Nancy Rommelmann

Dee's Golden Door

I have a feature I adore, Golden Girls, in the December issue of Portland Monthly. The photo (by Daniel Root) at right should tell you why. Dee's Golden Door is a beauty parlor around the corner from the first Ristretto Roasters; we share a parking lot. The hairstyles I see coming out of Dee's are amazing, bouffants and beehives and a safety-orange atomic swirl. I knew I wanted to write about Dee's, and owner Nancy Tilton was kind enough to let me be a fly on the wall.

Added bonus: they taught me how to do my hair in a 60's sex kitten style which is not only easy, but elicits the sort of disarmed, admiring glances a girl does not mind fielding.

Goodbye to All That [*updated, unfortunately]

The future of journalism has, as we all know, been on the wall for several years. In that time, I have seen one of my editors at the LA Weekly (Joe Donnelly) let go, followed several months ago by the paper's editor-in-chief, Laurie Ochoa. Many of the Weekly's columnists were also axed. Some of this can be chocked up to the paper and indeed all of Village Voice Media (which also owns the Village Voice) having been bought by New Times; the rivalry between the two companies is legendary, and there's always a let-go of old regime when a new regime tromps in. And I still have dear friends and editors the Weekly, where I am still a contributor, thus giving me the illusion that the place I have done my best work for is, if not thriving, then at least ambling along.

Earlier this year, I also saw the firing of both my editors from Portland Monthly. Last month, my editor at City Arts left under her own steam, though the sense was, the door was being held open for her. The day Gourmet magazine was shut down, I was emailed the termination memo from a friend at Bob Appetit, saying, "I had to read this three times to see whether I still had a job." I have seen dear friends, the best in the biz at what they do--Anne Thompson; the deeply brilliant Virginia Postrel--have their jobs eliminated or their contributor's contracts curtailed. Yesterday, my editor at Wired, a very nice guy and a really crack editor, was let go.

This is not to say, many of these people have not gone on to find jobs in new media. My pal Richard Rushfield was delighted to leave the LA Times and is now at Gawker; Anne Thompson continues to blog like a demon (and is, now and always, a top entertainment journalist to whom places like New Yorker go for quotes), and Virginia, in addition to contributing to the Atlantic and a gazillion other publications, co-runs the brilliant blog Deep Glamour.

And astoundingly, I am not out of work. Every time one editor leaves--because you really do write for your editors--another contacts me. After a year of not writing for Portland Monthly, I have just contributed a feature to the December issue. I've made new inroads with fabulous and smart folks at the Oregonian and have the opportunity to write for them solid local stories, and earlier this year I had a feature for Reason, an event I was so delighted by, I am blushing even now.

And yet: at least once a week, I thank my husband, profusely, for creating a business that can support us, because let me tell you: while I made a living for a dozen years as a freelancer, that ship has sailed. I watch as my friend InaraVerzemnieks, who I think the best narrative journalist at the Oregonian, takes the buy-out. I read that the New York Times is cutting another hundred jobs. Yesterday, a report commissioned by the Graduate School of Journalism concluded:

“The days of a kind of news media paternalism or patronage that produced journalism in the public interest, whether or not it contributed to the bottom line, are largely gone. American society must now take some collective responsibility for supporting independent news reporting in this new environment….”

I'm not crying, and certainly, I have as much access to new writing outlets as the next journalist; I currently contribute to three sites (in addition to my own, much ignored blog). I have assignments. I am working on a book. Tonight, I will drink wine with Inara and discuss an arts and lecture series I'd like to get off the ground. It's all good.

And yet, I am wistful. I love being a journalist, a long-form journalist who goes off, sometimes for weeks, months, looking for and bringing back the stories.

Virginia told me, "Luckily, books are not dependent on advertising." Books it is.

*Within three hours of posting this, Bon Appetit announced, it was laying off six

Gourmet Magazine, RIP

Just received an email from a friend who works at a Conde Nast publication, saying, "I had to read this three times to make sure I was still employed," referring to the memo, released this morning, saying the company is ceasing three of its publications, including Gourmet.

I will wager everyone over a certain age who cooks has a Gourmet story. Here's mine: I started subscribing to the magazine at age 12, thinking it so beautiful, so sophisticated; all these articles and beautiful photos from places like Gstaad and Vienna. It wasn't that I dreamed of going to these places, but of being the sort of person who went to these places. In the meantime, I baked from the magazine's recipes. Yes, at age 12, I was making a 12-layer Dobosh Torte.

I kept my subscription for 20 years, keeping years worth of the magazines shelved in the guest bathroom of the very first home my daughter and I lived in alone. I thought it a beautiful touch. A year later, I was contacted by Bon Appetit, to begin writing for them. They sent me on ski trips and cruises; I ate in cities all over, swam in three seas, for articles with beautiful photos. I had become that person I dreamed of, which astounded me.

Bon Appetit (whom I continue to write for) and Gourmet are both published by Conde Nast, and today, there is no more Gourmet. The wedge cut this makes in my day-to-day life will not be visible (for now), but psychically, something direct has been taken. When I metaphorically close my eyes, I see a road once traveled by a few writers and editors who were moving on by choice, or because they were not suited to the work, now increasingly crowded, moving briskly, but in which direction?

Matt Davis Retools the O

Matt Davis, News Editor at the Portland Mercury, has, in light of an upcoming round of layoffs at The Oregonian, offered up 13+ ways to save the paper and make it shine. I've had this same discussion with skatey-eight people, some of whom work in the building. As a contributor to the O, I am going to keep my opinions to myself, save to say, I agree with some of Matt's, but as to the website: that's not The Oregonian's fault, but that of their parent company, and more than once I've had O staff recall stories of petitioning to be cut free from the albatross that is Oregon Live, without success.

What do you think? How would you make the paper greater?

I Took First Place at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards *

My sweet friend Amy Alkon, who's attending the awards ceremony in Phoenix, called just now to say, "You won two seconds ago!"

It's for "No Exit Plan." I am of course pleased and honored. I won for feature writing once before, in 2001, for "Jena at 15."

And now, my husband is taking me to Fred Meyer to buy a mop.

*Updated: the winners list was not yet online when we went to Freddy's, but is now: many congratulations to my pals and fellow winners, Matt Davis at the Mercury, who nabbed two; Kevin Allman, editor in chief of The Gambit, which also took two; Jonathan Gold, who took (another!) first for food writing, and Willamette Week, which also won two. Congrats, my friends -- a toast!

Three and a Quarter Hotties and a Baby

Or, what my friend Amy Alkon (that's her left arm, bottom right) called these photos, taken by her boyfriend Gregg at last week's LA Press Club awards. I love them!

Advice for Would-Be Journalists

I am sorry it has come to this, but it has: I simply cannot answer any more emails from people, nearly always non-journalists whom I don't know, who ask by email how to break into journalism. I have spent hours and days and weeks answering these questions; I have met people for coffee, people who with one exception have not, as far as I can tell, done anything to advance their careers. I've said it a dozen times: I don't want to be anyone's mentor, and I am happy to share my editorial contacts provided you are serious. But replying to the random, tossed-off, "So, I'm thinking about being a journalist, what do I do?" No more. Sorry.

Why do people think it's any different from making it in any other profession, meaning, do a good job, a better than expected job, and do it again and again and again?

So here's my advice, once and for all: Be courteous, meet your deadlines; make your editors' lives easier. You sell the pitch, not the completed story. Remember, it's their publication, not yours. Don't call on deadline day, and frankly, don't call at all. Email. Don't expect an instant answer, and yes, it's OK to send one reminder email. Read a lot, write a lot; write better. Start a blog to keep yourself well-oiled and for connectivity (and for god's sake, don't be like the ninny who, when I suggested as much, replied, "But what about copyright?!") Get your facts and your spelling right; be generous in your writing. Never, ever, ever betray your subjects. Don't massage the material to suit your idea of the narrative -- that's called fiction. Strive to be great.

I just now tweeted a question to fellow journalists, asking what they do/what advice I should dole out. Here's what I've gotten back. I will refresh as well as paste in what I get in the comments:

• Tell them to send baked goods to City Arts Magazine, ATTN: [name redacted]
• Suggest a lovely and remunerative career in the fast-growing world of hotel management or auto repair
• Same advice I give people who want to know how to be a film critic: "DON'T." (From film critic Luke Y. Thompson)
• Automate your email to tell them that they'll most likely never make it-those smart enough will figure it out!
• In all seriousness, though. I suggest starting a blog & building a following, while exercising professional journalist habits.will figure it out!
• Tell them to run away from doing it as fast as possible?
• Learn how to live as cheaply as possible, read good journalism obsessively, blog, and develop a skill few or no other people have. (Fom Matt Welch, EIC of Reason magazine.)
• How to get established as a jouno? Work your ass off, wait ten years, rinse, repeat. Never give up. Have a passion. Pursue it. (From author David Rensin.)

Stuff Journalists Like

Funny, pathetic, and all true

Just Bury the Damn Thing

Anyone here remember, back in 2005, when the LA Times decided to relaunch its Sunday Magazine? When they hired Rick Wartzman to be editor in chief, and had staff writers along the lines of JR Moehringer and Mark Arax? These are best selling authors, people who understand how to tell a story about place. I was honored to work in this company, to write this cover story, and this one.

All these folks have left the paper, and the magazine, which has tried and failed to reinvent itself I don't know how many times in past two years, is now reduced to an ad-vehicle. What's the frigging point? LA Observed reported on its death throes this morning:

The second publisher has departed LA, the monthly magazine inserted in the Los Angeles Times by the ad side's editorial staff. And the new weekly insert LAetcetera is suspending publication "for the foreseeable future" after Sunday. The memo from marketing chief John T. O'Loughlin is after the jump.

From: O'Loughlin, John Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 12:02 PM Subject: Changes in LA Magazine

Effectively immediately, LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine Publisher Penn Jones has left the Los Angeles Times Media Group to pursue other opportunities. An aggressive search for his successor is now underway and, in the interim, Associate Publisher, Nora Gervais will be your primary liaison. She can be reached at 213-237-6134 or xxxxxx@latimes.com.

I’ve just gotten a sneak peak at the coming June 7th “Music” issue and it’s shaping up really quite nicely. Please know we’ve now extended the close-date to you and your clients through tomorrow, Friday 5/23. The weekly LAetcetera will publish this Sunday 5/24 and then suspend publication for the foreseeable future while we revise the overall LA planning calendar.

As always, thanks for your interest and continued support. JTO

John T. O'Loughlin
EVP and CMO/Targeted Media and Marketing
Los Angeles Times Media Group

I Guess it Was a Good Story *

This is a kind of big deal for me: the same story that's up for an LA Press Club award is the finalist in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. To me, this is a big deal. I'm really, wow; I'm happy.

My husband, who likes to interface with my writing social life about as much as he likes paying taxes actually asked, "When are the awards? Maybe we should go."

They're in Tuscon, on June 26. I've won several AANs in the past, but have never attended the annual convention... no, wait, that's not true. I attended when it was in Portland a few years ago. It draws thousands of folks from hundreds of papers around the country. I think we'll go this year.
Anyone else going?

For anyone interested in the pieces up for Arts Feature, here you go:

ARTS FEATURE

Chicago Reader: Life Without a Script by Anne Ford

LA Weekly: No Exit Plan by Nancy Rommelmann

The Pitch: A Picture of Hope by Jason Harper

* So I just read the other two articles. "Life Without a Script" is about actor T.J. Jagodowski, who these days can be seen in, amongst other vehicles, the Sonic commercials (he's the blond one). I just watched a few on YouTube; they -- and he -- are wonderful. Here's one now!

circulation 50,000 and over

Another Month, Another Awards Season...

This time, LA Press Club. LA Weekly dominating in all categories. Editor Jill Stewart writes, "C’mon down for the awards on June 14. Let’s go drink wine until we’re too relaxed to move."

B8. Entertainment News or Feature
*Scott Foundas, LA Weekly, Forgiven
*Scott Gold, Los Angeles Times, "Enough About Me"
*Randall Roberts, LA Weekly, Port in the Storm: Heath Ledger
*Nancy Rommelmann, LA Weekly, No Exit Plan: Laura Albert
*Ella Taylor, LA Weekly, "Sacreligulous: Bill Maher's Cross to Bear

The Confessions of Daniel Baum

I have a new essay up at LA Observed, about Dan Baum, the author who last week posted the narrative of his firing as a staff writer for The New Yorker... on Twitter. A clip:

I sent Baum's Twitter link to my sister-in-law and fellow journalist. The moment I hit "send" (and before she could respond that she was reading "on the edge of my seat!"), an email popped through from my pal Kevin Allman, editor of the New Orleans alt-weekly the Gambit, who'd just put up a blog post about Baum's tweets.

"Telling the story of losing your job in 140-character posts on Twitter is a whole lot of things, none of which seems like a remotely good idea for a teenager fired from a fast-food gig, much less a national magazine correspondent," Allman wrote, concluding that Baum's "meticulous, microscopic story of losing a job he loved seems the work of a man under a tremendous amount of pressure, using the Internet as a therapist."

I wrote Allman back saying, I bet there's a method to Baum's madness; that his post-Katrina book, Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans, had been released in February, and maybe he was using what weapons he had in his arsenal to promote it, a position Baum verified when he commented on Allman's post:

It's a gimmick, yes, and I hope it sells books, sure. But it's also galled me a bit, as a reporter, that the New Yorker pulls a veil of secrecy over itself to rival the NSA. I mean, it's a very good magazine, but it's just a magazine.

The Dissidents' War: Michael Totten Interviews Tom Ricks

One thing I love about being in Portland is meeting all the writers that pass through on book tour. Amongst my pals Michael Totten, Joel Millman (staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal) and myself, one of us is sure to know or have communicated with or write in the same arena as or want to meet so badly the writer says, "Sure!", and we all wind up having drinks, before or after their readings at Powell's.

Such was the case last week, when Tom Ricks was in town. Ricks, formerly with the Washington Post, is the author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, and most recently, The Gamble. We sat in a bar near Powell's for 90 minutes before he read, talking mostly about the Middle East, but also a little about ancient Rome, the history of which Ricks' has been reading as a reward to himself for finishing the book, but the length of which is driving his editor batty.

"I think," said Ricks, "he'd rather see me writing."

Michael had a chance to interview Ricks, said interview of which appears here.