The Sophomore Press

I've been reading the New York Press for about seven years now and I still don't know what to make of it. Compared to the Village Voice, its humor is quite sophomoric. The Editorial tone is usually smarmy. Many of the writers engage in hipster navel gazing about shopping and clubs and drugs. Very edgy and angry. And despite Paul Krassner being totally wasted at the NY Press, and the fact that Russ Smith still has his ridiculous pro-Republican column every week, I still enjoy reading it.

The Editorial staff of the NY Press remind me these second year students who joined the Purchase College student newspaper back in 1989. It was my senior year and I had agreed to be the Editor in Chief simply because no one else wanted the job. We had a new section called "The Collective" which had a very open submission policy. There was a spirit of sharing ideas and expressing yourself.

The new group of students changed the title of the section to "The Purgative" and began to transform the section into their little playground, publishing their own pieces and those of their friends. The tone of the writing was always the same: mean spirited, pseudo intellectual, and often vulgar. Eventually they renamed the section "The Invective" so the reader would know right away what they were getting themselves into.

So when I first began to read the NY Press, the tone reminded me of the old Invective guys from those heady Purchase days. After all, "The 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers" cover story they publish every year is certainly an idea they would have loved. The NY Press consistently publishes the worst front page stories. Last week, for example, they made the case that we shouldn't care about CBGBs closing if someone can turn it into a museum.

So it was not surprising to see that this week's cover has a photo of John Paul II with the headline: "There's Nothing Funny About This Man Dying. Or Is There?". The cover story by Matt Taibbi lists all these little death scenes that are supposed to be humorous. "The 52 Funniest Things About The Upcoming Death of the Pope."

So here's just one hilarious example:

23. Doctors examining the body discover that the Pope was not only a woman, but also Hitler.

I am an agnostic ex-Catholic, and have many problems with the Vatican, but I don't think making fun of someone's imminent death is ever funny. When a joke becomes this vicious for no good reason, it kills the humor for me. I like Matt Taibbi but he's fallen into that Invective camp for me - that group of smug, self important assholes who ridiculed everyone in order to draw attention to themselves. Success is yours Matt. Yea, that no-good Pope had it coming to him.

Comments

[Nancy]

Amen.

[Alan Cabal]

I handed in my resignation immediately upon seeing the article. I've been writing for NY Press since 1996.

Former editor John Strausbaugh WAS the New York Press. It went straight to Hell the day they fired him.

[Ralph]

Yea, I missed Strausbaugh big time when he left NYPress. He was an independent thinker, he did his research, and he was always entertaining even when he pissed you off. The sad thing is, as previously stated, I generally like Matt's work, even when it borders on the extreme, but this time he just went too far. As a long time reader, I just had to vent. I'm quite surprised that you have quit over this one - but good for you. I hope someone can save that paper.

[John M.Esparolini]

The only reason Taibbi & Co. had the courage to publish this crap was the comfort of knowing that the Catholic Church doesn't issue Fatwas.

Had they published a similar piece on some radical Muslim Sheik instead of a frail and aging Catholic Pope, they'd soon find themselves at the business end of a decapitation knife.

*That* would've taken some *real* guts.

[Ralph]

Taibbi has drawn much attention to himself and I wouldn't doubt that death threats are possible. That's the friggin Pope were talkin' about, not some schmuck off the street.

But of course you all know that the Editor quit.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000828616