Gawker: valleywag, noah robischon

LeVar Burton Did Not Write That Onion Article, Upset Fans

Ryan Tate — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:41:30 EDT

The former host of Reading Rainbow had to explain The Onion to his fans, Sarah Gilbert felt like crying and Starbucks treated Jennifer 8. Lee like a ghost. The Twitterati were exasperated.

LeVar Burton actually had to explain to people that he did not write "My Living Nightmare Of Encouraging Kids To Read Is Over" for The Onion. The actor did not seem entirely pleased to still be teaching reading comprehension, three years after Reading Rainbow was cancelled.

Ellen DeGeners bragged of her ability to get college co-eds to strip for her cameras. It would seem the intentionally-awkward TV host can get away with anything. Can you imagine Anderson Cooper pulling this off?

Sarah Gilbert: Weepy dancer.

The New York Times Jennifer 8. Lee has discovered a new lifestyle trend: Starbucks can't make coffee for Jennifer 8. Lee.

Now that Fast Company's Noah Robischon thinks about it, a tazer isn't a bad idea in the absence of an actual physical advertising-editorial wall. Like at his last job.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets - or send us more Twitter usernames.

Robert Scoble now reports to my ex-boss

Owen Thomas — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:20:00 EST

This will be hilarious: Self-obsessed videoblogger Robert Scoble, managing director of FastCompany.tv, has a new boss — who's the same as my old one. Noah Robischon is leaving his job as managing editor of Valleywag's publisher, Gawker Media, to run Fast Company's websites, which include Scoble's personal blog, Scobleizer.com.Everyone assumes Gawker Media publisher Nick Denton personally pulls the puppet strings at Valleywag, but since I was hired last year, I've reported to Robischon, a friend I've known since we were both at Time. Damn: This means Denton actually is personally pulling the puppet strings now, doesn't it? I'm in so much trouble. But not as much trouble as Scoble: "I'm excited to be getting back into day-to-day editorial, and building something new," Robischon writes. Translation: Scoble will have to start making sense.

You've got minions! Introducing MJ Irwin

Owen Thomas — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:27:44 EDT

Let me replay a scene from the heated negotiations that brought me to Valleywag. Nick Denton, Noah Robischon, and I are sitting at a table at Balthazar, Denton's home away from home in New York's Soho neighborhood. "Minions!" I shout at Denton, upending a few espresso cups as I slam the table. "I demand minions!" Denton shrinks in his chair and looks at Robischon. "We can get him minions, right?" the blog mogul whispers. "Well, maybe if we cut Sicha's male-hookers budget," says Robischon, as he whips out his programmable calculator. "Screw Choire!" I bellow. "Minions!"

And so it came to pass.

The place, of course, had a few underlings already, and I haven't had the heart to issue any of them pink slips yet. There's Nick Douglas, the site's redheaded stepchild and my predecessor as editor; Megan McCarthy, our reportedly leggy party correspondent; and Tim Faulkner, our salty New England contributor. Today, though, I'm adding Mary Jane Irwin to their ranks.

Irwin, who goes by "MJ," was a former intern of mine at Business 2.0, more recently an intern at Wired, and, like disgraced "Dateline" producer Michelle Madigan, a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism. Not that I hold that against her. The first day she reported to me, she welcomed me with a gratuitous insult. And when she wasn't working her butt off, she precipitated an acid rain of commentary on the less-than-stellar startups which made their way into Business 2.0's pages. I loved it, of course. And when I started at Valleywag, I knew it wouldn't be long before she did, too. Please welcome MJ in true Valleywag style.