from RadarOnline.com
As promised, RadarOnline is back online, giving us the much-ballyhooed second version of its dishy online dishery and giving Sean McManus one more reason to be having a great day. They've lined up some good stuff for launch, too: Breaking the news that Dan Rather has rehired former right-hand woman (and disgraced CBSer, because Andrew Heyward said so) Mary Mapes at HDNET (a "Rather" good scoop for them, ho ho), plus scoopage on Random House settling their lawsuit over the fabricated fabulations of one James Frey, the vicious (and delicious) new Judith Regan roman-a-clef bitchfest, and even some Conde Nast news to give roving reporter Jeff Bercovici a taste of the old days (Bercovici, whose byline is all over the new page, is obviously relishing freedom from the media-only beat). Other notables include Marcus Baram on Karl Rove's efforts to squash an upcoming book about him which detail, inter alia, his father's secret gay past and his personal family tragedies; and Matt Haber detailed index of Katie Couric's wisdom on a wide array of topics from wanting to be Jennifer Aniston, the musical inspiration of 50 Cent by Neil Diamond, and how very much she likes cilantro (you know Haber dashed the entire thing off from memory, too. Veritable media Rain Man, he).
Radar is well aware that we're all watching this third incarnation, thank you, and handles the curiosity and outright skepticism with hilarity and brilliance in their retrospective 50-Year-Of-Radar faux "cover gallery" with excellent, tongue-in-cheeky covers from past decades (favorites: Fifties version of "How Thin Is Too Thin?" and the metal-font cover from the Seventies wondering of Ron Howard: "Washed Up At 27?").
Upshot: Even though it increases our workload and makes it that much harder to get anything remotely scoopy, Radar's re-emergence from its unmonied cocoon is most welcome, with a strong slate of contributors and a trademark cheeky voice. Dare we say we spy a Spy? Too soon to tell, but if this version of Radar doesn't lose itself trying to hard, it just might be.
Oh, yeah, Sean McManus: Tough break. But hey, at least it's not the front page.
UPDATE: Following a rather embarrassing gotcha by the NYO's Media Mob, Radar has since updated their Mary Mapes item. Though Mapes initially denied speaking with a Radar representative, she subsequently clarified that the conversation was held but not on the record, and some weeks ago. As of now, Mapes will not be working at HDNet.
