Thanks to Comments, Le Call and Caleb McDonald Are More Than Pretty FacesThere was a time when a dork from the boondocks could come to New York City and reinvent himself as a whole new person. Andy Warhol did it, and Madonna, and really just about everyone fabulous who made this place worth the rent and rodent issues in the first place. But now there’s the Internet, and well, that’s the end of that! These days, you can’t show off your carefully cultivated soigné personality and Oliver Twist–with–a–touch–of–Hermès look anywhere without someone from high school popping up cramp your style. Which is what happened to Look Book subject Caleb McDonald this week. McDonald claimed to be from the Middle East, but one commenter begged to differ:
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Daily Intel: Now With Comments, It’s Your Responsibility, TooSo, readers. We know you have lots of things to say about Gossip Girl. Who doesn’t? But lately we’ve been wondering what you think about other things we write about. Like, you know, Rudy Giuliani, sports, or people who are bonkers. We know you have opinions and jokes, and we’re betting they’re usually better than ours. Which is why we’ve added comments to Daily Intel. From now on, you can comment on any and every post we write, from the lame to the genius. Registration is quick and easy, so don’t hesitate. The comments show up on the main Daily Intel page, which you should have bookmarked anyway, you jerks. We really need the backup. Seriously, we’re even ripping off the LOLCats. Throw us a bone!
in other news
David Carr Loves You, Joel Stein Does Not
Do you agree with David Carr’s Golden Globe predictions? Believe he’s right that Scorsese will win for best director? Well, let the man know what you think already. He’s just twiddling his thumbs waiting for your feedback. Or so it seems from today’s media column on Carr’s obsession with the comments on his Carpetbagger blog. “Now I have become a day trader, jacked in to my computer and trading by the second in my most precious commodity: me,” he writes. “How do they like me now? What about … now? Hmmmm … Now?” We’re moved by Carr’s extreme concern, perhaps even more so because we’ve just been jilted by a certain West Coast writer.
In a (now-much-blogged-about) January 2 column in the Los Angeles Times, Joel Stein asked readers to do him a favor and not e-mail him: “I get that you have opinions you want to share. That’s great. You’re the Person of the Year. I just don’t have any interest in them A lot of e-mail screeds argue that, in return for the privilege of broadcasting my opinion, I have the responsibility to listen to you. I don’t. No more than you have a responsibility to read me. I’m not an elected servant.”
Compare this to Carr’s description of his rapport with a frequent commenter who went traveling: “I sort of missed him. I dropped him a note and then called him in Israel about being off the grid (in particular, my grid).”
Why the sharp contrast in attitude? Could our journalists’ keen interest in readers’ opinions be another Reason to Love New York? Do you think so? We want to know! — Lori Fradkin
24-Hour Newspaper People [NYT]
Have Something to Say? I Don’t Care [LAT]
