One of the most popular tech writers in the world has been called a shill for Apple and is dating a powerful public relations executive
The New York Observer relaunched today with a fresh look, both on its salmon-tinted print edition and its digital pages. Spearheaded by the recently appointed editor-in-chief, Elizabeth Spiers, the new paper will focus on scooplets and longer, reported pieces. "[N]o assuming that if something runs longer than 500 words, it can only run affixed to a slice of dead tree," Spiers told Yahoo's Joe Pompeo Tuesday. On the new site, you can't tell if something is a part of the printed paper or not; all things are considered equal, except for those three items that an editor or producer moves to the top of the homepage and promotes.
Today, at launch time, those three stories were profiles of the New York Times' Jill Abramson; Maer Roshan, former editor of Radar and a frequent subject of media gossip; and David Pogue, another icon from the Grey Lady. (Spiers, formerly the founding editor of Gawker, is making it clear that the paper will often feature big media stories.)
A tech columnist for the New York Times since 2000, David Pogue is a powerful figure to take on. But the Observer has never shied away from the powerful figures in the city it covers, especially those in media, real estate or finance. And Spiers isn't known for playing nice, even when the target in question has a larger following (in readers, in Facebook fans and in Twitter followers -- more than one million more Twitter followers) than her entire reporting team combined.