The editor of gay mag Genre is a lover of both men and women, a rocker, an editor/consultant, and now... a fighter. While stepping in to defend gay rights against some meatheads at a bar the other night, he fought valiantly but still got a beatdown! "I hate bullies," Neal tells us. "But I hate homophobic bullies even more so I stepped in. Got my ass kicked but at least I gave the bastard a good fight he won't forget." An account of the fight from a tipster:

On MSNBC's Morning Joe show today, Courtney Hazlett reported on the current racial tiff between Spike Lee and Clint Eastwood. She reminded us that this isn't the first time the two have had issues: "Spike Lee got really uppity" about Eastwood's WWII movies before! I wonder what Spike Lee has to say about that. Click to watch the lady say the racist thing. [via PlanetGordon. Hazlett is the same reporter who said "we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this with Owen Wilson" when actor Heath Ledger died in January.]

You love working out. You love Jesus. But gyms are such meat markets: sweaty, sculpted, sexy bodies everywhere, driving your brain crazy thinking about... not the church bake sale, if you know what we mean. (Sex). So what to do? Where can you go? Is this all a setup leading into a trend story about the astounding success of a Christian-themed gym located, predictably, in Florida? God yes! And furthermore, we think it's great:

Have you always suspected that people are fundamentally selfish, apathetic, and cold-hearted? You're right! It's proven by this video of a hit-and-run accident in Hartford, Connecticut. A 78-year-old man is struck by a car—quite an inconvenience for his fellow pedestrians and busy motorists, who all gawk openly but keep on moving. Several people reportedly called 911, but nobody bothered to, you know, go check on the guy sprawled out in the street (who's now paralyzed). Even New York's not this blasé. The video, after the jump.

"The Wall Street Journal has hired Financial Times journalists Thorold Barker and Liam Denning, who write the New York content for the London-based paper's popular and influential Lex column." [Guardian]

Demand for advertorial about 800 thread-count sheets, concierge services, and stainless steel wine refrigerators is soaring. Soon joining the likes of Gotham, Haute Living, and Avenue is Manhattan, an oversized glossy from Modern Luxury, yet another player in the "strategic circulation" market, aka sending publications free to the right zip codes. So assuming you live in the 10021, this September you can expect yet another ad-heavy, journalism-light magazine to appear in your mailbox. [WWD]

Tribune CEO Sam Zell famously cursed one of his journalists earlier this year when asked whether refocusing the company would undermine serious journalism. He called such thinking "classic... journalistic arrogance." But now Zell is struggling to service $12.8 billion in debt amid a weak economy, and he's planning what sounds like mass layoffs and newsprint reductions to meet the challenge. The cuts would fall hardest on the journalists who produce the least output — just the sort of emphasis on quantity over quality once-supportive reporters and editors at the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel are likely to abhor:

Everyone seems nearly as confused in the aftermath of Jane Friedman's departure from atop HarperCollins as they were in the frantic hours before the official confirmation. But it looks increasingly like the CEO was elbowed aside. Friedman's deputy and successor, Brian Murray, has disclosed he was summoned to a meeting with Rupert Murdoch Wednesday and unexpectedly offered her job. But Friedman didn't discuss her departure with Murdoch until two days later, on Wednesday, according to a Times source "familiar with her situation." If true, that would signal Murdoch wanted her out. Perhaps the HarperCollins pipeline looked weak; Leon Neyfakh at the Observer raised the possibility of "a terrible fourth quarter." Still, there are all sorts of conflicting signals.

The birth of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins is, for celebrity tabloid editors and producers, like a presidential election night, the Superbowl and a moon landing all rolled into one, and the incredible pressure is destroying them one at a time. Bonnie Fuller was an early victim, losing all grip on reality at the end of March, when the magazine she then ran, Star, described a New Orleans wedding between the power couple that never took place. Then, earlier this month, Entertainment Tonight reported that Jolie had given birth to the twins in France, a story that was swiftly denied by reps for the couple and that is raising questions about the show's standards (apparently it was like the New Yorker of celebrity journalism). Now, Fuller's replacement at Star is also messing up the Brangelina story, cropping a month-old photo to make it look like Jolie "collapsed" in the south of France:

If you're working at a subdivision of 20th Century Fox, in Hollywood, as an intern, you can probably get away with writing an anonymous blog. What you can NOT get away with? Disclosing your college (USC), plus your gender (female), plus a plethora of details about your workday, like how you were asked to help play a prank on a celebrity and "find pools," whatever that means. With that much identifying information, you are going to get caught, even inside a large company like Fox, and everyone is then going to know about how you "sometimes... spend my day hoping no one catches me Gmail chatting with my best friend." And your boss is going to know you think he's kind of a disaster:

Looking for a decent excuse to advance his long-simmering feud with Rupert Murdoch and to do a weird Australian/pirate accent, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann seized upon the words of a former News Corp. insider, who claimed in one of our posts this morning that Murdoch fired Jane Friedman from HarperCollins because she canned powerhouse publisher Judith Regan in late 2006, and also because she squashed Regan's OJ Simpson book project. The source also claimed, tangentially and outlandishly, that Fox News chief Roger Ailes will soon be fired as well for his own role in the Simpson book fiasco. Predictably, this amused Olbermann to no end. For the crime of going to bat for the OJ book, Olbermann named Murdoch today's "worst person in the world," an honor previously bestowed to Fox News screamer Bill O'Reilly. He then did a killer Murdoch imitation that will surely put to rest those allegations that he's totally crazy. Clip after the jump.

Old Washington Post-ies are getting sweet buyout packages. One example: former Post photography chief Joseph Elbert just walked away with a deal that includes a $280,000 lump sum, and could reach a total value of close to $400,000 with various benefits over the next 20 years. Compare that to what most upstart "new media" bloggers will receive when they retire: nothing. [Washington CP]

When you're a professional entertainer—particularly if you're one of the Unfunniest Comedians in America—you have to know how to handle hecklers. Dane Cook, as you see here (click to enlarge), responds to a mere MySpace heckler by calling her "ugly like a trout." His reaction is ineffective, inefficient, and fails by every standard of the Heckler-Handling Handbook. Observe:

It's lucky for Russia! magazine that former Gawker and new NYT Magazine covergirl Emily Gould has already split up with Russian-born novelist and n+1 editor Keith Gessen. Otherwise, they'd be in trouble! Out now in their new issue is Gould's profile of Russian-American writers—including Gessen.

Page Six has a "DARK THEORY" (or, if you prefer, a "bizarre scenario that seems possible") about why former Access Hollywood host Larry Mendte would want to read the email of Alycia Lane, his cop-slugging former co-anchor at the CBS station in Philly. Yammering coworkers say that Mendte was jealous of Lane's success, and "worked hard to take Alycia down." The clear implication is that Mendte may also have been responsible for leaking past gossip items about Lane's personal life. It certainly qualifies as a dark theory, but is it true? Nobody knows yet, so here's an anonymous coworker's gratuitous quote about Mendte's wife: "She's an older version of Alycia, which I find a little freaky." [P6]

As predicted, Yazmany Arboleda—the publicity-seeking artist hastily shut down by the Secret Service yesterday for his exhibit about the "Assassination" of Barack and Hillary—made a clean sweep of the New York media. He is truly a master of his craft. The stories run the gamut, from the Post's throwaway one-off to the Sun's cautious warning that this whole art project might be a big hoax. And let's hope it is; it would be worthwhile comeuppance for the equally publicity-seeking New York Police Commissioner, who really should have had better things to be concerned about yesterday:

The UK Sun is perhaps the paper that gives the best indication of Rupert Murdoch's schemes and aspirations. It's based almost entirely on unrepentant nativism, anti-Continental prejudice, breathless violent crime reportage, immigrant/pedophile fear-mongering, celebrity abuse, royal family adoration, and T&A. It has the highest circulation of any daily English-language newspaper in the world. And it loves Barack Obama! In a rapturous story published today under the header "The REAL American Idol," the Sun's political team all but deifies the Illinois Senator.

Back in 2005, two activist groups—Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch—launched campaigns to kick Wal-Mart's ass in the media. Which they did quite successfully for a while. The soulless retailer spent untold millions on a huge, political-style PR campaign from our friends at Edelman to fight back against the criticisms of them for everything from poor health care to union busting. But the Times reports today that Edelman's Wal-Mart war room shut down months ago, and the torrent of news stories about the company's flaws has died down. Why? Because Wal-Mart has adopted a philosophy of working with critics, and made their enemies their friends. This is either evidence of progress, or cause for despair. Since the company is still a horrible union buster, we'll go with "despair."

Why did Entertainment Tonight run with—and stand by—the story that Angelina Jolie had had her twins, even after it became clear they had been burned by a bad source? Scrutiny is now falling on an ET producer. Could it be an inside scam? [Jossip]

Jacob Weisberg is stepping aside as the editor of Slate... OR IS HE? Technically, sure, he's ceding the reins after six years to deputy David Plotz, but if Slate has taught us anything, it is to question blatantly-obvious facts just for the hell of it. And if one does that, one discovers Weisberg isn't stepping down at all, he's stepping up, to run something terrifying called the Slate Group, which will be in charge of Slate and various spinoffs, including a new business site called The Big Money. Weisberg compares Slate Group to Time Inc., which of course has not only the flagship newsmagazines but also celebrity, business and sports titles, as well. It might seem natural for these new spinoffs to be, say, blogs, but of course Slate Group isn't using that word, because it's too popular. Instead the site is looking at launching "tools or news aggregators." [Times]