Gloria! Gloria! I think they've got your number, Gloria!

[From Ed2010]

GLORIA STEINEM VISITS SYRACUSE ED ON CAMPUS

Ed’s reps at Syracuse University flipped out when they met Gloria Steinem yesterday! The legendary feminist, journalist, and Ms. Magazine founder visited the university for a special lecture "An Evening With Gloria Steinem," hosted by the Ed On Campus. Ed was so nervous that he nearly broke a sweat going to meet her. But Steinem welcomed all with an open heart and mind, answering questions about starting a magazine, the publishing industry, and feminism. Seriously.
Here are six kickin' things, as written and reported by Syracuse EOC President Sharon Clott, she shared about the magazine industry that Ed loved the most:
1. She wants more: "The economy of magazines has changed since I started Ms. Women’s magazines can’t get ads unless they write favorably. It’s all for advertisers. I like Bitch and Bust."
2. She doesn’t pick sides in the print vs. online battle"If the Internet came first, people would be welcoming print magazines and newspapers. They'd say, 'Oh, look it’s portable. I can take it places.' Meaning, just because the Internet's such a new medium, doesn't make it better."
3. She prefers reading online and reads all of her news online, except for the Sunday New York Times, as she always gets a paper copy of that. But, she doesn't read blogs (and doesn't plan on writing one of her own any time soon).
4. She's a hope-a-holic for magazines: "Ms. started with a group of women. We were all working as editors at magazines we wouldn't read. And all we wanted to do was make a magazine we would read."
5. She once made buttons that said "The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off." This came up in her discussion about the current administration's policies.
6. She wants you to tell your stories: "Our stories are narratives. Narratives are crucial. Our minds are organized around narratives. They always talk about the 'Oprahfication' of the news and I think if only. The 'serious' journalism lacks narratives."

Click here for the full deets on the Gloria Steinem event with Syracuse University's chapter of Ed2010.

Only Vaguely Journalism Related (The Onion is Involved)...

[From NYTimes' "Urban Eye" Newsletter]
Big Gulp
Think Sonya "the Black Widow" Thomas or Eric "Badlands"Booker are tough? Brace yourself, and your gag reflex, fora whole new class of competitive eaters. Tonight is theVending Machine Challenge II, in which contenders fromsuch upstanding civic institutions as MoMA, AM New York andThe Onion attempt to consume the contents of a vendingmachine in its entirety. Go to see who's left standing inthe Doritos dust - or to hear what kind of punny cracks thehost, Murray Hill, will make with pork rinds and Lay's. 8p.m. tonight. Register at LVHRD.com for information aboutlocation; $22, or $11 for members.

Info about Sonya "the Black Widow" Thomas
Info about Eric "Badlands" Booker

photog in cedar rapids fired for urinating on the job

At a recent hearing on Edwards' request for unemployment benefits, he testified that he was unable to leave the cemetery to urinate for fear of missing the funeral procession.

This just in from Long Dong Silver

"The media, unfortunately, have been universally untrustworthy because they have their own notions of what I should think or I should do." - Clarence Thomas

Also on the news biz tip...
The Media Equation: Citizen Bono Brings Africa to Idle Rich
Bono, the rare rock star with an ability to make a dent in something besides the pop charts, has met with everyone from Pope John Paul II to President Bush in an effort to achieve debt relief and address poverty and AIDS in the undeveloped world. He is also pushing his agenda one T-shirt at a time with a product line called Red that includes clothing, iPods and credit cards.

But even those combined efforts have been slow going. So now Bono is opening up another front with an unlikely weapon: as the guest editor of the July issue of Vanity Fair, he will try to rebrand Africa.

“We need to get better at storytelling,” Bono said, sitting in the 22nd floor of the office of Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair. “Bill Gates tells me this all the time. We’ve got to get better at telling the success stories of Africa in addition to the horror stories. And this magazine tells great stories.”

Vanity Fair does tell great stories and serious ones, but it sits atop the American magazine industry, in no small part because it takes as its preoccupations the needs and doings of the idle rich. The current Hollywood issue is its biggest ever, 500 pages jammed with glitz, celebrity and so many ads that the magazine could injure someone if it fell off the coffee table. Just outside Mr. Carter’s office, a framed to-do list with hundreds of items details Vanity Fair’s preparations for one of its past Oscar parties, which is a long way from Mogadishu.

“Bono will make a different issue about Africa than we would,” Mr. Carter said. “I think there isn’t one editor in the world who would not pay attention if Bono pulled up and said he wanted to edit a magazine.”...

Old News...

...but at least we're not the craziest journalists out there!

A prankster handcuffed herself to HUGH GRANT at the Dutch premiere of his new movie MUSIC + LYRICS on Friday night (23FEB07). The actor was left stunned when CIELKE SIJBEN, a journalist working for Dutch TV network 101 TV, leaped forward as he walked the red carpet at the Amsterdam Pathe and clamped a metal handcuff on his wrist, attaching herself to him. The confused star had to stand for 10 minutes while police detained Sijben and fire fighters were summoned to free him from his captor. After the cuffs were cut off, the calm 46-year-old returned to his red-carpet duties, promoting the film - in which he stars alongside DREW BARRYMORE - while Sijben was arrested by police. An onlooker says, "It was incredible. She appeared from nowhere and Grant couldn't believe it was happening. But he was the ultimate professional. He just stood in silence and waited for the fire fighters to free him. "He did look relieved when he disappeared into the theatre - she could have been a maniac."