Drowning in the Fishbowl: Non-Stop Irony and Media Navel-Gazing
We like the crew over at FishBowlDC and admire their work, which we link to frequently. But given our weakness for irony, as well as our obsession with all things media, we'd be falling down on the job if we didn't pass along this reader email.
This may take a little concentration -- so put down that plastic salad fork and focus. First, read this FishBowl DC item :
Washingtonian's Kim Eisler is not at all happy with Howard Kurtz. Personally, we're just amused that at the end of a column spent documenting some other reporter's conflicts-of-interest, Kurtz profiles a correspondent on the network where Kurtz himself moonlights. Irony alert!
Second, read this "meta-irony alert!" from a Wonkette reader:
Stay with me here as I go all David Foster Wallace on your ass -- Um.... the writer of said FishBowl item, Garrett Graff, is the editor at large of the Washingtonian. So -- let's say that Graff highlights how a colleague is not at all happy with Howie Kurtz (whom Graff blowjobish-ly profiled for, uh, the Washingtonian, and what a PLEASELIKEME hummer it was!).And we are personally amused that Garrett Graff -- at the end of his item on how a colleague is upset at a subject of a previous Graff profile AND how said subject has a conflict of interest by dint of his moonlighting job... neglects to so much as intimate that, in the very act of blogging about a guy who's mad at another guy, who also has a conflict of interest... Garrett soi meme is moonlighting and creating an even more bizarre conflict of interest by reporting about a colleague and refusing to mention it.
Whoa! Didja get all that? If so, then here's one more thing to note for the record. At the very end of his column, Kurtz at least discloses his potential conflict: "Howard Kurtz hosts CNN's weekly media program, Reliable Sources." As noted by our source, Graff does not.
Our musings on this tempest in a teapot -- or bubbling in a fishbowl -- continue after the jump.
Is this a big deal? Well, maybe not. The FishBowl item was written by Garrett in his blogger capacity -- and everyone knows that bloggers don't have to adhere to all that annoying "journalistic ethics" crap, which is so MSM. (Special shout-out to Maxjet : Wonkette editors will gladly accept your free plane tickets .)
In addition, it's no state secret that Graff works for Washingtonian. This fact is disclosed on FishBowlDC's About Us page. So it could be viewed as effectively part of every FishBowl post, a "standing disclosure" of sorts.
So why did we bother mentioning this to you? First, we're suckers for anything involving irony, the media, and non-scandalous scandals. Second, it's a slow news day. Third, scientific research shows that the mental gymnastics required to follow this convoluted item are good for your brain .
(Editors' disclosure: Both of us have enjoyed Garrett's company over drinks, and one of us has been to brunch at his lovely apartment, where we consumed some delicious quiche. But as you can see from this hard-hitting item about Garrett, we can't be bought off with quiche and well-chilled orange juice! Business class tickets to London , however, are another thing entirely.)
K-R Tiff, Eisler and Abramoff [FishBowlDC]
Jack Abramoff, Sans Horns [WP]
Earlier: Abramoff's Pal: Loosen Up, Squares!
The Department of Ironies Too Painfully Obvious To Point Out Remains Impenetrable