Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres






Ellis Jones. Photo: Bobby Doherty


"When Ellis Jones was named editor-in-chief of Vice magazine in February, she received a flood of emails from aspiring contributors who opened their pitches with a crucial error. 'They were all like, 'Dear Mr. Jones …,' she says between sips of a Narragansett poured from the steady-flowing tap at the Gutter, a divey Williamsburg bowling alley just a few convenient blocks from the Vice headquarters. Here, Jones partakes in a weekly bowling league with a group of dude friends. They’re fresh off a big loss. 'People who haven’t met me always assume I’m a dude,' she says. One could be forgiven for assuming the name Ellis (she chose her middle over her first name, Lauren, as a kid) belongs to a man. One could also be forgiven for assuming that the new editor-in-chief of Vice, a publication historically characterized by a lewd masculinity, would be a guy. As the first female editor-in-chief in Vice magazine’s two decades, the 30-year-old Jones will be forced to shake off some other less literal misconceptions about her gender and her employer. Like the idea that the company is a hedonistic fun-house for alt bros in the mold of its long-departed co-founder, Gavin McInnes (who’s known for things like 'The Vice Guide to Eating Pussy,' along with some post-Vice charges of white supremacy and transphobia). Vice has undergone a slow but dramatic maturation: The company’s current COO Alyssa Mastromonaco is not only a woman, but a former White House staffer. 'I’m trying to figure out how to bring in an audience we never had before,' Jones says. 'To make them realize that it’s not a lad’s mag, and that we don’t just do dick and fart jokes.'" (NYMag)


Barbara Walters thinks Monica Lewinsky can save ‘The View’


"Barbara Walters, the retired mother hen of 'The View,' has the perfect antidote for ABC’s ratings-challenged gabfest – Monica Lewinsky, according to a report. The legendary newswoman, who created the show, says the world’s most famous former White House intern would be a 'runaway success,' the Daily Mail Online reports, citing a network source. 'Barbara believes that Monica could make ‘The View’ competitive and compelling, and while a lot of Washington’s elite may scratch the show off its must-visit press list, the younger demographic of online users would tune in daily to see what she had to say,' the source told the site. Walters – who sold rights to 'The View' back to ABC a year before she retired in May 2014 – has reached out to ABC News James Goldston and Ben Sherwood, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, insiders told Daily Mail Online." (P6)

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