's incredibly well-modulated, and also great with tempo. But then once you're on to his showman tricks, they wear thin and he becomes profoundly boring. But hey, and I acknowledge that my complaint here is exceedingly minor, but is the New York Observer, of all venues, really going to plead ignorance of Seize sur Vingt, from whence O'Donnell allegedly gets his socks? Girlfriends, there is one in Soho! They opened in NoLIta in 1998! Their "custom-made shirts" aren't even all that, they're so-so, and it's certainly not even that high-end. If you are looking for something for a businessy man-friend, it is not the worst place to drop some money. But yeah: Lawrence O'Donnell, irksome.

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Paper Hires Woman

Alex Balk — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:00:19 +0000

Exciting news! Awl pal Elizabeth Spiers has been named Editor in Chief of the New York Observer. Presumably we will have more to say about this when the half of the editorial team that follows this topic obsessively returns from lunch, so stay tuned.

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'New York Observer' Loses Straight Man, Gains Woman and Gay

Choire Sicha — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:00:56 +0000

New York Observer revolving door update, for the two people playing along at home: This week alone, one straight man out—but one woman and one gay hired! Don't everyone get all excited at once. Back to your desks!

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Reporter Has New Job Reporting

Choire Sicha — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:40:21 +0000

Solely in the interests of keeping up with a running local "story," such as it is, I suppose it must be pointed out that the last full-time editorial gay male staffer gave notice at the New York Observer this morning, making for ~~a solid 10 out of 10~~ (oh wait) 10 out of 11 departures in the last four or so months alone all being women and gay men (as far as we can tell from outside (previously we forgot Leon Neyfakh's departure to the Boston Globe!)). Honestly, the Observer masthead is rendered obsolete frequently—as of now, there are zero women staff writers on the masthead, but neither the masthead nor we are up on any new hires, some of whom are surely women. Last we heard, they even had a woman editor come in for a job interview! God bless. Love you, newspaper! So in any event, Zeke Turner, who moved from media to real estate at the paper, is now bound for WWD, joining former Observer people Peter Kaplan and John Koblin.

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The Last Female Staff Reporter Quits the 'New York Observer'

Choire Sicha — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 12:00:52 +0000

As of five weeks ago, there were two women staff reporters at the New York Observer. Three weeks ago, one of those women quit; today, Irina Aleksander, the last woman staff reporter, has given notice. (We hear she'll be writing regularly for Times Styles—Alexandra Jacobs, a long-time Observer editor, decamped for Times Styles two months ago.) According to the paper's newly updated masthead, the paper now has nine staff writers, all of them men. (Of its non-staff "contributing writers" list of 13, two are women.) This all comes not long after the last woman editor—excluding the managing editor—quit. In the last month, one man was hired at the paper as a reporter (and he's doing good work!) and another man was promoted from within. (A woman designer was also recently hired.) By our count, nine out of nine of the latest Observer departures were women or gay men. All left in the last three months. (P.S. Some good stuff in today's (err, yesterday's!) paper! Have a browse!)

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What Does $45,000 in Dental Work Get You?

Choire Sicha — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:30:00 +0000

With regard to this tale of allegedly trading free dental work for placement in the New York Observer's weekly "Playground" supplement, all anyone wants to know is: exactly how much dental work could possibly be worth $45,000? (We're thinking the allegedly backroom deal-undoer has either eight gap-toothed children or she's got some really badass grillz.)

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