GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK: Philly Mag Publishes Alycia Lane Career Autopsy
[On] Lane’s newsroom outbursts: In front of several people, she screamed at a production assistant who was fresh out of college, causing the woman to cry at her desk; another time, while shooting a promo, she got so angry she hurled her earpiece, which ended up hitting a staffer in the forehead. “If she perceives you to be above her, you get tears and doe eyes,” says one co-worker. “If you are perceived to be below her, you get threats and cursing.” The station’s hands-off attitude toward Lane’s temper: This is where the station bosses made their first Alycia Lane mistake. They seemed to give her a pass after the incidents, worried about their star anchor’s feelings. Plus, they figured some staffers were jealous of the new girl, who was pretty much a sensation before she even walked in the door. This sent a very clear message to those around Lane: She was special; don’t mess with her. It also sent a very clear message to Lane: You can do as you please. [via THE DAILY EXAMINER]
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HIDEOUS FACTS: Incest, Murder, Infanticidal Ideation, Pennsauken
Two men who have confessed in the beating death of a teenager argued after the killing about what to do with her 5-week-old girl, authorities said yesterday. Douglas Mandichak and Christopher Mikels considered throwing the baby into the icy waters of Pennsauken Creek, but in the end abandoned her in the front yard of a Cherry Hill home, acting Camden County Prosecutor Joshua Ottenberg said. After finding the baby’s stroller in the water, police yesterday continued to comb the banks of the creek in Cinnaminson for the body of her mother, 17-year-old Felicia Mikels of Pennsauken, which the men said they dumped into the water. Christopher Mikels, 26, who is Felicia Mikels’ uncle, told police he believed he was the child’s father. He persuaded Mandichak to let the baby live, Ottenberg said. DNA from both men was being tested to determine whether either is the baby’s father, he said. “There seems to have been a serious breakdown in the rules of humanity,” Ottenberg said. [via INQUIRER]
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NEW MEDIA: Mobile Phone Novels Are All Thumbs The Rage In Japan
UNTIL recently, mobile phone novels — composed on phone keypads by young women wielding dexterous thumbs and read by fans on their tiny screens — had been dismissed in Japan as a subgenre unworthy of the country that gave the world its first novel, The Tale of Genji, a millennium ago. Then, last month, the year-end bestseller tally showed that mobile phone novels, republished in book form, have not only infiltrated the mainstream but have come to dominate it. Of last year’s 10 best-selling novels, five were originally mobile phone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels. What is more, the top three spots were occupied by first-time mobile phone novelists, touching off debates in the news media and blogosphere “Will cell phone novels kill ‘the author?” a famous literary journal, Bungaku-kai, asked on the cover of its January issue. Fans praised the novels as a new literary genre created and consumed by a generation whose reading habits had consisted mostly of manga, or comic books. Critics said the dominance of mobile phone novels, with their poor literary quality, would hasten the decline of Japanese literature. [via THE AGE]