LA Times Tupac Reporter To Stay [Journalismism]

Despite retraction: "A spokeswoman for the newspaper said [Chuck] Philips, a Pulitzer Prize winner, would remain with the newspaper as an investigative reporter. She would not comment on whether any disciplinary measures had been taken." [Times]

You Can Only Have Five Friends, Says Harvey Weinstein [Megalomaniacs]

It emerged in court papers that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein once said to NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, "You can only have in your life five true friends and I consider you one of my five friends. And I'm telling you, I will not embarrass you." Weinstein, of course, did go on to embarass Zucker by selling his show to another network, according to NBC's suit. But what's with this "five true friends" thing?

Weinstein's media buddies Graydon Carter, Rupert Murdoch, Anna Wintour, Mort Zuckerman, Michael Bloomberg, Les Moonves and Lorne Michaels would never have fit in the inner circle with Zucker, to say nothing of the other 300 media elite at Weinstein's December wedding. Presumably, those are friends of a sort other than "true." Good luck getting your wedding gifts back, pawns. [WSJ]

Starbucks Geniuses To Stop Burning Coffee This Morning, Change World Forever [Bright Ideas]

Starbucks is set to begin selling a "smoother" — read: non-burnt — cup of coffee at all company-owned locations this morning. CEO Howard Schultz told the Journal the new roast is meant to "reinvent brewed coffee." Ah, so now properly roasting your beans makes you a revolutionary. That must be why the press release calls this day "historic" and the roast itself "historic." What could possibly be more hyperbolic than that? Oh, right, a brainwashed barista on StabucksGossip.com saying this will save the lives of children. I almost forgot!

This is the finest coffee that we can make. ALL of this coffee is in the store within 2 weeks of its roasting date, and is fresh everyday, delivered from our new roasting plant, intended for your satisfaction. Its a mild coffee and is made fresh every 30 minutes, instead of every hour. Starbucks spent alot of money on this.
I just would like to share with you, that we are not just about baristas, and frapps. Its about the farmers as well. We help their children eat, and the farmers take great joy into working with us. I encourage all of you on Tuesday to go to your local store and try the new blend. And when you try it, think of the positives instead of just assuming the coffee sucks. To us, coffee is a goal, and a dream. If anything, work together.
We have gone astray with the values that we used to have, so hang in there as we transform that company back to what it was inteded. Quality service, and great tasting, fresh, coffee.

Frat House President [Oliver Stone]

Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic, W, is at times more like a Saturday Night Live skit than history, according to some Bush biographers who reviewed the script on behalf of the Hollywood Reporter. "It leaves with the impression that the White House is run as fraternity house with no reverence for hierarchy, the office itself or for the implications of policy," one said. What left that impression? Was it the part where Bush and his buddies locked Colin Powell out of a room as prank, or when Bush rearranges his presidential schedule based on what's on ESPN, or the scene where he practices a parachute landing in the White House pool?

It sounds like, not-so-shockingly, Stone may have succeeded in making Bush into something of a caricature. Yes, he gives people nicknames, but did he really call Colin Powell "Baloon Foot?"

Yes, the invasion of Iraq was cavalier and underplanned, but was it really discussed like a football game? Yes, Bush was an alcoholic, but did he really crash his plane under the influence of alcohol?

In many cases, the historians answer, "No, he did not." But Stone needs to make money at a time when political films are not doing well. That means controversy.

It looks like the most controversial scene might have nothing to do with Bush's wild side but with the idea that he can be reflective and regretful:

All four Bush biographers cast doubt on one scene in which a wave crashes on a rocky promontory as Bush reveals: "There's this darkness that follows me ..."

"He doesn't think or talk like that," Weisberg said. "The darkness sounds like they've been listening to too much Springsteen. It doesn't ring psychologically true to me."

[Hollywood Reporter]

Even Economist Trying To Make News Funny [Comedy]

Apparently no one can just deliver the damn news any more, straight, everyone has to try and be funny. First it was the Daily Show, then Colbert Report, then Fox's attempted conservative news satire and most recently CNN's planned comedy news show. Now the Economist, the starchy British magazine, has launched a site in collaboration with Chicago's Second City improv troupe.

All that's on the site at the moment is information about upcoming cartooning event, but the front page promises "a collaboration between The Economist and the legendary Second City comedy theatre to explore the role of humour and satire in politics." [Economist's Art Of Satire]

Tribune Thinks This Ridiculous Press Release Is Hilarious []

Ugh, the radio guys brought in to run Tribune Co. are not just batshit insane, now they're distasteful to boot: Tribune number two Randy Michaels (pictured) just sent out a jokey press release about his latest hire, another radio guy named Marc Chase. The release contains zero useful information, other than perhaps Chase's name, but does list Chase's experience as "Vocabulary Advisorist for George W. Bush," his "Educashion" and the statement "it is obvious Michaels has lost his mind with this hire."

If you're going to disrespect the planned layoffs of hundreds of employees by publishing a press release, for your own amusement, about how you just hired your Clear Channel buddy, at least have the decency to make it funny.

Surely You Can’t Be Serious?
Marc Chase - President Of Tribune Interactive!

Randy Michaels’ run of acquiring radio-management stars came
to a screeching halt today with Chase’s appointment

CHICAGO Apr. 7, 2008 — Another freaking Clear Channel Communications executive on the payroll and this one’s been named President of Tribune Interactive.

Tribune Broadcasting’s Randy Michaels’ past finally caught up with him when Marc Chase obviously blackmailed his way into a position he is not remotely qualified to hold. Insiders are irate. Chase is a fraud. A source inside Tribune HR, who wished to remain anonymous, pointed out that Marc Chase’s resume (below) was obviously fabricated. First of all, his name isn’t even Marc Chase—it's Mark Thompson. The whole thing is a sham.

MARC CHASE
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington DC 20500 202-456-1111

PROFESSINAL EXPERIENCE

Vocabulary Advisorist for George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
Washington DC, 2004-present

eBay
President of Buying Crap
San Jose, California 2003-2004

Google
Executive Vice President of Finding Crap Anywhere
Mountain View, California 2001-2002

Microsoft
Senior Executive Vice President of Technology and Stuff
Seattle, Washington, 2000-2001

CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX Television
Vice President of Watching TV A Lot
Los Angeles, California 1999-2000

Harvard University
Dean of School of Internetology
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998

EDUCASHION

Nearly Graduated with Honers
School of Alabama in Atlanta Georgia 1985

COMMUNITY SERVICE

400 Hours (reduced from 600)
Judge gave time off for good behavior

Chase was quoted as saying, “Timing and infrared photography are everything. I couldn’t be happier! I know Randy is relieved to finally have me on Sam’s payroll.”

Tribune has undergone major changes in the past year, with billionaire Sam Zell acquiring the company last April in a complex deal that left it with $13 billion in debt. Since then, Zell has brought in new executives to fill key roles. This one takes the cake.

Last December, Zell hired Michaels — who helped Zell to build Clear Channel into a radio behemoth that he could then sell — to oversee Tribune's broadcast and Internet divisions. It is obvious Michaels has lost his mind with this hire.

—By Hugh Jass – A Reputable Media Source

© 2008, Bogus Information, a division of Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe. All Rights Reserved.

[Tribune]

Pavarotti's Fake Performance At 2006 Olympics [Publicity Stunts]

Today it emerged that the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti lip-synched his last performance, the opening ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympics, because he was in severe pain a few months before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The bitter cold also made it impossible to sing, his manager said. What is especially crazy about this performance is that the entire orchestra behind him is only pretending to play. Video, tracked down by Gawker's Richard Blakeley, after the jump.