Last time we heard from Marcus Brauchli, he was eating a Vidalia onion-crusted petite filet mignon at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington when word came down that he was being dropped as editor of the Wall Street Journal.

Just over 10 weeks later, he has been named executive editor of the Washington Post. Katharine Weymouth wrote in an e-mail that she will introduce Mr. Brauchli tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.

Mr. Brauchli brings a pretty fabulous résumé to the job--both as a foreign correspondent, with most of his time spent in Asia, and as national editor of the Journal. He also, of course, was the Journal's managing editor, but he had few accomplishments and that's for two obvious reasons: He spent little over a year in the office and most of that time was spent trying to shepherd (unsuccessfully) changes for Rupert Murdoch.  read more »

A new collection of short fiction—including the first chapter of an unfinished novel—is coming from the late William Styron, according to InkWell Management agent Michael Carlisle.

Mr. Carlisle, one of the founding partners of InkWell and a close childhood friend of Styron's kids, said the collection, like the rest of Styron's work, will be published by Random House and overseen by the legendary editor Bob Loomis.  

Mr. Carlisle said the stories in the new collection-three of which have been previously published, but only in literary magazines-are all in some way about soldiers returning home from war.  read more »

“The good TV and the bad TV were often in conflict,” said Aaron Brown.

It was a recent Wednesday afternoon and the longtime television anchor and correspondent was sitting at a table in Harry’s of Hartsdale, a nearly deserted steakhouse, a few short blocks from his home in Westchester County. He was reflecting on his career.

Mr. Brown was dressed casually, in a short-sleeved black cotton polo, a bit of white stubble standing out on his well tanned chin. He leaned back in his chair and, by way of demonstration, tapped his right shoulder and then tapped his left. The angel speaking into one earpiece, the devil whispering into the other.  read more »

Bob Torricelli, the former senator from New Jersey who didn't seek re-election after his first term because, well, we know why!, has an interesting view of the reason The Record of Bergen County is having trouble, and it's not, he thinks, the troubled newspaper industry in general. News that the newspaper recently had to close its Hackensack office seemed to delight him because, as he wrote in his column on PolitickerNJ, "somewhere the Record stopped becoming a mirror of the happy suburban life and it became mean."

He's no media expert--although he may be an expert on the Record after all the ink the newspaper gave him back in 2002--but he gives the newspaper 10 years to live.  read more »

On Tuesday, The New York Press ran a short item on its web site reporting that had a strike involving Village Voice staffers had been averted. It was a small story, but the Press owned it from start to finish. Today, The New York Times ran a brief in its Arts section.

Here's a quote from Voice-legend Tom Robbins in the brief:

“We got a deal 3 o’clock this morning,” said Tom Robbins, a Voice columnist and shop steward for the United Auto Workers Local 2110. “We won a good victory for unions... We had a celebratory drink of a little Scotch and then went home.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/times-takes-new-york-press-story-and-runs-it-without-attribution#comments Media The New York Press The New York Times Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:56:52 -0400 John Koblin 71566 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/media/doomsday-l-l-times-cuts-150-newsroom-jobs

The writing has been all the wall for weeks and now the carnage has been unleashed: the L.A. Times is cutting loose 150 newsroom positions, and 250 overall. Pink slips come by Labor Day. This news comes only a few months after the paper let go 36 newsroom jobs through buyouts, and puts the total newsroom number at about 700, down from the 1,200 it had just seven years ago. 

Russ Stanton's sobering memo is here.  

 

 

 

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/doomsday-l-l-times-cuts-150-newsroom-jobs#comments Media L.A. Times Russ Stanton Sam Zell Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:09:11 -0400 John Koblin 71561 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/media/clay-felker

Clay Felker: Made New York Into A Magazine

By John Koblin and Spencer Morgan

After Clay Felker passed away Tuesday morning in Manhattan, The Observer spoke to some who knew him well.

>>READ MORE

Never Hold Your Best Stuff

By Peter Kaplan

When I think of Clay Felker, which is often, it’s at the Peacock Alley in the Waldorf Astoria. I had just come to The Observer in 1994 and I was scared and sweating. Clay offered to meet with me once a week and kick around story ideas. I used to bring a stack of napkins.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/clay-felker#comments Media Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:58:38 -0400 Observer Staff 71534 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/media/clay-felker-made-new-york-magazine

After Clay Felker passed away Tuesday morning in Manhattan, The Observer spoke to some who knew him well.

 

Robert Benton

The first time I ever screamed “fuck” in front of a room full of women was when I got mad at Clay at the Esquire offices. We were having this argument that went up and down the hall and I reached my wits end; I just said, “You fuck!” It came out of my mouth before I knew what I had said. Clay could drive you crazy, but you never stopped caring for him.

 

Milton Glaser

We were once in Paris.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/clay-felker-made-new-york-magazine#comments Media Clay Felker Gay Talese Ken Auletta New York Magazine Steven Brill Tom Wolfe Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:25:14 -0400 John Koblin and Spencer Morgan 71533 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/media/never-hold-your-best-stuff

When I think of Clay Felker, which is often, it’s at the Peacock Alley in the Waldorf Astoria. I had just come to The Observer in 1994 and I was scared and sweating. Clay offered to meet with me once a week and kick around story ideas. I used to bring a stack of napkins. They were, by the end of breakfast, black with scrawl: call David Garth, Milton Glaser, Mrs. Astor; water, Moynihan, women and money, Brooklyn as the new Paris, Columbia vs. N.Y.U., water mains, Murdoch, CBS News, power.

Clay would sit at the Waldorf and dictate. His Felkerian takes on the world, as many have said, added up to a nonfiction novel embodying Clay’s worldview: power was his subject, exuberance was his drive.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/never-hold-your-best-stuff#comments Media Clay Felker New York Magazine Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:21:57 -0400 Peter W. Kaplan 71532 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/media/life-what-you-make-it

June 24, 2008

Dear Friends of Clay,

It is said that people die the way they live. Knowing Clay as you do, you will probably not be surprised by the story I want to share with you. In the past week, as he approaches the final deadline of his life, Clay’s life force returned with gusto.

Not that it ever flagged for long. In the past year, he has astonished every doctor and nurse who predicted “It won’t be long now.” Last summer, after three months in a rehab unit in Riverdale, Clay revived from near-drowning in double pneumonia and worked with physical therapists twice a day until he could circle the floor twice on a walker at about the speed he used to reach while sprinting across town for an important lunch date.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/media/life-what-you-make-it#comments Media Clay Felker New York Magazine Holdings LLC Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:27:38 -0400 Gail Sheehy 71512 at http://www.observer.com