Hollow Verbiage

But cable news generates verbiage in this hollow mode, minute after minute, hour after hour, when people are forced to speak even though they have nothing to say. It’s inherent in the enterprise. In most of what it does, continuous real-time broadcast news is a failed experiment.

James Gleick on news coverage in the wake of the Boston bombings

New York Magazine Captures the Look of Post-Sandy New York

A magazine cover that defined the week.

Voices

Can Marissa Mayer Really Have It All?

There comes a moment in every very ambitious person’s life when she sees with perfect clarity that the path before her is blocked. For Marissa Mayer, Google employee No. 20 and Silicon Valley’s reigning “geek queen,” this moment occurred last year, when her former boyfriend, Google co-founder Larry Page, kicked her off the company’s elite operating committee, to which she had been appointed the previous year.

Sincerely, Mark Zuckerberg

… Facebook bought the thing that is hardest to fake. It bought sincerity.

Paul Ford, writing about FaceTagram in New York Magazine

News Byte

DailyCandy Editor Janet Ozzard Out After 8 Months

Anyone want to run DailyCandy? The influential shopping newsletter needs a new editor in chief: Janet Ozzard, the New York Magazine veteran brought in to run the place in March, is out. DailyCandy confirms that Ozzard’s last day was Tuesday, but won’t comment on her departure other than to wish her the best. The newsletter, purchased by Comcast for $125 million in 2008, hasn’t named a successor.

News Byte

D'oh! Mark Zuckerberg Set to Befriend Simpsons in Fall Cameo

A half-billion users is cool. But a guest spot on “The Simpsons” is cooler! New York Magazine says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will appear, as himself, on the show’s upcoming season. Plot summary: “In the episode, dubbed ‘Loan-A Lisa,’ Lisa decides to help fund Nelson’s new bike company. While attending an entrepreneurs convention, the two encounter Zuckerberg, who reminds the kids just how many famous billionaires–including himself–have dropped out of school.” The magazine thinks the episode may air in October–right around the release of “The Social Network.”

Tumblr Raises Another $5 Million From Spark and Union Square. Now It Wants Your Money.

Tumblr’s David Karp, seen carpet surfing on the cover of New York Magazine this week, says his hipster blog service is ready to become a real business. Karp’s VC backers seem to believe him.

Can You Make a Living From Viral Videos? The OK Go Gives It a Shot.

A band that’s well-known for making great videos–but not for selling much music–splits from EMI, which doesn’t seem that upset about it.

DailyCandy Gets a New Editor: New York Magazine’s Janet Ozzard

DailyCandy, the original and most successful lifestyle newsletter business, has a new editor: Janet Ozzard, the woman who runs New York Magazine’s influential Strategist shopping/fashion guide. She’ll replace Eve Epstein, who will stay as creative director of Swirl, DailyCandy’s online sample-sale site.

The New York Times Officially Starts Construction on Its Pay Wall: “Metered Model” Coming 2011

After much consideration, the New York Times has finally decided to start charging readers for access to its Web site. But not for a while: The Times says it will introduce a “metered model” for NYT.com in 2011.