Man, do I love Fridays. I really, really love them. It's not just because there's no show, giving us a much-needed opportunity to catch up on news, sleep, dirty dishes. It's because I know at the end of the day, I'll trudge up my steps and a gleaming (they don't call 'em glossies for nothin') Us Weekly will be tucked in my mail slot (not a euphemism). And honestly, I'm not just looking at the pictures... I'm reading the articles. I swear. I'm also a fan of Dirt*, the television program based on a fictional tabloid glossy, with Courtney Cox as the tough-as-nails editrix-in-chief (much of her hairstyle and toughness seems to owe an awful lot to every story I've ever read about Judith Regan). Now, despite my deep and abiding affection for Us (not the royal Us, but the magazine), I've no idea what an editorial meeting is like; but, if it's anything like the one in Dirt, it's strikingly similar to ours (sans, of course, terror-wielding boss). We thrive on ideas... tabloids are just limited in scope. We're limited by... er... taste. (Though you'd be surprised how much we talk about LLo's misadventures, Paris (the royal Paris, not the city), and of course hope and pray for the well being of Britney's family).
Anyway, today we're talking tabloids: writing the obit to the Weekly World News, with the help of singer songwriter Bob Lind (the Elusive Butterfly (audio) himself! Click here (audio) and here (audio) to hear some more music.) We'll also be talking about the new generation of celebremags, with a former Globe reporter, and the charming (and articulate) Ken Baker, the West Coast editor of Us. (Anyone who says this is faux biz -- the man has a masters in journalism from Columbia.) If I know our listeners, I'm sure we'll get some laughter, some jeers, and some chagrin. But I think there's some real reporting to be done here, plus, who wouldn't like a look inside the cut-throat world of celebrijournalism? (What other words can I attach celebri- to? Anyone?)
*FYI, Dirt is a terribly guilty pleasure, in my opinion. First of all, Kinerase is amazing ... and second of all, it's got more porn then German opera. I blush all the way through.
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