FOX News scraping bottom of barrel for new "talent"
Reported by Chrish - November 16, 2006 -
As Deborah noted in the previous post, FOX News is adding a new personality to its line-up. Many people have accused FOX News of being TV-tabloid journalism; Greg Gutfeld, a far-right opinionated job-hopper who should fit right in at the Murdoch-owned smear factory, adds a hint of smut. A peek at his website ("a handkerchief of hard news soaked in a sneeze of thought snot") proves to be as unappetizing as his motto.
So who is he and where did he come from and why does FOX want him? Well, The International Herald Tribune says he worked as an editor at Men's Health and Stuff magazines, where the "Stuff Summary, a monthly cartoon panel mostly written by him, took aim at all that was sacred in Manhattan publishing, assailing competitors like Esquire and GQ with a series of outrageous personal attacks." OK, we're starting to see the appeal.
After he lost his job at Stuff, he went across the pond where "those characteristics that were a liability in America - unruliness and outrageousness - are viewed as assets in the more wide-open British market" and became editor of Maxim, a British "lad magazine". The article continues to say "Gutfeld could be viewed as the ugliest of Americans, a supporter of both President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq, a Yankee who never got the hang of American manners."
Brand Republic picks up the story recently, reporting that Gutfeld "quit" the Maxim job in March 2006 after the publisher declined to renew his contract, up in May, as the magazine's circulation dropped 16% under him in the second half of 2005. Demonstrating a useful talent for denial, he declared the magazine "in great shape" and planned to become editor-in-chief of his own life.
Now I'm not going to link to what I consider to be smut, but you all know how to Google if you want to see Mr. Gutfeld's previous journalism credentials.
