June 25, 2013

Scanning the Washington Post front page, contemplating the value of paying to penetrate the paywall...

... I get to this...



... and I wonder, who is this stuff for? Hosting a Q&A with an astrologer? Dr. Ruth "says some frank things about... sex"?

It's like their brand is the anti-news paper

"Find out what's in store for your sign"? I bet they don't even know what's in store for their paywall experiment.

21 comments:

rhhardin said...

It's the same audience that the Zimmerman trial lawyers are talking to.

Ann Althouse said...

I googled "George Zimmerman horoscope" and got to a page with:

Celebrities born the same day: Kate Winslet, Sophie Favier, Alessandra Sublet, Nicky Hilton, Marie LaforĂȘt, Guy Pearce, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Denis Diderot, Bob Geldof, Jesse Eisenberg, Madame de Montespan, Parminder Nagra... List of all the celebrities born on October 5.

Celebrities being the same height: Angelina Jolie, Adolf Hitler, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rihanna, Sophie Marceau, Katy Perry, Whitney Houston, Tuba Buyukustun, Eminem, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall... List of all the celebrities being 5' 8" tall.


Is there some divination accomplished via height? And who's Tuba Buyukustun? Is he/she really 5'8"? Or is that in heels/jackboots?

J said...

Ah yes the elites attempts to expand their business model by calling the bourgeouis intelligentsia they are superstitious oversexed ignoramouses.Wonder how successful that's going to be?

Quaestor said...

I'm surprised the Goot Zeckz lady still has readership. Actually I'm surprised she ever did.

No, actually I'm not surprised at all, given the level of uninterest in the news exhibited by the Post over the last five years. (When I began this writing this I was going to italicize "dis", but I realized disinterest and the Washington Post don't belong in the same sentence.) Sex advice* and astrology are perfect fits for the Post mentality.

*If sex advice is really valuable why isn't there a market for on-site consultancy?

Saint Croix said...

It's like their brand is the anti-news paper.

Althouse is so awesome.

I see this as part of a skirmish in a blogging vs. old dead media war.

Althouse: "I will destroy you!" (With google's help)

I actually get all my news from Althouse and Instapundit. Two people!

Saint Croix said...

Of course Althouse has her own frivolous side. You can tell she has an NYT-mind because she's mocking WaPo for being frivolous. The NYT doesn't run cartoons, that's how serious the NYT is.

I mock the NYT for that! And I like Althouse's frivolous side. To me the NYT is pompous. Being able to be frivolous is what keeps Althouse from being pompous.

WaPo should be mocked, not for being frivolous--although as they become People that might be a problem--but because of their ideology, and how closed-off their thinking is.

We need journalism, but we don't actually need Pravda.

Loved it when Althouse ripped WaPo here. That was fun.

And of course many people noticed the non-coverage of the Gosnell murder trial. Which because a story (more than the frickin' murder), how the media was covering up this murdering abortionist. Not covering up, per se, but not wanting to cover it. Not wanting to think about it.

And when they did cover the Gosnell trial, they put it in the Health section!

I'm going out on a limb and say Althouse did not put a "health" tag on Gosnell's murder prosecution. And the nice thing about the internet is that we can check!

rhhardin said...

Publishers are noticing that it's not about the nail.

edutcher said...

The WaPo is sinking by the bow.

Paywall is the boiler exploding.

Quaestor said...

And who's Tuba Buyukustun?

She's a "famous Turkish actress" according to Wikipedia (taking wagers at 10 to 1 the page is edited by her agency, btw) She's fairly hot in a Kardashian kind of way, and looks like the type that needs to shave now and then. 5'8" in jackboots definitely.

Is there some divination accomplished via height?

If not why not?

Quaestor said...

Angelina Jolie, Adolf Hitler, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rihanna, Sophie Marceau, Katy Perry, Whitney Houston, Tuba Buyukustun, Eminem, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall...

I'm sensing a definite spiritual connection here. I mean who hasn't seen a photo of Camilla Parker-Bowles and thought Hitler...

J said...

Camilla Parker-Bowles to AH=only three degrees of separation.CDOC>QEII>KE>AH.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

You think Dr. Ruth is too old to give useful sex advice? Think Millennials or Gen-X invented the "hook-up" culture? Ha! It was us, of course - the Baby Boomers.

Here is the band Chicago, from 1970. 43 years ago.


If you'd like to get together
Then come right over to me
We can do anything
That you like to do

If you'd like to give your love
Then please just feel free
Because I may be gone tomorrow
And not even know your name

Now please don't misunderstand my loneliness
Let's never ever talk of time
Cause friends may fade away, and our hopes will say goodnight
And our friendship would be lost, it would be such a waste of time

So let's just . . . let's have a good thing girl, and let's not worry
Let's do everything we want, and let's not cry when it's over,
when I leave, our thing won't die.

If you really understand
Then come right over to me
We can play together for a while
And still be free

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

There's a reason why we have the Electoral College.

Quaestor said...

You think Dr. Ruth is too old to give useful sex advice?

Old is not the operative concept here, it's useful.

Sydney said...

Dr Ruth is still alive?

Quaestor said...

Think Millennials or Gen-X invented the "hook-up" culture? Ha! It was us, of course - the Baby Boomers.

And all this time I thought it was Ovid (face/palm).

KCFleming said...

"Dr Ruth is still alive?"

All CGI.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

Quaestor said...

Think Millennials or Gen-X invented the "hook-up" culture? Ha! It was us, of course - the Baby Boomers.

And all this time I thought it was Ovid (face/palm).


Yes, yes, and folks like Caligula showed us the infinite possible variations . . .

I was speaking of American culture only.

J said...

Hey man Sappho beat Ovid.

Quaestor said...

Yeah, but that was just dyke stuff. I'm talking real guilt-free, tokin' on my waterbed with a freshman ED major talkin' about her horse while I'm working her panties off -- that's what Ovid invented.

Anonymous said...

I grew up with the Washington Post and have used the on line version for my news even after moving to CA a quarter century ago. But I'm not doing the pay wall thing. It's sad but I'm going to have to move on and find a different source for my news. Maybe the LA Times? Even though I live in SF? The Chronicle kinda blows.