BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
WORTH REPEATING: All Hail The Paper Boy
DAILY NEWS: They call him Number One, and after 50 years Jim Phelan has earned the nickname. Phelan, 69, started delivering the Daily News in 1959, following in his father’s tracks. Number One (or Fancy Feet, as they called him back when he wore his trademark black-and-white saddle shoes) is the longest-serving driver in the Teamsters local that delivers the paper. In fact, Phelan’s supervisor, Jim DePasquale, said that when Phelan told him about his years of service, “I thought he was lying. . . . Then I looked up his hiring and seniority list – and he’s Number One […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
WHAT HE SAID: Cracking The Nutcracker
EDITOR’S NOTE: Footage from Wednesday’s press conference at the National Press Club wherein conservative muckraker Andre Breitbart, James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles attempt to expose ACORN’s ‘lies’ about what happened in the Philadelphia office. Blogger Mike Stark let’s the air out of their balloon with the three simple questions any responsible reporter should have asked by now — and that includes you, Stu Bykofsky. MEDIA MATTERS: Following the release of what Fox News itself called “heavily edited tape” of conservative James O’Keefe’s visit to a Philadelphia ACORN office, Fox News ran captions stating, “Exposing ACORN: New Video Shows Unlawful Actions.” […]
PAPERBOY: Slow-Jamming The Alt-Weeklies
BY DAVE ALLEN Like time, news waits for no man. Keeping up with the funny papers has always been an all-day job, even in the pre-Internets era. These days, however, it’s a two-man job. That’s right, these days you need someone to do your reading for you, or risk falling hopelessly behind and, as a result, increasing your chances of dying lonely and somewhat bitter. That’s why every week PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you. We pore over those time-consuming cover stories and give you the takeaway, suss out the cover art, warn you off the ink-wasters and steer […]
MEDIA: The Nutcracker Strikes Back!
[Artwork by ALEX FINE] BY JONATHAN VALANIA On Tuesday, Big Government.com, the conservative web site behind the ACORN hooker sting videos, issued a press release that reads in part: After suing Breitbart.com, Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles in Maryland over the release of the Baltimore tapes, ACORN has issued public statements denying any wrongdoing in its Philadelphia office and lying about what happened there. Mr. O’Keefe and Ms. Giles are now prepared to respond.According to Mr. Breitbart, “ACORN representatives claim James and Hannah were kicked out of Philadelphia. They also said publicly that unlike Baltimore, Washington D.C., Brooklyn, San Bernardino […]
Tierney & Co. Add $20M To Their Bid For Inky/DN
INQUIRER: Three local investors allied with newspaper publisher Brian P. Tierney are adding more than $20 million to their offer for the Daily News and Inquirer.The three local investors – businessman Bruce Toll, philanthropist David Haas and the Carpenters Union Pension Fund – had previously offered $52 million in cash and credit as part of a reorganization plan to bring the newspapers out of bankruptcy. The plan called for the newspapers’ lenders to receive $37 million in cash and ownership of the newspaper building at Broad and Callowhill streets, valued at $29 million. The original proposal would have paid about […]
TONITE: Get Cross
[Photo by Rollogrady] PHILLYBURBS: His comedy, which doesn’t hide his left-leaning views, is satiric and visceral. Cross, who often appears on HBO’s free-wheeling “Real Time With Bill Maher,” pulls no punches. Unlike many of his comedic peers, he isn’t afraid to offend anyone. The independent rock-loving Cross has verbally drubbed Creed frontman Scott Stapp for creating aesthetically unpleasing post-grunge albums. “I say what I believe,” says Cross. “I don’t believe in holding back whether I’m performing in front of an audience or during an interview.” Cross’ wars of words have yet to get him in trouble. Last year, he played […]
HOT DOC: The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Flow Chart
MEDIA MATTERS: Glenn Beck’s affinity for chalkboard diagrams charting out the frequently illusory “connections” in the growing liberal conspiracy to undermine America is well-documented. In that spirit, Media Matters for America has explored Beck’s links to the extremist, unhinged, and sometimes paranoid people and groups that inhabit the world of right-wing political activism and laid them out in a Beck-style chart, but with two key differences: these connections actually exist, and they were spell-checked. MORE [Click chart to enlarge] EDITOR’S NOTE: We strongly urge you to click thru and read all about it RELATED: In recent days, Glenn Beck has […]
The Yes Men Punk The Chamber Of Commerce
YES MEN: In a dramatic announcement at the National Press Club today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reversed its position on climate change policy, and promised to immediately cease lobbying against the Kerry-Boxer bill. Not. Within minutes of the announcement, it was revealed that the “Chamber spokesperson” was an impostor, and the press conference an elaborate hoax designed by activists to draw attention to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s fight against public interest on climate change. At the close of the news conference, real Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Eric Wohlschlegel barged into the room visibly rattled, and declared the event […]
New York Times To Slash 100 Newsroom Jobs
MEDIA DECODER: The New York Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs — about 8 percent of the total — by year’s end, offering buyouts to union and non-union employees, and resorting to layoffs if it cannot get enough people to leave voluntarily, the paper announced on Monday. The program mirrors one carried out in the spring of 2008, when the paper erased 100 positions in its newsroom, though other jobs were created, so the net reduction was smaller. That round of cuts included some layoffs of journalists — about 15 to 20, though The Times would not disclose the […]
D’OH: Shepard Fairey Lied About ‘Hope’ Image Source
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Shepard Fairey’s claim that he had the right to use a news photo to create his famous Barack Obama “HOPE” poster became a widely watched court case about fair use that now appears to have nearly collapsed. By Friday night, his attorneys – led by Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University – said they intend to withdraw from the case and said the artist had misled them by fabricating information and destroying other material. Fairey himself admitted that he didn’t use The Associated Press photo of Obama seated next to actor George […]