At a concert this past weekend, John Mayer sang one of his songs and before singing it started talking about giving people second chances. Well, if you are a tabloid writer that can mean only one thing, "John & Jen Back Together - Brad's Pain" You know, something like that. Well, instead of a tabloid, the story was written by The Huffington Post. John Mayer took exception to it and says on his blog, that because that site also does serious news that they should also not do gossip. Why? If you are a site that has many employees trying to earn a paycheck, I think they should get readers however they want. Why should they be limited to just news? Can't people be really into politics but also read US Weekly? Can't people be interested in BP and the banking crisis but still like reading about Lindsay? John Mayer thinks not.
"The reason I’m calling you out instead of all the other magazines that make stories up out of thin air is that In Touch and Star Magazine aren’t concurrently writing pieces about Pat Tillman or WikiLeaks. Those other rags know who they are, and even if they’re obnoxious, I’d rather have to live with them because they (and the rest of the world) know where they stand, which doesn’t make them one tenth as dangerous as you are. You’re a stripper wearing reading glasses. Or maybe you’re an insolvent law student willing to dance for a few extra dollars. Either way, it’s uncomfortable to watch you try to wrap yourself around a pole when you have that C-Span scar."
I think John Mayer is wrong. He seems to want to pigeonhole people into one thing or the other. What he is essentially saying is that you can't do tabloids if you want to be taken seriously on news articles. Why? Does he know that Time Magazine started People? Yep, most popular section of the news magazine so they started their own magazine for it.
As much as I don't like John Mayer, he was very eloquent in his point. I think there is some truth there. I'd be more apt to believe something written in Time or Newsweek before something written in People or US Weekly. I don't think he's pigeonholing them, just pointing out how they are a "news" reporter, not gossip.
ReplyDeleteIsn't everything written either gossip or propaganda? Mostly?? Even weather is sensationalized now to promote panic buying. I trust no one! Especially John Mayer!!
ReplyDeleteI guess his self-imposed silence is over.
ReplyDeleteoh it's ok for John to talk about anyone he wants,but not the same rules for Huff Po? Mr. sanctimonious forgets his David Duke Sexual Napalm episode.
ReplyDeletemeh - it's Mayer. If he's only catching on now that HuffPo services many audiences, then that's just another example of his arrogance. Doesn't care abut the content unless it is about him.
ReplyDeleteThe most successful professional bloggers worth reading, whether on aggregate sites like Huff, or on their own, often mix up the content with a few puff posts in amongst their real focus, whatever their focus is.
I don't mind the Boy's songwriting, but Dude isn't nearly so smart or Social media savvy as he thinks he is.
(Could learn a thing from Enty even, whose been cleverly sliding in some more serious posts about 'celebrity' crimes and criminals, which has lead to some additional interesting discussions the last few months here on CDAN. Know thy craft!);->
Doesn't the fact that Time Magazine spun off a separate magazine for gossip kind of prove his point? If you purport to be publishing news then you don't want to run down your credibility by publishing gossip right next to it. It's not like Time is fooling anyone anymore; they totally are a gossip mag for old people.
ReplyDeleteJohn Mayer is such a douche. Almost every news source carries some form of "Entertainment" section. Entertainment news is mostly gossipy, even clebrity-endorsed news (like People) has some sort of spin. He needs to get over it and himself.
ReplyDeleteAnd if I were Jennifer Aniston, I'd be a little appalled that he would be so adament to deny the suggestion that the two of them are back together that he would go out of his way to hotly deny it. But I'm self conscious that way.
mayer=still douchetastic!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mayer may be douchtastic, but HuffPo is still douchier. They used to have some relevance, now it's just a far left rag.
ReplyDeleteDitto what Kate and Delilah said.
ReplyDeleteand for the record, I hope she isn't taking him back. Run Jen Run!
ReplyDelete"...a stripper wearing reading glasses." Gotta give him credit for that one.
ReplyDeleteDid she actually "pose" with her hair in her face like that? Is that supposed to be cool? Does she know she's 40 and on her it looks dumb???
ReplyDeleteI guess he never denied it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with kcqueen.
ReplyDeleteBut, I don't have a prob with news organizations running gossip/celeb stories. Everything kind of co-mingles these days. And every publication or news site has its own agenda. Nothing is without bias, ever.
What a douche. CNN features celebrity gossip.
ReplyDeleteI think Douchey McDoucherson's biggest issue is that there was no legitimacy to HuffPo's post. Later, HuffPo posted an update that said they didn't properly attribute the quote that implied Mayer and Aniston were back together.
thoughtelf- enty has always done that,what makes this site bearable. not all fluff and the readers actually have brains here.
ReplyDeleteFirst! lol.
@jax: Now, don't start that again!
ReplyDelete@jax - yup, maybe I am just noticing more recently because some of the stories are near & dear to my heart. BTW, not that I'm stalking you or anything, but I grinned today when I noticed you also follow the irreverant David Thorne? I knew I liked you for a reason. @27bslash6 is my kinda snark.
ReplyDeleteEnty should do a Your Turn featuring #FF recommendations. I'm sure the CDAN crew have some gems on their lists.
@Robert - yeah, will give him that one. It was a good image.
I've been more than half convinced for some time that Aniston actually pays the Huffington Post from a maketing budget to keep her in the headlines at that site. They need the money; she needs the weekly "news" non-news items they have of her on their front page.
ReplyDeleteI think he's saying that it's wrong when a news outlet, known primarily for relaying facts, starts taking on stories like this one, and fooling the reader into thinking it's fact, like the tabloids do, because they're able to manipulate even more due to the reader's already established trust that what they are reading is fact. It seems like a legitimate point to me.
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ReplyDeleteUhm, this is John Meyer, you know, the guy who pisses people off. Well now it's just his turn to get pissed at what someone else said/did.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about his feelings? I sure as hell don't.
John Meyer is one of those people who need CONSTANT attention, a lot like Kanye West. I think they are called narcissists.
ReplyDeleteI can't take anything he says seriously because of that.
Em Cue Em - I agree.
ReplyDelete@ThoughtElf - I LOVE David Thorne!! The Blockbuster letter made me pee in my pants a little.
I hate to say it, but I'm Team John Mayer. If Huff Po wants to be in the gossip business, they should have a spinoff site. I think politics and pop culture are already way too intermixed for our own good.
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