from gawker.com
It's already old news that Joe Dolce is out as Star's editor in chief, replaced by soon-to-be former Globe EIC Candace Trunzo. But in case you missed the story because you were shoveling snow or reading about that war thing going on in Iraq, here's a recap of how it went down: Radar broke the story yesterday afternoon, though Jossip ran a teaser item on the rumor last Friday, noting that Trunzo's appearance at the AMI offices was a tad suspicious. Gawker quickly picked up the Radar lead, reviving their favorite moniker for the man they loved to hate: Asshat (which is sort of like a douchebag, but possibly worse, in Gawker-speak). And from there floodgates fell open (or, at least, the 47 other people who follow this kind of inside baseball news began to blog about it).
This morning (moments ago, in real time), Radar's Tyler Gray moved the ball again, by reporting that Dolce may have been fired to help keep Bonnie Fuller's salary afloat, among other costs that AMI is incurring.
For our part, we had heard rumblings that Dolce's axing was imminent on Wednesday, and were tempted to report on it. But prudence dictated, and we decided that a single blind source (who, as it turns out, was spot on) was not enough.
What all of this illustrates is the difference between blogs like Jossip, or Perez Hilton and a "news organization" such as Radar, the latter of which are held to higher standards, and need to report out rumors. Both serve their purposes, and we're not taking anything away from Jossip, but as Web 2.0 evovles, the difference between gossip blogging and actual reporting is becoming sharper. There is a distinction between speculating and breaking news. But it's a slippery slope, because this same freedom allows nimble players like Jossip and Gawker to loosen the cap on a lot of stories (and to challenge the bigger media institutions).
But we digress...
Trunzo reports for duty April 1, and a source close to AMI tells us that anxious staffers are asking quetions: Will she be pushed to return Star back to its original tabloidy roots? Will the operation be moved to sunny South Florida? Will this give David Perel (a Pecker lieutenant who our source calls "the anti-Bonnie Fuller") more power? And, of course, will AMI's board institute layoffs to trim Star's fat (Radar is reporting that "more cuts are on the way")?
And, not that anybody really seems to care, but what's going to happen to The Globe?
Full Disclosure: Peter Hyman is a contributor to Radar as well as other publications.
