June 15, 2006
Wemple Going To New York...Not!
It was just two weeks ago that City Paper Editor in Chief Erik Wemple announced he'd be moving on up in the world, heading up to New York to take the helm of the famed Village Voice. We guessed it wouldn't be long until he was back in D.C. -- and we were right.
Well, to be fair, he never really even got started. He was set to take over the paper on July 24, but after some discussions with Voice management, opted out of the job, even though he had already travelled up to New York to meet the staff. What a tease. Fishbowl D.C. tipped us off to a Village Voice statement on the matter, which noted:
Although Wemple accepted the job of editor-in-chief of the historic Voice--even introducing himself to the staff--subsequent discussions revealed disagreements over newsroom management. "Erik's concerns are not unreasonable," said Michael Lacey, executive editor of Village Voice Media. "The Voice is an enormous and complex horse race. We asked Erik to mount several ponies mid-stride, and he was alarmed to find us still in several of those saddles."There are bound to be a lot of people pissed off at the news. First off, Wemple's potential replacements, which, as Fishbowl noted, had already been asked to start sending in resumes. Second, some City Paper readers who believe that the District's premier alternative weekly has gone downhill under Wemple's watch, awards notwithstanding. Third and final, the Post, which was probably happy that Wemple would no longer have a perch from which to launch his consistent and sometimes petty attacks on the paper.
We're somewhat intrigued by the turn of events. We don't really believe the official line, though. We're guessing Wemple paid the Big Apple a visit, and upon realizing what he'd have to pay in rent, decided that D.C. housing was downright cheap. Well, that and the fact that New York is collectively bound to burn in hell for its sinful ways. But that's neither here nor there.
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I'm shocked....I've always joked that the City Paper was filled with disgruntled Village Voice writers who were stuck in DC, so I figured this dude would get out of the city any why he can.
Truth is, the City Paper is old and stale. When compared with other Alt Weeklies (B-more, Philly, ATL) it can't even hold a torch. They try to preach this holier than thou attitude about race and gentrification in dc, but they run ads from high end condos and nightclubs. Also, their coverage of local music is downright anemic.
And don't get me started on how they misquote people to fulfill their agendas....
leroy thorpe the homophobe racist will be happy eric's still here
I'm glad he's staying. His paper (Even Elissa!) has covered a number of issues important to my neighborhood, and we've been the better for it each time.
And if the Post would do the nuts and bolts day to day coverage of the city instead of ignoring it until mismanagement and corruption got so out of control that they could swoop down and pen an easy award winning series, then I expect CP wouldn't bash them so often. Really, CP's a fun rag that does good public service. The Post is a pretentious and bloated entity that better serves its MD and VA readers (and those even further afield) than it serves its readers in DC.
Speaking of not being up on the local music scene. The City Paper just posted a brand new review of a Bonapartes song, even though they played their last show two weeks ago.
the city paper's "food section" is terrible.
Wemple put about as much due diligence into investigating the VV job as he does into the average CP story. (He hardly ever read the VV before applying for its head job.) That he's now implying he's the victim of bad faith on the part of the VV's owners is ridiculous but typical of the CP's make-a-fart-sound-and-run-away editorial philosophy. Too bad: I was looking forward to actually being able to read the CP again.
Well, I don't see another DC pub doing features on stuff like local Afropop band Extra Golden or local industrial-noisenik Jeff Surak or local contemporary-classical composer Jessica Krash, all of whom have been in the CP recently. Oh, and the local guy who did the "scientific" study of hip-hop records, too. And that story by Andrew Beaujon on Joe Bussard's record label, which was great. Those were big, interesting stories -- or at least a lot more interesting than something about some Grog or Black Cat band or whatever band Stone or his friends are in that's just going to break up anyway. And speaking of breaking up, who cares if The Bonapartes aren't around anymore? Thought those stories (which are usually funny little interviews, not reviews, BTW) were about CDs -- at least that's what the whole One Track Mind name suggests. Do we have to stop listening to a local band's CD because it broke up? Better late than never, I say.
The food section is terrible, though. But it was pretty good when Todd Kliman was there. Has anyone else noticed that he's writing about the same "discoveries" in Washingtonian he did in CP?
Whether an article in the City Paper is good depends entirely on who wrote it. I'll read anything by Dave McKenna, Andrew Beaujon, Huan Hsu, Joe Banno, or Christopher Porter, for example. (I have a feeling I'm leaving out a couple people.) Other people I feel free to skip. The paper doesn't have much of an institutional sensibility, but it at least gives the good people it has free rein to be themselves.