'Observer's' Media Desk Still a Talent Mill

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Mixed Media

by Jeff Bercovici

Main

The Takeaway: Writers Strike, Day 65 Idle Chatter: The Stewarts, Jon and ...

Jan 8 2008 9:32PM EST

Nick Denton thinks covering media for the New York Observer is no longer "a stepping stone to greatness," to the point that the paper is having trouble acquiring and keeping talent.

I don't know where he's getting that from, though. Off the top of my head, the last three media reporters to leave the Observer are Gabe Sherman, Rebecca Dana and Michael Calderone. Sherman and Calderone have both transitioned onto the sexier (at least during an election year) political beat, the former at The New Republic (after a layover at Portfolio, the latter at Politico.

Dana, meanwhile, having left the Observer for The New York Times (which didn't work out so well) is now ensconced at The Wall Street Journal, where, I'm guessing, the media beat is about to become a top priority thanks to new owner Rupert Murdoch.

In other words, Denton's wrong. Whatever its other problems, the Observer continues to serve as the elite journalistic establishment's farm team.

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