Rejected Proposal Shows Bancrofts Really, Really, Really Hate Rupert Murdoch
So how much exactly does the Bancroft family dislike, distrust, and generally feel icky about Rupert Murdoch? Last week the family’s lawyers drafted a proposal to protect the paper’s editorial independence in the event of a sale, and the family rejected it as insufficiently strong. Tim Rutten at the L.A. Times got his hands on the plan, which he calls “an extraordinary document — unusual in the severity of its prescriptions; stunning in its unspoken assumption of Murdoch’s reflexive bad faith.” So what were the proposals? A few statements of principle — “the clear separation of news and opinion,” “the freedom to report the news free from fear or favor and to express opinions critical of governmental agencies, interest groups, management, customers and others with a stake in the success of the company,” and the like — combined with a board-of-directors subcommittee called the “Special Committee on Editorial and Journalistic Independence and Integrity,” basically charged with protecting those principles.
Openings
Tribeca Gets Its Own Nouvelle Wiener StandHaving opened this week to less fanfare than Underground Gourmet picks Willie’s Dawgs and faux-under-the-radar wiener den PDT, the New York City Hot Dog Company in Tribeca has made its own foray into this haute dog-eat-dog world. Selection is the gimmick here: You can pick from Kobe, turkey, or tofu franks in addition to classic Sabrett and Hebrew National beef ones, and toppings range from sauerkraut to crumbled blue cheese. Convection-oven fries and whole-wheat buns attempt to add a healthy (or at least a less evil) angle to this fast food, and with a popular Mike’s Papaya down the block, this glassed-in corner spot is competing with real fruit in its shakes. What’s next? Carrots marauding as tubers? (Well, yes.) —Alexandra VallisThe New York City Hot Dog Company, 105 Chambers St.; no phone
Related: Nouvelle Wieners [NYM]
Whoopi, Paris Win Fug Girls’ Real-Life Daytime Emmys
Friday’s Daytime Emmy Awards telecast will honor soap-opera actors for so artfully telling tales of babynapping, tainted face cream, faked deaths, and secret cancer. As a tribute to those invaluable contributions, we’d like to acknowledge some of their real-world counterparts, the hard-luck celebs starring in their own melodramas.