July 16, 2007
City Paper Chooses New Loose Lips Columnist
Since they were apparently sick of all the best scoops going to the Post, the folks at the City Paper have been nice enough to grant us a little nugget of information -- Mike DeBonis, currently Senior Editor at the alt-weekly, will become the newest Loose Lips columnists.
As you may recall, in late June James Jones stepped down as author of the vital local politics column, choosing to move on to a stint at the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. And though they could have chosen from an outside pool of talent to be the column's sixth author since it launched in 1983, the City Paper opted to stay in-house, moving DeBonis up in the ranks. DeBonis has been on staff since 2004, having served as an intern, an assistant editor and a senior editor. Editor in Chief Erik Wemple had this to say:
[DeBonis] is an incredible stickler for facts; he can write like there's no tomorrow; he loves the Web and knows it inside and out; and he loves to report and report and report, which is the essence of this paper. He will preside over an awesome period of political coverage by WCP, perhaps unparalleled in the entire country.Though we don't doubt DeBonis' chops as a writer and reporter, is the Loose Lips beat really "unparalleled in the entire country"? Washington may be home to the federal government, but in terms of local politics, it's still something of a small town. And though we love our local pols and their antics, it can even get boring for us sometimes -- and we live for this stuff.
Either way, our congrats go out to DeBonis. Local politics wouldn't be the same without Loose Lips around.
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"He will preside over an awesome period of political coverage by WCP, perhaps unparalleled in the entire country."
As a result of poor sentence construction, it's not entirely clear whether WCP's political coverage is unparalleled, or whether it's just the "period" that is so awesome as to be unparalleled.
Yes: It's either a compliment to the fast-charging Fenty Administration or a self-congratulatory pat on the back.
Right. The Washington City Paper is, in my opinion, the worst alt-weekly I have read on the East Coast. Their cover stories are quite often sensationalist tripe, their political stance seems to be nothing but contrarian snark, and their coverage of local arts is pathetic. And come on. No Ted Rall? For it to proclaim anything within its covers as being superior is a joke. No, I take that back - giving Bob Mould a Q&A column was a smart move, though I regret that he gets such little space on the page.
Congrats, Mike. Good choice, Eric.
You rule, DeBonis! WGTB 4eva!
"Contrariant snark!" outstanding. that's exactly what WCP has devolved to. According to their writers and critics, Everything Sucks.
Christ, Ted Rall? Why don't you just print out some blog entries, and hire a shrill old woman to read them to you out loud, adding a few unfunny jokes in? The effect's the same, and it has less impact on the environment.
I have to agree with DCfist. WCP is almost unreadable. Their warmed-over uber leftist dogma would be fairly laughable if it wasn't so sad and outdated.
Well THAT's too bad. WCP is one of the worst alt-weeklies out there. ("Leftist?" Dude, hardly.) And DeBonis is one of the reasons. I hope they're sending him to some sort of journalism summer camp.
Ah, Loose Lips. We hardly knew ye.
Their cover stories are quite often sensationalist tripe, their political stance seems to be nothing but contrarian snark, and their coverage of local arts is pathetic....The Washington City Paper is, in my opinion, the worst alt-weekly I have read on the East Coast.
"Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable. You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman!"
The WCP movie reviews always manage to waste at least an entire column bloviating on some broad abstract theme before bothering to launch into a shrill, bitchy critique of the film. It's more about trying to elevate snark to the level of greek tragedy than actually providing a public service.
Then, there's the marginally retarded comics. Stinkfish comes to mind, unfortunately. Bring back Refrigerator Johnny or re-run some old Angriest Lawn Shark in the World.
The last cover story I managed to make to the end was the one on DC halfsmokes. One of the few articles that was actually well researched and well written that didn't try and make some poignant "Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!" style point about the human condition. It was a fuggin hotdog article and goddammit that's what it was about.
WCP's one saving grace are the always entertaining porno ads. I'm particularly fond of the Anal Dog Walker series, as well as Buttman's Mexican Holiday and Her First Monster Penis. The looks on the "models" faces are priceless.
Y'all are too hard on the poor City Paper. When I moved to DC (before the internet became ubiquitous) the City Paper was a valuable source of info and bathroom reading material. Even as recently as 2001 the WCP was still publishing great stories that weren't necessarily being told anywhere else and tipping folks off that cool bands were coming to town back when the soon-to-be bloggers and wannabe Drudges where still sitting around the bong saying, "Dude, wouldn't it be cool if . . . "
Yes Monkeyerotica, why read City Paper's reviews when you can read the fine fare that DCist provides? Let's check out some excerpts from the poetry that is "Out of Frame: Rescue Dawn."
"The film begins and ends on deceptively conventional notes, on board Dengler's aircraft carrier."
Ahhh! Those conventional aircraft carriers.
"During the impressive run of films that Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski made together in the 70s and 80s, under Herzog's direction Kinski channeled a lunacy that was fearsome to behold."
FEARSOME TO BEHOLD! Bwa ha ha ha.
"those dark common denominators of the universe may not always win out, but they never fail to take a heavy toll."
Whoa, profound. Say what you will about Mark Jenkins, but at least his reviews don't read like the xeroxed lyrics sheet to a 1997 hardcore 7".
I love it when the City Paper staffers (or other possibly freelance advocates) leap to the defense of their rag by going on the attack. They can point and snicker at individual blog posts all they want, but it doesn't make their pretentious, overwritten popular culture coverage suck any less.
OMG LMAO #13 PWND! 11111333377777!
Nate - While I agree with your larger point, anonymous idiot #13 did find some hilariously overwrought phrases to mock.
Finding awkward passages to mock in dcist is about as taxing as beating an amputee at hopscotch. WCP reviews are the equivalent of the guy at the bar who won't stop fucking talking about himself and the important people he knows. Occasionally, he has something clever to say but you don't really look forward to seeing him every Thursday after work.
The coverage of downtown is better than the Washington Post (which should really change their name to the Herndon Post, considering what little local politics they cover), but that's like saying colon cancer is better than lymphatic cancer. I'm just a little tired of having to read the Examiner, and the Hill Rag, and any number of neighborhood papers and blogs to get a decent bearing on what's happening downtown.
I find that the Onion's DC section covers the local music/arts scene far better than City Paper does.
Finding awkward passages to mock in dcist is about as taxing as beating an amputee at hopscotch.
Don't sleep Monkey, this guy would kick your ass at hopscotch.
"He will preside over an awesome period of political coverage by WCP, perhaps unparalleled in the entire country."
Though we don't doubt DeBonis' chops as a writer and reporter, is the Loose Lips beat really "unparalleled in the entire country"? Washington may be home to the federal government, but in terms of local politics, it's still something of a small town. And though we love our local pols and their antics, it can even get boring for us sometimes -- and we live for this stuff.
Umm, I think Wemple was making a joke.