Former Deadspin staffer Greg Howard, now a David Carr Fellow at The New York Times Magazine, published his first piece today, about the low odds of activist DeRay Mckesson’s bid for mayor of Baltimore. Read it here.

On May 5, 2010, Gawker received an unsolicited intern application letter from a woman who billed herself as “The (Potential) Intern From Heaven?” Her name was Leah Beckmann.

In your indignant Wednesday media column: yet another example of the WSJ's determined surliness, big media buys cheap ass stories, the battle for control of the doomed Philly papers, and Alex Pareene is somewhere else now.

The long-awaited VH1 show starring former Gawker columnist Tionna Smalls is set to premier soon! It's called "What Chilli Wants," and the answer is apparently "To be told what's up, by Tionna Smalls." Congrats to all. Click to watch!

We haven't done one of these alumni reports in a while, so why not? Today we have Defamer's former founding editor scoring a new gig and a former Gawker editor imploring her freelancing colleagues to put some pants on.

Original Wonkette Ana Marie Cox has landed a gig at Air America radio. Maybe all those appearances on the Rachel Maddow Show finally paid off. With a job!

Former Gawker editor Choire Sicha is now—for New Year's Eve at least—MSNBC's expert on the Obama girls.

Former Gawker writer Maggie Shnayerson, she of the actual journalistic skills and a keen eye for talent to boot, reflects on the glorious life of a professional blogger life in a new interview: "Seriously, imagine being strapped to a laptop set to explode if you step away from it. Someone is standing over your shoulder pointing a gun at your head, saying 'Okay, ready, set, go. Be brilliant. Suck less, at least.'" That "someone?" Gersh Kuntzman. (And currently: Alex Pareene). [PurePolitics, MaggieShnayerson.com]

"Serge Hefez, a practicing psychiatrist, has identified a new mental illness among bloggers: obsessive Balkosis, an unhealthy fascination with the Radar Online Executive Editor, Alex Balk."

"Formerly anonymous blog commentors would have to say their piece out loud, face to face." [Emily Gould's fantasy, in the New York Observer]

Holocaust jokes from Radar's Alex Balk.

BREAKING UPDATE: DOREE BOUGHT JOSH THE FATEFUL CLAFOUTIS. OR HALF OF IT ANYWAY. [The Doree Chronicles, Related, Previously]

Why won't THE MSM leave Choire Sicha's liquor store ALONE! [Radar]