Jesus Chrysler! It seems like every week we’re having some kind of pissing contest with one of the city’s esteemed alt-weeklies. First it was the City Paper and this week it was a brand new hot mess from PW. Fear not dear reader, we vow not to back down from these piss-crossed sword fights until the other guy runs outta ammo. We drink water ALL DAY LONG. We could go for days, if need pee be. We also vow to compartamentalize said piss-matches and remain objective because we are THE DECIDER in this Cover Wars thing we started and it’s […]
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: Valania Column Killed By PW For Too Much ‘Old’ Valania And Not Enough ‘New’ Valania; Runs BREAKING News On Azusa Plane Instead
HEAR NO EVIL Sweetheart Of The Rodeo The best album of the ’90s has just been reissued with a live-in-Philly bonus disc. By Jonathan Valania Five years ago, this very paper PW ran the following breathless gush of superlatives from a handsome young go-getter: Lucinda Williams is the beloved revolutionary sweetheart of the alt-country rodeo. All of us literate roots-rock boys daydream about her the same way we used to daydream about Liz Phair. We know all about her because we read The New Yorker. We know about her father’s literary standing and her mother’s madness; we know about her […]
Just Because It’s LIVE Doesn’t Mean It Happened: CNN CENSORS Bill Maher Outing RNC Chair Ken Mehlman
Partial transcript of Bill Maher‘s Live appearance on Larry King Live: BM: A lot of the chiefs of staff, the people who really run the underpinnings of the Republican Party, are gay. I don’t want to mention names, but I will Friday night… LK:You will Friday night? BM: Well, there’s a couple of big people who I think everyone in Washington knows who run the Republican… LK: You will name them? BM: Well, I wouldn’t be the first. I’d get sued if I was the first. Ken Mehlman. Ok, there’s one I think people have talked about. I don’t think […]
Comic Strip: FEED YER HEAD
PW: Kime Agine By Jesse Moynihan (WTF, right? Send your explanation to feed@phawker.com and we’ll print the most outrageous and the most accurate. FYI, there is a right answer. There is always a right answer.)
HOT DOCUMENT: Reporter’s Notebook, Dateline 400 N. Broad, 1:30 PM
reception is mixed. there were rumors that the dmes [Deputy Managing Editors] had tried to stage a palace coup last week. this may be tierney‘s way of paying back their disloyalty. i can’t imagine that marimow will want to keep them on. those suspected of signing the petition for amanda‘s removal looked very glum. amanda appeared to be taking it bravely. i thought she looked relieved, though some seemed to think she was biting back tears. Some believe ann [Gordon] will stay on long enough to be the hatchet woman. as far as marimow [pictured lower right, demonstrating how he […]
LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD: Music Man Hal Wilner Phones Home, DeLuca Accepts The Charges
On this Saturday afternoon, Willner, the record producer renowned for daring multi-artist albums such as his new The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited, is wearing his hat as music director of Saturday Night Live. On his desk at 30 Rock, there are Cecil Taylor and Jelly Roll Morton CDs, and across his T-shirt Chuck Berry is doing the duck walk as Willner goes about the nerve-wracking task of scoring a live television show that is being rewritten as the day goes on. […] His far-ranging musical sensibility makes Willner, 49, the perfect man for this job […]
THIS JUST IN: AMANDA BENNETT OUT AS INKY EDITOR, NPR’S BILL MARIMOW IN
Announced just minutes ago in a newsroom meeting at 400 North Broad. Also, Inquirer Editorial Page Editor Chris Satullo now to report directly to publisher Brian Tierney. More details as they come in. In the meantime, here’s Marimow’s CV: Bill Marimow is NPR?s ombudsman, a position he assumed in October 2006. Before joining NPR in May 2004, Marimow had worked in newspapers for the previous 34 years. He was editor of The Baltimore Sun for four years, beginning in 2000, and managing editor for six years before that. During his years at The Sun, the newspaper received Pulitzer Prizes for […]
FEARMONGER: Meaningless Terror War News
We will not miss stories like this clogging media arteries like a hot pork injection: Threatening Note Found on Philadelphia Plane, Prompts Search A plane that was heading to Philadelphia from San Diego, was searched after a passenger reported finding a threatening note onboard. After the flight landed around 3pm on Tuesday, it was held for about an hour, while it was searched by a bomb squad. It was searched in a remote location, and the runway where it landed was shut down.The passengers and crew that were on the plane, were transported to the terminal by bus. After the […]
REMINDER: You Heard It First, Folks
Phawker, November 2nd: Inquirer To Lose 150 Jobs Rest of Media, November 7th: THIS JUST IN Inquirer To Lose 150 Jobs
ENDORSEMENTS: Inquirer Almost Gets It Right, Again
INKY EDITORIAL BOARD: In the Eighth District, Republican incumbent MIKE FITZPATRICK vows to remain a moderate in his caucus. He calls for a new Iraq strategy, understands conservation issues, and knows his district well, having served 10 years as a county official. The Democrat, Iraq veteran Patrick J. Murphy, needs more seasoning. We’re guessing this was some kind of innoculation against the inevitable cries of ‘liberal bias’ the Inquirer Editorial Board would open themselves up to out in the exurbs if they endorsed the entire Democrat side of the dance card. What a buncha pussies! Sometimes there just isn’t two […]
COVER WARS: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?
HOLD THE PHONE! What’s this? Jeebus, nobody saw this coming, not even us — and we run this thing. In a surprise move, the People’s Paper trumps both PW and the CP this week with this inspired cover art for the DN’s story on online predator/quickchange artist Jeffrey Marsalis. Not only did the DN trump both weeklies’ artfag kung-fu — sorry ladies, neither of you ‘popped’ this week, hey, it happens — but they are the only major publication we are aware that actually found a real life monster to put on their cover for Halloween. Well done People Paper […]
WIDESPREAD PANIC: 150 Newsroom Jobs To Be Axed; Inky/DN Rumormill In Overdrive; ‘People Are Shitting Bricks In Here’
After a brief lull in the suspense when all parties involved agreed to a 30-day contract extension, the tension in the newsrooms of the Daily News and The Inquirer has racheted back up to fever-pitch. “People are shitting bricks in here,” says a newsroom source who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.”And nobody is saying anything. There’s been no word from the newsroom leadership about any of this, just a lot of rumors, speculation and panic…Almost all of our stars are under 40 and [with the seniority rule] this would just wipe out most of our best reporters. As […]
MEDIAQUAKE: File Under ‘No Shit Sherlock’
In an age of proliferating broadband connections, video iPods and multifunction smart phones, new technologies have permanently redrawn the competitive landscape. Experts say newspapers will survive–even thrive–but the change has shaken the foundations of what historically has been one of America’s most lucrative business models. […] One problem is that as newspaper revenue and circulation deteriorate, yesterday’s assumptions can’t be counted on to be relevant in today’s world. Brian Tierney, the Philadelphia ad executive who recently bought the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, found that out the hard way. Since 2004, he wrote in a recent letter to […]