In your merry Monday media column: Salon's staff memo on today's news, Virginia Heffernan's dream comes true, The Daily eschews Republicinsanity, WSJ. vs. T magazine, and David Carr feels the love.

  • Did you read Virginia Heffernan's piece in the NYT magazine this weekend, in which she takes us along on her lifelong journey from Vanity Fair groupie to, ever-so-slowly, person who realizes that Vanity Fair is kind of lame? It's quite poignant and perceptive. Although we had to laugh when she laments, "Can't I be part of the V.F. 'us' yet?" There there, Virginia. You have a weekly column in the New York Times Magazine. You are 'us.'
  • Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper The Daily will (unlike the WSJ) have a centrist, or at least fairly balanced, opinion section. Cause let's face it: iPads are a thing White People like, but Starbucks white people, not Jesus white people, or Private Jet white people.
  • The new editors of WSJ. magazine and the NYT's T magazine will both release their debut issues this weekend. So buy them both and compare and contrast! Or don't, and allow some slackjawed self-proclaimed "media critic" like me to foist my worthless opinion on you.
  • For writing a column today analyzing why the TSA pat-down story became such a huge media firestorm with relatively little substance behind it, David Carr says that "[I] have been told to kill self, have sex w/self, look inside self, frisk or scan self, ck self in mirror, wish self dead...Incoming mail breathtaking even for old hack like me." This is why we adhere to the simple rule of surviving on the internet: When you write something controversial, check it, double check it, then throw it away and post a cat video.
  • Conde Nast's holiday party was so crappy this year.
  • Wanna see Salon's staff memo that went out after the WSJ's story about its desire to sell itself today? Here it is!

  • From: "Richard Gingras"
    To: Salon staff
    Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 12:51:25 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
    Subject: WSJ article— Salon.com

  • I assume most of you have seen the article on Salon in the Wall Street Journal this morning.

  • There really isn't any news here. As I have disclosed in All-Hands meetings I have been aggressively pursuing options for Salon — either additional investment or a possible merger. It is, as we know, very difficult being a mid-sized news property in today's advertising marketplace. So the only news with this article is that WSJ picked up some scuttlebutt about discussions we've been having and ran with it.

  • My only question: where'd they get that picture?

  • If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

  • R.

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