Superman is currently atop the statue of George Washington in Union Square. And it appears that he needs a man bun. Twitter users and our handy police blotter note that a large crowd has gathered around Superman, who may or may not be shouting something about freeing humanity. Oh get a job, Superman! We know print media's in a tough spot right now but if you send your resume to BuzzFeed Ben he may bite. more ›

As we mentioned yesterday, the writers' strike may be coming to an end. Michael Eisner leaked that we'd be hearing news of it this weekend, and the former Disney CEO was right. Today Variety reports that "the WGA has finalized its tentative agreement with the majors and will present details of the pact to members today in meetings in Los Angeles and New York." more ›

Attention Gawker commenters: Nick Denton needs you to pick up his dry cleaning. Though it sounds too good to be true, it seems that eager young Gawker interns are working their way up the new media ladder on the strength of their smug observations, sarcastic bon mots and impassioned diatribes on all things trivial. Will the "first!" be the first to be hired? more ›

Yesterday afternoon the world learned of Heath Ledger's untimely death. Both old and new media gossiped, rumor-mongered, and pitched their circus tents outside of his building on Broome Street the moment word spread. Sadly, most of his close friends and relatives, including his parents, heard about the tragedy through the newswire. more ›

It's that special time of year again when Charlie Todd and a troupe of others that like to de-pants every January go underground for a nice, brisk ride on the subway. As usual, you're all invited (warning: you may be arrested), but if you show up you must not have pants on! They warn, in all caps, that "THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY EVENT. DO NOT SHOW UP UNLESS YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF. THIS INCLUDES NEWS MEDIA." Hear that "new media"? You are not exempt (though there's a possible loophole here in which one could wear skirts, shorts or a dress). more ›

Last night Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert returned to their fake news desks, with picket lines outside of their studios and no strike beards in sight (however, a strike unibrow did appear). They were supportive as ever of the WGA though, in fact Stewart spent all 30 minutes discussing the strike, with only a lone joke or two about the primaries ("Cold white people have had their say"). He made it clear that "From now on, until the end of the strike, we'll be doing 'A Daily Show with Jon Stewart.' But not 'THE Daily Show.'" more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, an injured corrections officer at Rikers Island in the Bronx, and a gas leak on East 68th St. in Manhattan.
• Chris Booker, the NY radio DJ boyfriend of Philly news personality Alycia Lane who allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer after calling her a dyke, says that she's being singled out because "[she's] a babe." Or it's because she allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer in the face after calling her a dyke.
• The Observer directs the politically inclined to Iowa Caucus-watching parties around town.

As we previously mentioned, the late night heavyweights have been angling to make a return in early '08. Letterman has been leading the pack by working on a deal with the WGA through his own production company, WorldWide Pants Inc. Yesterday they reached an agreement which will allow his show to return to the air next week, writing staff and all. more ›

Wait a minute, didn't Brian Williams host Saturday NIght Live just two weeks ago, the one where Barack Obama appeared in the opening? Yes, but with the Writers Guild strike still on, Saturday Night Live decided to revisit the recent past, versus dig into old "Best of" clip shows. The unfortunate thing is that Page Six reports 90% of the SNL production staff was fired "until further notice" because of the strike. Other TV shows'... more ›

British comedian John Oliver has become an indispensable fixture on The Daily Show, where he’s found a highly receptive audience for his particularly earnest style of fake reportage. But millions of viewers accustomed to their nightly laugh therapy have been going through heavy withdrawal since the Writers Guild strike put the kibosh on new episodes. At issue is the guild’s demand for a taste of the loot being raked in from new media outlets. The... more ›

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking in Los Angeles and New York this past week over details of a basic contract between writers and producers - one of the biggest sticking points is the amount of residuals writers get from DVD and new media distribution. The NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd asked Seth Meyers (who we spoke to on Tuesday) to give her a weekend update about the strike:... more ›

The Post has another article about Patrick Moberg and his flower-girl Camille Hayton today. What's new to report on the two-some since they are apparently, really, for real, turning off their spotlight now? Well, not much. The two shared the B train to Brooklyn after appearing on GMA yesterday and got some underground recognition (one straphanger hollered, "You are my favorite story this year."). Beating out an awww-struck ABC anchor Chris Cuomo as their most... more ›

The Writers Guild strike continued into its second day today; in L.A. Jay Leno delivered donuts to strikers on his motorcycle, while here in New York Seth Meyers joined the picket line and the giant rat outside Silvercup Studios in Long Island City (30 Rock and Gossip Girl are among the productions filmed there). The Saturday Night Live star and head writer had this to say:TV is completely changing, the way people are watching... more ›

Members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike today after talks between the WGA and Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers collapsed last night. WGA East members are striking outside of NBC headquarters at Rockefeller Plaza on 49th Street today - 30 Rock's Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, and the Daily Show's John Oliver were on the line, as were many other writers for other productions - and other... more ›

More Rescue Me for Next Season more ›

The current New York Magazine dives deep inside the navel with seven sprawling pages on Gawker. The rather tame procedural is conducted by Vanessa Grigoriadis, who's up front with the disclosures: Her NY Times wedding announcement was savaged by Gawker, New York Magazine currently employs two former Gawker editors, and Grigoriadis peeped managing editor Choire Sicha’s underwear. more ›

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There must be something about the morning shift at WABC. After just four days on the job as the permanent replacement for Steve Bartelstein, Ken Rosato, overslept and was late for the 5 a.m. edition of Eyewitness News. We think it is pretty safe to assume that he just overslept, since he probably hasn’t adjusted his body clock fully to the new hours, and that he wasn’t spending the night out clubbing like his predecessor. We wonder if he brought bagels to smooth things over. more ›

Things were getting a little quiet over at The Village Voice, but now they've gone and started a racket again by firing their new editor, David Blum. At first watching the decline of the paper was somewhat amusing, but now it's just getting sad. more ›

Design nerds won’t be disappointed by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s 2006 triennial. more ›

Aziz Ansari has tackled the blog buzz band phenomena, and even though it's a joke...sometimes it does feel like these "new media" marketing folk would go this far. more ›

Ron Hogan, Author "The Stewardess Is Flying the Plane" more ›

Lauren Cornell,
Executive Director, Rhizome.org more ›

In addition to the two great events we mentioned earlier, there are also a number of other worthwhile art happenings going on this week. Plenty in fact to satisfy even the most dedicated fine art junkie. more ›

There's a lot going on this weekend, as per usual. While we didn't celebrate Cinco de Mayo last night, nor were we at the New Order show...we are finding ourselves a little bit tired today. We blame the weather and lack of caffeine in our system, so we're hoping the sun will come out and we'll be able to motivate to some of these events: more ›

These next two weeks have a number of great opportunities to get your inner art nerd on, starting today with a discussion between art critic Eleanor Heartney and the artist Vija Celmins, whose work appears in MOMA's current exhibit "Contemporary Voices: Works from the UBS Art Collection.” [For those in the midtown area, MOMA is also still offering its popular Brown Bag Lunch series of informal lunchtime lectures every Monday and Thursday from 12:30 - 1:15. Specific lecture information is available on the MOMA website.] more ›

The opening, which is tonight, will feature multiple live performances - the exhibition itself will include games, installations and new media artworks. Curated by Zhang Ga and composed of works drawn from the current BFA and MFA students as well as alum of Parsons. This show will be on view through April 19th. more ›

[above: Tim Burton. From Nightmare Before Christmas: "Jack in the Graveyard", mixed media on paper, 11 x 14�] more ›