Do Non-Media Types Care About Media Celebrities? 38117

Although we can???t always shake the nasty habit of writing in the royal we, occasionally one of our editors decides to shake off the cloak of anonymity to write a short, pithy statement long, rambling diatribe about a topic of their choice. Today, Debbie Newman is that editor.

After a long and somewhat confusing morning – spent predominantly browsing the internets while under the (still negligible) influence of non-drowsy cold medication – I stumbled onto an amazingly informative article in which WaPo’s Howie “Story Stealer” Kurtz interviews Mediabistro founder Laurel “Suck It, I’m Rich” Touby about her extraordinary success. In the course of their discussion, Kurtz helpfully explains that Touby’s website utilizes a newfangled technology called “blogging,” which are, in Touby’s case, “short real-time scooplets” written by media insiders, for media insiders, about media insiders.

Needless to say, my head is still spinning.*

But lest anyone jump to the (apparently) incorrect conclusion that Touby is merely catering to the public’s demand for intramedia fodder, Kurtz sums up the boa-wearing Mediabistro millionaire’s operation as follows:

The Web site’s blogs ??? TV Newser, Fishbowl DC (and NY and LA), Galley Cat (about the publishing industry) ??? offer a mix of real-time scooplets, gossip, interviews, snark and itty-bitty items of conceivable interest only to those who work at a particular company or are related to someone who does.

Oh, don’t sell yourselves short, Laurel/Howie.

If Jossip has taught me anything, it’s that itty-bitty items about media personalities are also incredibly well-suited to people who are thoroughly bored with their non-media jobs. Or, for that matter, those who derive a certain voyeuristic pleasure from reading about an industry that prizes nepotism above talent and writing ability above looks. And who says you need a journalism degree to appreciate the quirkiness (and sexual ambiguity) of Neal Boulton, the bobbed frigidity of Anna Wintour, the stubborn aversion to hand-soap of Neel Shah or the self-perpetuating dichotomy that continues to pit reasonably attractive “family friend” types who can’t write against rather unfortunate looking English majors who can?

None of which is to say Touby is incorrect when she attributes much of her success to the “navel-gazing nature of the media business.” Or, as she explains it, “We make celebrities out of media people.”