Media-Whore's D'Oevres



(image via nytimes)

"Sixteen months after his life of power and luxury ended in an abrupt arrest, Charles G. Taylor, warlord and former president of Liberia, is living in a new cellblock on the grounds of the Men’s Penitentiary near The Hague. Mr. Taylor lives in a cell that looks much like this one at a penitentiary at The Hague. He is allowed to use another cell for his legal paperwork. Once known for his fine white suits, a swaggering style and plentiful weapons financed by trading timber and diamonds, Mr. Taylor now cooks his own food, does his dishes, reads newspapers and receives prison-issued pocket money. He is allowed to spend two hours in the yard and to work out in a gym. He is the first African head of state to stand trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. If he is convicted, human rights groups say they hope that his fate could signal an end to impunity for violent dictators in Africa." (NYTimes)

"The Times article in identifying this age with the Gilded Age, a term coined by Mark Twain, reveals that certain new possessors of great wealth see the term with a kind of fondness for the 'specialness' of their personal wealth acquisition. This is not surprising and also comes with the territory. Great wealth begets admiration and awe in this society of ours and so has it always been (as far as I know). Mark Twain, however, it should be noted, thought of the term with less than admiration and awe, but more with irony, than the Times’ subjects." (NewYorkSocialDiary)

"Ben Silverman's debut today before the Television Critics Association at the Beverly Hilton is the big story in televisionland. Hollywood can't wait to see how this hyperkinetic young man comports himself before the ravening horde. One of the issues clinging to Silverman in his new role as co-chairman of NBC Universal's network and television studio is his continued ownership of his production company, Reveille. Silverman is supposed to be in a sort of blind-trust relationship with the company and is not supposed to profit from decisions he makes as an NBC exec. The idea is that while he keeps the money from existing Reveille shows, he gets nothing from shows that Reveille places on NBC's schedule in the future.The issue is: When does the future begin?" (Slate)

"For the broadcast networks, Thursday has long been the most important night, and increasingly the most contested, as first CBS and then ABC began targeting the night with their best shows.There now looks to be another contender, cable's USA.Cable networks have a history of picking one night of the week to shine, putting on their best shows (Sunday for HBO, Wednesday for Bravo, Tuesday for FX) with the aim of making the channel itself a destination, beyond individual programs.For USA, that night has become Thursday over this summer with two new ordinal series, 'The Starter Wife' and the just-debuted 'Burn Notice.' Last week they lifted USA to No. 1 on basic cable in total viewers and adults 18-49 on Thursday evening." (Medialifemagazine)