NYTimes Magazine and Emily Gould. Not Shocking

Replying here to Susan Mernit’s post about the New York Times magazine, cuz BlogHer won’t let me log on to comments.

NYT magazine, though it has “New York Times” in front of the “Magazine” part of its title, behaves like a magazine and goes for what’ll get the most people to pick it up.

... Shocking.

A woman in her 20s who worked for Gawker
a) was perhaps naive about the effects her performance has on others (in Gawker and to a male colleague), and trying to find sexual identity
b) can’t quite give up the desire for attention.

... shocking, again!

You’re right, Susan, that perhaps the most shocking thing is that what used to be the Gray Lady is trying things to bring itself into a more competitive era. The magazine in a Web era has to compete in a way it never had to when, only in print, it

Sure, it’s a bit like Vanity Fair, which tucks its impactful reportage inside issues that sport fawning stories of Hollywood celebs on the covers. But that’s the game, and it supports the quality journalism. And now, it’s a game the Times is trying to play.

Oh, and by the way, if I hadn’t been told I wouldn’t have known it was the cover story -- I read it -- quickly -- online, via a link.

1 comment:

Kate Coe said...

Mernit made so many errors in that piece, I can't believe she's still got it up. I left this comment at her site, but not Blogher:



"I think you'll find that the NYT didn't search out Emily to assign her this piece. She'd been looking for sell a rebuttal to Stein's Page 6 Magazine piece for a while. While, indeed, she may be narcissistic isn't she allowed to market and profit from her writing? She's in control of her sexuality and her smarts, so why not?


And Adam Moss hasn't been editor of the NYT magazine since 2004. He's editor of New York magazine--that's the link (I see in your column, you corrected the name, but not the link.)

Maynard's revelations about Salinger appeared in Vanity Fair, not the NYT magazine."

So sloppy!

I yield to no one in my distaste for Emily, but the NYT didn't put a gun to her head. She's deluded, but not a fool. Mernit's of the generation that sees all women as victims, so what can you do?