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Recently in Salon Media

Media
Mickey's surprise
An alternative juror gives his impression of the case of a Disney exec charged with crossing state lines to have sex with a minor.
By Sean Elder
[12/13/99]

Media
Media man
With his new Web venture, magazine veteran Kurt Andersen promises a must-go news and information site that's as witty as the Wall Street Journal.
By Susan Lehman
[12/13/99]

Alt
Unto us, a poster child is born
They are the heroes and victims upon which we affix life's tragic lessons and drill them into your head. Plus: Is James Ellroy snubbing L.A.?
By Jenn Shreve
[12/10/99]

Alt
The unbearable lightness of Schwarzenegger
Film critics struggle to review "The End of Days" and still retain their indie cred. Plus: The AIDS crisis in Africa and one writer's desperate attempt to get a job at Maxim.
By Jenn Shreve
[12/06/99]

Media
Tina fires back
The most controversial editor in the history of American magazines slams her critics, defends her business acumen and says Talk will probably be her last magazine.
By Susan Lehman
[12/02/99]

Complete archives for Media

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"Rage Within the Machine" by Mike Mosedale

Don't shoot your boss, just spam his or her fat, overpaid ass! An employee at American Express Financial Advisors' Mutual Fund and Certificate Transaction Line recently announced his resignation by emailing a 3,500-word "manifesto" to more than 800 of his co-workers. The memo raged against the company's policies and the tyranny of cubicles among other things. Reporter Mike Mosedale insightfully notes: "The episode highlights an intriguing departure from the old-school method of showing one's disgruntlement on the way out the door -- flipping the bird, hollering at the top of one's lungs, or, in extreme cases, 'going postal.' It also provides a sharp counterpoint to employers' increased use of technology to track workers' productivity and behavior. According to a 1999 survey by the American Management Association, 45 percent of major U.S. corporations engage in electronic monitoring of employees ... But the very same technology that would seem to give Big Brother the upper hand allows the peeved proletarian to disseminate his own message."

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S.F. Weekly, Dec. 15-21

"Online Pirates of the Caribbean" by Jack Boulware

When old laws and new media collide, injustice inevitably occurs. Due to a 1961 law that prohibits placing bets over phone lines, gambling over the Internet is currently considered illegal in the U.S. Jack Boulware gives a fascinating glimpse into how this has affected the lives of three former San Francisco options traders. They thought they were operating aboveboard when they moved to Antigua to operate an online gambling site. Now they're considered fugitives.

"Mushroom crowd" by Silke Tudor

I have long been baffled by the passion of mushroomers. What on earth possesses people to get so worked up over "discovering" fungus? Then, as I was hiking through a redwood forest this weekend, it hit me: Mushrooming is adventure sporting for the elite! It requires education, ample leisure time and sophisticated culinary taste. And, once every year or so, you hear of some rich bloke eating the wrong mushroom and keeling over at the dinner table. Mushrooming is less strenuous than climbing Everest, but equally stupid and pretentious. Alas, none of these observations are in Silke Tudor's piece on mushrooming, which provides plenty of kinder insights into the world of mycology fanatics.

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Boston Phoenix, Dec. 16-22

"Borderline behavior" by Al Giordano

Smart and thorough political reporting from the Boston Phoenix. Al Giordano looks at current U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow's involvement in Pinochet's Chilean military regime and explores current accusations that Ambassador Davidow is bending the rules in Mexico as well.

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L.A. Weekly, Dec. 17-23

"Why Did He Cut That Man's Leg Off?" by Paul Ciotti

Here's journalistic voyeurism at its best. This story serves no better purpose than to entertain you with sick examples of depraved humanity, and it does so very, very well. Paul Ciotti takes us into the world of John Ronald Brown, a former unlicensed sex-change surgeon now serving time for murder. His victim? A 79-year-old man who, as one of Ciotti's sources puts it, "just wanted his leg cut off so he could get a hard-on." Brown serviced the senior's fetish, but the wound developed gangrene and the amputated man died. Murder, amputation fetishes, tales of botched sex-change surgeries with unimaginable results, blood-spurting penises ... Does it get any better, or worse (depending on your perspective), than this?

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Note to readers: Alt will be on vacation until the new millennium.
salon.com | Dec. 17, 1999

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