Radar

On the day the perennially troubled Radar magazine folded, its editor Maer Roshan got an email from an old friend, Tina Brown, with whom he’d worked at her own sunken ship, Talk.

“Maer my darling, I’m grieving so terribly,” she wrote in her Masterpiece Theatre trill. “I’m running into a meeting, but do nothing either yourself or with your staff until you’ve spoken to us. I will call you as soon as I can.”

Maybe Barry Diller’s mammoth IAC Corporation, with whom Ms. Brown launched her aggregator Web site, the Daily Beast, was prepping a bailout plan for the magazine!

Or was she looking for spiked pieces she could use to add original content to her own online magazine?

These days, Ms.  read more »

It's been a month since Radar went out of business and its Web site became an asset of AMI. While some of the staff have spent time posing for photos in bars or talking to reporters, Charles Kaiser, who wrote the 'Full Court Press' column for the site, has moved on.

Mr. Kaiser just sent out a release touting his new column on CJR.com:

In the wake of the sale of radaronline.com to the National Enquirer, Charles Kaiser has moved Full Court Press to cjr.org, where 'Above the Fold' and 'Winners & Sinners' will appear every week. Kaiser said, 'It feels like I've found the perfect new home. I'm thrilled to be working with managing Web editor Justin Peters and CJR executive editor Mike Hoyt, who asked me to join them as soon as Radar died.'

Mr. Kaiser has written for The Observer and The New York Times.

In what is perhaps one of the most dissonant press releases Media Mob has gotten in a while, a press representative from Time Out New York is touting the magazine's Where Laid-Off Workers Go To Drink spread.

Asks the flack:

What happens when you show up at your gig at Radar only to find the magazine's folded? Or if Nick Denton unexpectedly boots you from your blogging duties? What would you do if your days at CosmoGIRL came to a screeching halt?

If you're one of the unfortunate hundreds who lost their media job this month, then the answer is simple: You drink.

 read more »

This past weekend, The New York Times' 'City' section featured a story by Caroline H. Dworin headlined Suddenly, Souvenirs, about promotional paperweights and newspaper boxes for the late New York Sun, which remain like memento mori throughout the city after the paper folded in September.

Writes Ms. Dworin:

Perhaps those who will notice the weights the longest and watch mournfully as they disappear are the paper’s former staff members. A few weeks ago, while walking in the Flatiron district, Jacob Gershman, The Sun’s Albany reporter, found himself standing on line at a newsstand, a worn weight in his hand.

'You see these around, and you want to pick something up before it all goes away,' he said.

 read more »

Barely a thousand hours old and The Daily Beast, already has its own mini scandal.

According to a Smoking Gun post headlined Tina Brown In Beastly Hoax, Tina Brown and Barry Diller's Web site ran an article that purported to show concept drawings for Michelle Obama's inaugural gown by Project Runway contestants last week.

The only problem: One of the drawings contributed was fake, a prank done by a Canadian musician named Jay McCarrol mistakenly contacted by the reporter, Hailey Eber, who thought she was emailing with Jay McCarroll, one of the design show's breakout stars. Mr. McCarrol, who is not a fashion designer, had a friend do some sketches which he sent Ms. Eber, in a prank that calls to mind The Baffler's Great Grunge Hoax from 1992, in which a shop owner invented hilariously fake 'grunge' terms which ran as part of a New York Times' article by Rick Marin. The lexicon featured the immortal—and frankly, still viable—phrase, "bloated bag of bloatation," which supposedly meant "drunk."  read more »

"I basically started Radar because I didn't want to work at any other magazine," said Maer Roshan, the editor of the recently folded magazine. "And after six years, all of it came down to this."

Mr. Roshan was surveying his party, the night before Halloween, which had become a kind of Night of the Living Dead for journalism. "PRINT IS DEAD! LONG LIVE RADAR!" read the invitation, which was retooled after a recent development at the magazine.

Six days before his staff had been given a couple of hours to pack everything at their desks into collapsible white boxes and shove out, after the sudden declaration from his sponsors that the magazine was officially kaput, his staffers, many of whom have been fixtures in the young journalism scene in New York for years now, mingled with their media friends at the bar, Citrine, in Chelsea; not yet officially opened, the walk-up spot, which looks a bit like a Hell's Kitchen gay bar, has already held parties for Edgar Bronfman Jr.  read more »

As Gawker noted the other day, the newly-dismissed staff of Radar is throwing a Halloween bash tonight to "celebrate" the demise of their magazine. A lot of people in this town can probably use a drink tonight.

On Friday, Media Mob's John Koblin broke the news that Radar would be closing. Later that day, he spoke to founder and editor Maer Roshan, who said, "Up until today I thought we could still talk about options for the magazine—in fact, there were no options." Over Stella Artois beers, the staff packed up and left their offices by 3 p.m.

That same day, Felix Gillette brought news that ABC News would be slashing its budget by canceling its holiday parties, print subscriptions, and insisting executives stay in 'B' hotels.  read more »

Headlines at radaronline.com on Tuesday, Oct. 28, included: “Jessica Simpson: Major Movie Star, Comrade”; “Vanessa & Zac Back in the U.S”; “Sean Penn’s Gay History Closeted.”

Yowza!

Radar has ever been sold as an heir to Spy: poppy and irreverent and, most of all, smart, as though OK! had gone to college and majored in semiotics. But in the days since the Web site has been acquired by AMI, the proprietors of The National Enquirer, it seems to have dropped a few grades behind.

Maer Roshan, the editor and founder of Radar, who has now watched his magazine fold for a third time, said he would not be involved in the Web site.  read more »

As of 3 P.M. all Radar staffers were expected to leave from their East 45th Street office.

According to a source, editorial staffers have spent the last 90 minutes or so boxing up their belongings, laughing and drinking from bottles of Stella Artois. While they pack, there are apparently some careful eyes watching what they decide to take from the office.

When some staffers have gone up to pick up their severance checks, HR people are making them check off a box that says they are leaving "voluntarily." Maer Roshan said he was informed of the decision this morning.

At 4 P.M., staffers are heading over to Croxley Ales on Avenue B.

Meanwhile, Mr. Roshan is spending his final hours still negotiating with investors to make sure the 16th issue of the third incarnation of Radar is printed.

"I never worked with a better or more dedicated staff in my life. I'm sorry that we couldn’t achieve the potential that I know this magazine has—had."

Media Mob just spoke with Maer Roshan, the editor of Radar, which is folding.

"What is so frustrating is that we seemed to have reached a turning point," he said. "You're dealing with independent investors and they saw the market and they were fearful about the future."

He said it seemed like a "strange time to pull the cord" since he felt Radar was finally hitting its stride. "They gave us 15 issues," he said. "Sixteen issues if they let the last issue, which is a week from being printed.  read more »

Radar editor Maer Roshan convened his staff late this morning and announced that the magazine would be shutting down immediately. Staffers are expected to clear out their desks by the end of the day.

"The magazine is gone and the Web site is being reincarnated," said a Radar staffer who attended the meeting.

The web site has been sold to AMI and will be redesigned and rebuilt to "become a competitor to TMZ," our source said. David Pecker, C.E.O. of AMI will be installing David Perel, the editor-in-chief of The National Enquirer,  as the managing editor of the new Web site.   read more »

Also in the October/November issue of Radar, Ana Marie Cox interviews John McCain about his favorite TV shows. (Good two months for them!) Mr. McCain, who David Letterman excoriated last night for bailing on his show, said that he really likes the late night talk show host in the article which is currently not online.

As Mr. McCain told Ms. Cox:

One reason I like to go on those shows, particularly ones like Leno or Letterman, is that they help you reach a wide viewing audience that otherwise would not be paying attention to the political scene—people who would never be exposed to the Sunday-morning shows or other programs that politicians are traditionally on.  read more »

In the forthcoming October/November issue of Radar magazine, Lauren Sandler profiles Lara Logan, CBS News' alluring, aggressive war correspondent.

Over the course of several thousand words, Ms. Sandler chronicles Ms. Logan's blazing ascent from casual South African swimsuit model to swashbuckling war correspondent to tabloid sensation for her involvement in a series of war zone affairs, including with CNN's war correspondent Michael Ware.

"Ware and Logan became legendary for their blowout arguments," reports Ms. Sandler. "Some members of Iraq's press pack referred to them as 'the Sid and Nancy of Baghdad.'"

In short: It's a good read. (Though, as of this writing, not yet online.  read more »

That news about Moe Tkacik joining Radar? Never mind.

Apparently, Ms. Tkacik has changed her mind and rejected the offer from Radar. She'll leave Jezebel and begin writing for her company's flagship site, Gawker.com.

Reached by Media Mob, Radar editor Maer Roshan, who is currently not in the office, told us that the memo he sent out to the Radar staff announcing she was hired—writing that she will "bring her unique style and voice to a wide variety of topics from entertainment to politics, business and economy to world affairs. I'm confident that her strong reporting experience and her uncanny ability to analyze trends and events will allow the site to offer a broader perspective on pop, politics, scandal, and style"—was "probably" premature and claimed that it was not actually written by him, but his assistant.  read more »

After at least five people made for the exits from Radar in the last two months, Radar editor Maer Roshan told the Observer in early June that the magazine would make "impressive" new hires. He held good on his promise. Moe Tkacik, the caustic, speedy and popular writer at Jezebel, is joining radaronline.com as a senior writer, editor Alex Balk wrote Radar's Web site last night.

Her first day is on August 18. She's also the latest alumnus of Gawker Media to join the magazine: in addition to Mr. Balk, Ana Marie Cox recently signed a contract to serve as Radar's Washington editor.

Charles Kaiser at Radar is reporting that ex-Journal editor Marcus Brauchli and current WaPo managing editor Phil Bennett are the top two finalists to repace Len Downie as executive editor of the Washington Post. Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek who was on a short-list of candidates, said that he took himself out of the running a few weeks ago. Jonathan Landman, deputy managing editor of the Times, apparently is no longer in a field with the top candidates.

If you're finding your RSS feed a little thin today, that may be because your favorite media and lifestyle bloggers are away on an important reporting assignment. In Las Vegas. Paid for by the nice folks at Thrillist.  read more »

“Three or four people leaving is not a big deal,” insisted Maer Roshan, founder and editor in chief of Radar.

Actually, it’s five: Senior editor Tyler Gray, en route to Blender, just had his last day at the magazine, as did managing editor Leigh Ann Boutwell, who is joining her boyfriend on the West Coast. On the business side, the magazine’s president, Fred Poust, fled Radar’s East 45th Street offices on May 30, along with finance director Dwight Holovach and Web site general manager Michael Small, who came in with great fanfare from Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone.  read more »

Late this afternoon, Radar editor Maer Roshan announced that the magazine's deputy editor Chris Tennant is out. He'll stay "onboard" as a contributing editor. Here's the memo:  read more »

So that Times story about John McCain, the one the world heard about in December, was published last night.

In a nutshell:  read more »

Charlie Kaiser at Radar is reporting that the The New York Times will endorse Hillary Clinton. "The editorial expressing that view is scheduled to appear this weekend," wrote Mr. Kaiser. Andy Rosenthal declined to comment to Media Mob on the piece.

Around 9pm at the New Museum on Bowery, Radar editor Maer Roshan, dressed in an extremely well-fitting John Varvatos suit, was standing next to the bar. The suit was dark, but it wasn't entirely clear what color it was in a dimly lit room on the ground floor.

Mr. Roshan's magazine was throwing a party intended to honor "the most exciting rogues, renegades, and rule-breakers of the year." Film-maker Craig Brewer, writer Shalom Auslander, and Squid and the Whale star Jesse Eisenberg, among other rogues, renegades, and rule-breakers, were in attendance.

As Mr. Roshan surveyed the room, he considered the best time of year to host a party. "Summer, I think."  read more »

Hundreds of journalists working in Pakistan, including the editors of several major national papers, got together in Lahore the other day to demonstrate against a governmental blackout of news channels. The blackout is the result of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Ordinance, which is being enforced as part of the emegency rule declared by President Pervez Musharaff at the beginning of November.

One wonders: what would it take to mobilize the journalists of New York City in this way? Right now the only thing that brings more than a hundred of them to one place is Radar parties!