Maggie Shnayerson

(Clockwise, from top right, Harper's editors from 1941 through 2010.)

Cause? None in particular it seems, except for "the general weakness of the magazine’s newsstand sales and circulation figures." Well, that would put Hodge in good company with the magazine's previous editors. Hey, it's hard to be a gangster.

*Yes, related.

TERRY GROSS: So you think they might just pull the show?

DAVID BIANCULLI: Well, even Jay Leno has said, you know, I wouldn't mind going back to my old slot at "Tonight."

GROSS: Whoa.

(Soundbite of laughter)

BIANCULLI: Yeah, isn't that a big...

GROSS: Tell that to Conan O'Brien.

BIANCULLI: Yeah, exactly, exactly. That is such a big whoa. And, you know, if you thought that his leaving "The Tonight Show" and then sort of bringing it to primetime under another name was a little bit disingenuous or not being a team player, what about that admission?

[via NPR's "Fresh Air," Dec. 29, 2009: "TV 2009: David Bianculli On the Best...And the Rest"

I'll be hanging out with the Shitcanned Media Elites over at ASSME.org for awhile—you know, a little blogging, a little this, a little that.

Should your Tuesday afternoon be getting you down, by all means swing by and check out the pink slippers—a change is a-coming, hallelujah. Etcetera, so on, and so forth too.

Which is excellent! For the aforementioned recently laid-off Miss McClear, that is. Who says? Why, the New York State Department of Labor, in its concerted two-year effort to crack down on employers who misclassify their workers as independent contractors!

To wit:

"UI and Independent Contractors: If an employer-employee relationship exists, it does not matter how the relationship is described by the person engaging the services. For example, if an employer issues individuals a 1099 form rather than a W-2 form, the workers may still be considered employees. Even if the workers sign a statement claiming independent contractor status and waiving any rights as employees, or if they are required to obtain a DBA in order to work for that employer, those individuals may still be considered employees under the law. The Unemployment Insurance Law provides that no agreement by employees to waive their rights under the law is valid." [NYDOL, itals all moi.]

The irony. Really.

[Gawker: How To Tell If You're A Freelancer Or An Employee]

doree:

Sure, Sheila wasn’t fired. But she also wasn’t, technically, an employee. Gawker staffers are all contractors and as far as I know she will not be eligible for unemployment.

youngmanhattanite:

Oh, can we stop saying Sheila was fired? It’s a layoff.

You can debate the semantics but the New York State Department of Labor has a glossary for this stuff...Clearly she wasn’t “fired.” She wasn’t escorted from the building by an HR goon and told never to return (though obviously that can happen with a layoff too) but instead was given a month’s notice due to the company’s reorganization and cost-cutting. The terms of separation mean something very specific when filing for unemployment benefits and while you can collect unemployment for being “fired” under certain circumstances, Sheila’s situation is cut and dry, if also high and dry...