Why We “Idolspize” Robin Givhan

Check out Harry Jaffe's puff piece in the Washingtonian about Robin Givhan, the Washington Post's “fashion critic.” Not a bad life, eh?

It sure beats blogging for a living! Let's do a head-to-head comparison:

• Givhan jets off to Milan on somebody else's dime, where she rubs shoulders with the beautiful people. We sit at home in our pajamas, chained to our laptops, and trying to remember when we last showered.

• Givhan's catty, incoherent ramblings about how people look get called “journalism.” Ours get dismissed as mere “snark,” even though they're just as catty and incoherent as hers.

• Givhan gets press credentials — and full benefits! We, needless to say, do not.

Do we admire Robin Givhan as a journalist? Um, not exactly. But we kind of “idolspize” her. We have to give her props, for getting a respected news organization to give her a job — with full benefits! — picking the low-hanging fruit of poorly dressed politicians.

Robin Givhan: Sending Out Zingers With Style [Washingtonian]

Earlier: Have You Considered Writing Essays That Don't Make Us Want to Claw Our Eyes Out?

READ MORE: harry jaffe, robin givhan, washington post, washingtonian

Jayson Blair Hedges Bets

Have you been following The Great “Doomed by Diversity” Debate? A tentpole topic over at Romenesko, it centers on a Harry Jaffe column quoting New Yorker writer Jeffery Goldberg on his experience at the Washington Post: “Jeff Goldberg’s career at the Post was doomed by diversity…Goldberg was up for a full-time job, he says, when an editor took him aside and said, ‘We would like to hire you, but we have to hire a Hispanic for that slot.’” There is little to no news involved: Ooh, the Post makes diversity hires!?! Jack Shafer has an opinion on it!?? But it has given the Romenesko letter-writers a new lens through which to view their navels, though, ironically, it’s also prompted Jayson Blair to look up from the mirror. The truth-challenged ex-Timesian writes sympathetically:

For all those whose careers are doomed by diversity, I wish that God graces you with a consolation prize like a job at The New Yorker. I know, working at The Post and The Times, is such an honor, but you know, I’ve heard rumors that those gigs at The New Yorker are pretty good.

Blair would choose Nurse Ratched over Jack Shafer [Romenesko]

READ MORE: harry jaffe, jack shafer, jeffery goldberg, romenesko, washington post