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Recently in Salon Media

Media
Life's a scream
Advertising legend Jay Chiat talks about his new company, making ads work on the Web and the best commercials he's seen lately.
By Susan Lehman
[11/17/99]

Media
Don't cry for me, Gray Lady
After 55 years, Abe Rosenthal exits the New York Times, unquietly.
By Sean Elder
[11/12/99]

Alt
Gang land
Can the same entertainment media that have popularized gang culture be used to combat gang-related violence? Plus: Men who collect penis bones; capital punishments throughout human history.
By Jenn Shreve
[11/12/99]

Alt
Girls will be jocks
At last, coverage of women's sports that even this non-spectator can appreciate. Plus: One writer's plaintive cry: "Enough with the sex, dammit!"
By Jenn Shreve
[11/05/99]

Media
"None of us are hip"
An interview with Allan Siegal, language czar of the New York Times and editor of its new style and usage guide.
By Susan Lehman
[11/05/99]

Complete archives for Media

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Few, if any, can escape his bellowing cry: "Buy! Buy! Buy, dammit! Buy!"

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Imagine, if you will, the staff of your local alternative news source as a dysfunctional family. In the basement you have the rebellious teenagers, bucking tradition, subverting social norms and crashing the family car; we call them "editorial." In the master suite you have the parents who earn the dough that feeds the brats and enables them to pursue their snotty dreams of journalistic glory -- call them "sales." For the most part, these two factions coexist in a peaceful, though tense, state. Once a year, however, the parents demand that the kids dress themselves up, grab a tin cup and make with the caroling.

The result: The dread holiday gift guide.

Hard-nosed city beat reporters waxing eloquent on the virtues of bed and breakfasts. Pessimistic rock critics raving about the new Frank Sinatra re-release. ("It comes with a bottle of red wine and a Santa hat!") Jaded columnists praising the local sex shops' latest batch of specialty lubes.

Of course, not all alternative weeklies buckle entirely when the holidays approach (as opposed to your local newspaper, which is at this very moment making kissy faces on Santa Cash's fat, sweaty lap). After all, you can't just go from ranting against all things capitalist to touting the glories of Anna Sui's new Eau de Toilette without some kind of struggle. Can you?

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Socialist shopper: Consuming for the good of all mankind

The San Francisco Bay Guardian takes the high road with its consciousness-raising gift guide. Gifts for the spiritually inclined! Make your own, at this "make your own gift" store! Give the intangible: a gift certificate, perhaps? Surprisingly, the Guardian fails to suggest giving to charity or volunteering. But I forgot, good causes don't advertise.

Next page | More gift guide fun and products for your nether regions