In Media Res:

Simon Dumenco Defends the Indie Spirit in the Mag Industry

"On a recent warm night in New York City, I suffered for my art (or for this column, at least): I went to the launch party for Cargo," begins Simon Dumenco in Folio Mag, very honestly, with a faint ring of melancholy, like in Charlie Brown comic strip.

Although he is old friends with the publisher of Cargo, Alan Katz, Dumenco writes, "I suppose my problem � my attitude problem � is that my wires cross when I contemplate something like Cargo because I can't quite picture editors there thinking, 'Thank god for the ad sales staff � they make it possible for me to �.' Do what, exactly? Okay, to be fair, Cargo does engage in journalism of a sort � it covers the, uh, shopping beat. But a journalistic enterprise sheared entirely of narrative � with no trace of the essential human impulse for meaningful storytelling � well, I just can't wrap my mind around it."

Then Dumenco's narrative latches onto Alan Light, former Editor in Chief of Spin, who is putting out Tracks; odds are not in favor of Tracks, but Dumenco writes:

"In the crush of the Cargo crowd, I'd briefly become separated from (his companion), and when I found her again she was talking to her friend Alan Light, the editor-in-chief of Tracks, the music magazine for boomers. As I talked to this Alan, I wanted to give him a bear hug."

Tracks is about music for grown ups, all the stuff that didn't get into Spin that frustrated Light over the years. And of that indie spirit, Dumenco says:

"I like that Tracks exists. I like that it can exist. And I like that major liquor conglomerates and car companies (Absolut and Nissan) have come in, even though � shock of all shocks � Tracks never writes about booze or minivans.

"Cargo is the future, of course: media about product consumption begetting more product consumption. But it will always carry some daunting, anti-journalistic baggage. (Can it ever be anything but advertiser-friendly? Can it be expected to tell us, in any great measure, what not to buy?)"

Very good column.

Adam Moss at New York Magazine

FashionWireDaily peeps in at the behind the scened transition of Adam Moss as new editor at New York Magazine:

"Just as Mayor Moss put the finishing touches on New York's interior design issue coming out next week, he made some decorative decisions of his own. First he repainted his corner office, which has a view of St. Patrick�s Cathedral. Then, in what came as a shock to staffers, he tore down an artistic, translucent glass wall that separates his office from the main hallway and built a solid white wall in its place. Unlike the classic newsroom, where editors like Bonnie Fuller, Patrick McCarthy, and Cindi Leive like to feel close to their worker-bees, Mayor Moss built his wall and is staying behind it, interviewing 'a slew of mid-level editors,' according to an insider."


He tore down the translucent glass? The peasant! Someone get Stanley Crouch to issue a beat down. Go Fashionwire spies. Why did I just have so much fun on that esoteric subject? Does this mean MossWatch? We'll see.

Al Gore and Al Franken Launch -- with some difficulty -- Left Networks

The story is shaky, but Al Gore is supposed to be buying News World International (and with it, alas, the CBC, some of the best investigative reporting into humanitarian efforts globally) early this week for roughly $70 million from various investors for his youth oriented liberal tv network. But the story is changing fast, so it might not happen. Apparently, one -- or possibly more -- of the investors may have gotten cold feet.

Joe Hagan of The Observer chronicles the long hard slough:

"It wasn�t easy for Mr. Gore to get his hands on NWI. According to two sources familiar with the situation, Mr. Gore went so far as to seek the influence of French President Jacques Chirac in buying the channel, hoping that Mr. Chirac would aid him in landing a sweetened deal with Vivendi chief executive Jean-Ren� Fourtou�and quick. That request resulted in a meeting last summer with executives of Universal Television Group and Vivendi�s chief operating officer, Jean-Bernard Levy. At the time, however, Vivendi was preparing to sell its cable properties to NBC, which temporarily stalled Mr. Gore�s media ambitions.

"The deal was delayed for nearly a year, most recently by Barry Diller, chairman and chief executive of InterActive Corp. As the former owner of USA Networks, which he sold to Vivendi for $10 billion in 2001, Mr. Diller still owned a stake in those properties. Sources said Vivendi was keen on selling NWI to Mr. Gore, but Mr. Diller needed to resolve his ownership in Universal properties first. One source with knowledge of the situation suggested that Mr. Diller had stalled the deal as a bargaining chip to improve his take on Vivendi�s sale of Universal to NBC. But a spokeswoman for Mr. Diller disputed that. 'It was only Mr. Gore who asked us to reconsider, given how long the process was taking,' she said, 'to which we did agree to let this asset escape from our J.V. [joint venture], for no consideration of any kind or as part of any discussion with Vivendi.'"

"In any case, the path was cleared for Mr. Gore�s group to close the deal. It�s not clear where Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt rounded up the money, or how they will cover the gargantuan programming costs to come. But as you may recall, Mr. Gore�s first gig after the election of 2000 was becoming vice chairman of Metropolitan West Financial Inc., headquartered in Los Angeles, which hired him to explore high-tech investments. With the assistance of Peter Knight, his former Democratic fund-raiser and a managing director at Metropolitan West, Mr. Gore had access to scores of investors, according to sources close to him."

Related story from The Independent's Andrew Gumbel:

"'Broadcasting from an underground bunker 3,500ft below Dick Cheney's bunker, Air America radio is on the air," announced Al Franken, the comedian and Bush satirist who carries the weight of the new venture largely on his shoulders.

"At least, that is what he was supposed to have announced. Here in Los Angeles, one of a handful of major cities receiving the Air America signal on distinctly out-of-the-way stations, we got a dying blast of Mexican mariachi music, then an abortive programme announcement, then a lot of awkward silence followed by a few bars of the Beatles singing, 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand.'

"When Al Franken's noontime show finally aired, we were accidentally given the second hour first. The first hour came on third. There was, of course, the option of listening on the internet, but the server kept crashing because of listener overload.

"Teething troubles were perhaps inevitable in a venture of this size, but they were greeted with delight by conservative radio pundits who cannot wait to watch Mr Franken and his roster of celebrity colleagues fail."

Let's hope Al and Al are just going through "teething troubles." They can be expected in a new venture, but this is a lot in so short a perios. Sloppy. Sometimes it seems -- especially after Arnold, the 2000 election and the midterms -- that the Left is in a very, very difficult position to get out of.



The Week Ahead:

Sunday: CBS' 60 Minutes Bashes Bush again, for the third week in a row, leaving Our Frat Boy in Chief within an inch of his political life. This time: A Toxic Chemical Cover Up.

"A government whistle-blower says the Bush administration covered up the reasons for a toxic coal slurry spill in Appalachia that ranks among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

"Jack Spadaro tells Correspondent Bob Simon that political appointees in the Department of Labor whitewashed a report that said an energy company that had contributed to the Republican Party was responsible for the 300-million gallon spill.

"Simon's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, April 4, at 7 p.m. ET/PT"

So, did Bush kill Don Hewitt's granddaughter's pet bunny or something? I feel as if I'm missing some context; some preamble. In other words: It's getting a little personal in herre ...

Not that we here at The Corsair are pro-Bush or anything, but sometimes one does feel sorry for the man who just wanted to clear his daddy's name (and, coincidentally his) from the word "one term failure." Now, Leslie Stahl willing, he will join Poppy fishing on Fidelity up in Kennebunkport, wondering what went wrong.

Now, Don, a little advice, if you want to keep your journalistic street cred, why don't you start doing some stories about corruptions in the Democratic Party -- you know they are there; I know they are there. That way, by alternating the blame, you make what you say sound credible. Otherwise, you just look to 1/2 of the country as being reflexively anti-Bush, which you are, and I am too, cornbread, but we want to keep it on the down low, aint nobody have to know ...

Monday: A Prayer Vigil For Whitney Houston. On Maundy Monday, April 5th, from 7 to 9 (doors open at 6) a free prayer vigil with the African Amrican elite at The Abyssinian Baptist Church, which is located at:

132 Odell Clark Place, formerly West 138th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell,
Jr. and Malcolm X Boulevards, also known as 7th and Lenox Avenues.

BY SUBWAY

Take the 2 or 3 train to the 135th Street and Lenox Avenue station. Walk north on Lenox Avenue 3 blocks to West 138th Street and west toward Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard to the Church. You can also take the B or C train to the 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue station. Walk north to West 138th Street and east 3 blocks to the Church.

Thursday: This is going to be the week of the Black woman. Monday it is all Whitney, and Thursday it is all Condi. Her testimony to the 9/11 Commission will be the most important event of the day.

Will Condi ever get to leave the Bush administration on her own legs and get that MPAA Presidency that she covets so much when Valenti retires next month? Tune in tommorrow for As The NSA Turns ...