UPDATE: The Philadelphia Inquirer confirms our story. * Inquirer sports columnist Stephen A. Smith has been stripped of his column and has been offered a job as a general assignment reporter in the Inquirer’s sports department, according to sources inside both the Inquirer and the Daily News. Things reportedly came to a head during a meeting last Friday, when Smith was told of his re-assignment. Smith reportedly told his bosses he would give them an answer when he gets back from vacation in two weeks. In the wake of painful lay-offs and general belt-tightening, Inquirer Editor-in-Chief Bill Marimow has been […]
MEDIA: VERY GROOVY BUILDING FOR SALE
Brian Tierney, chief executive officer of Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C., said today that the company would sell the Inquirer Building*, which also houses the Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, and downtown property to reduce debt and reinvest into the company’s media businesses. The company will offer the 18-story building for sale to real estate developers in an offering memorandum mailed nationwide in September. The company also is soliciting in the memorandum ideas for where to put the 950 journalists, ad people, executives, computer technicians, clerks and others who now work in the building, company officials said. The property entails the […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
LABAN UNMASKED AND UN-ANONYMOUS, AGAIN Larry Platt on the unmasking of Craig LaBan and why his mag is running his photo in the September issue: In his editor’s letter, Philadelphia magazine’s Larry Platt writes that LaBan’s photo has already appeared in the Chestnut Hill Local and Ted Beitchman‘s Real Philly magazine. Platt says Philly mag has always protected LaBan’s identity, but “this whole debate of his anonymity just smacks of so much self-importance. Listen, the guy eats meals and writes about them. He’s not Valerie Plame, okay?” [via Gross] * BLOG WARS, THOSE CRAZY BLOG WARS From Attytood, the latest […]
FUTURE TREND: Nude Beach Glaciers
BETTMERALP, Switzerland — Hundreds of naked people formed a “living sculpture” on Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier Saturday, hoping to raise awareness about climate change. The photo shoot by Spencer Tunick, the New York artist famous for his pictures of nude gatherings in public settings worldwide, was designed to draw attention to the effects of global warming on Switzerland’s shrinking glaciers. “The melting of the glaciers is an indisputable sign of global climate change,” said the environmental group Greenpeace, which co-organized the event. It said most Swiss glaciers will disappear by 2080 if global warming continues at its current pace.
EXCLUSIVE: Terry Gross To Guest On The Simpsons
RELATED: Simpsonize Me! CONTEST: Send your best ‘Simpsonized’ Terry Gross likeness to feed@phawker.com and win some prize so awesome, we don’t even know what it is yet!
HOLLA: Sexy Time At Sabrina’s
BY JAMES “WOOK” DOOLITTLE Bottom line — if the Inky had some balls, they’d let Casi G fill in for Craig LeBan, because let’s face it; Craig hasn’t inked anything as instantly memorable as Places Mutherfucking Casi G Has Eaten. My guarantee — a 3% circulation spike, directly attributed to the things Casi doesn’t want you talking to him about “in the real world.” Don’t look at me…he said it! Casi, my man, don’t be getting all redfaced over your linguistic expressionism. I know that ain’t how they throw down at Fluid, but c’mon…that Sabrina’s review is simply…Sproutastic! So we […]
UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES: 4th Amendment Abuse
SAN FRANCISCO – In open court and legal filings, it’s referred to simply as “The Document.” Federal officials claim its contents are so sensitive to national security that it is stored in a bombproof safe in Washington and viewed only by prosecutors with top-secret security clearances and a few select federal judges. The Document — described by those who have seen it as a National Security Administration log of calls intercepted between an Islamic charity and its American lawyers — is at the heart of what legal experts say may be the strongest case against the Bush administration’s warrantless eavesdropping […]
EXPLAINER: Pulling Byko’s Head Out Of His Ass
Don’t get us wrong, we love us some Byko, the same way we love all old people, even when they’ve stopped making sense and start to smell funny. Stu is the last of a dying breed of boozy, chain-smoking ink-stained wretches, a salty old dog still shaking an angry fist out the sandbag bunker of print — and for that we salute him. Sometimes we even agree with him. But this We Need Another 9/11 column… ONE MONTH from The Anniversary, I’m thinking another 9/11 would help America. What kind of a sick bastard would write such a thing? A […]
PAPERBOY: ‘See You In The Funny Pages’ Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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. Hey, we know how it is — so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]
PAPERBOY: White Punks On Dope Guns Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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. Hey, we know how it is — so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]
PAPERBOY: Special Kill, Kill, Kill Edition
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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. Hey, we know how it is … so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]
PAPERBOY: Even Hot, Wet Surferboys Need Insurance
BY AMY Z. QUINN 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. Hey, we know how it is — so many words to read, so little time to surf for free porn. That’s why every week, PAPERBOY does your alt-weekly reading for you, freeing up […]