Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Jeff Jarvis, Buzzmachine
By
Gothamist Staff
Published May 3, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Gothamist Staff
Published May 3, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Basics
Age and occupation. How long have you lived here, where did you come from, and where do you live now?
I'm 49 (for a while longer and I'll take advantage of every day). I now must confess I'm a media executive with a too-long title (president & creative director of Advance.net). I used to be a critic and actual reporter and I still like to brag that I started Entertainment Weekly. Been in and around New York since 1981, leaving San Francisco (not the smartest thing I've ever done, I thought at the time). Now a proud member of the B&T tribe in New Jersey.
Three for You
1. You're hosting a panel at tonight's New York Bloggers Event that pits Nick Denton vs. Jason Calacanis. What's your quick pre-game analysis on each?
As a participant, I think I'm morally prohibited from pregame wagering. But, what the hell, bloggers know no rules: I never bet against Nick. Jason will come into the ring with power, unafraid to throw punches and milk the crowd like a champ. But Nick is sneaky-smart (read: British).
2. Howard Stern and blogs: don't you think there's been too much overstatement of either's political power?
Hell no and hell no. Your question is a product of old, big-media think (read: the power law). The present and future of media and politics and marketing is fragmentation: slices of slices. But those slices will add up to whole pies. Just this afternoon, I stood with well-to-do Republican dads at a church kids' bowling party (how's that for a demographic festival?) and they brought up Howard Stern's campaign against Bush. Stern has political power. And blogs? Well, if they don't have influence why are you writing one (and why are you reading one)? It's all about influence. Howard Stern influences. Bloggers influence influencers. They have juice.
3. Buzzmachine's rules of engagement state: "No personal attacks, hate speech, bigotry, or seven dirty words in the comments or comments will be killed along with commenters." Do you think it's as simple as that for the FCC to enforce behavior on the airwaves?
A very, very simple and fundamental difference: I'm not government; I'm not ruled by the First Amendment. Any private entity -- magazine, TV network, book publisher, blogger -- is necessarily an editor; they select what to say and what to distribute and what not to. That is their business and their right. It is not the business or right of government. Once the FCC (and the FTC and the Justice Department and Congress and the President) start deciding what can't be said -- and who can't say it -- then the First Amendment is in tatters. Congress shall make no law, damnit.
Proust-Krucoff Questionnaire
What was your best dining experience in NYC?
I love street food. So when I quit Entertainment Weekly, the staff brought my favorite street-food chef from the Halo Berlin cart up to our offices to fix me a few wursts and set off every smoke alarm in the building.
9pm, Wednesday - what are you doing?
Falling asleep on the couch after putting the kids to bed with the laptop on my lap, trying to squeeze out one more blog post for the day.
Describe that low, low moment when you thought you just might have to leave NYC for good.
In 1981, I left San Francisco following, in the words of a friend, "the boyhood dream of conquering Gotham." But I found myself living in an immorally overpriced and tiny apartment in the suburbs of Harlem. I did try to return to California, north or south, but the jobs just weren't right. And then I met and married a Jersey girl. We tried to leave once, when I briefly took over the content for Rupert Murdoch's first Internet flirtation, Delphi.com, in Cambridge, Mass. But it was disaster.com and so I realized that my industry, my career, my life is in New York and I'll be buried here, in the backyard.
Just after midnight on a Saturday - what are you doing?
Falling asleep on the couch after putting the kids to bed with the laptop on my lap, trying to squeeze out one more blog post for the day. Do we sense a pathetic pattern here?
What's the most expensive thing in your wardrobe?
A few Armani suits -- "protective coloration" for Conde Nast, in the words of my colleague -- but they came from the Barney's Warehouse Sale long after that was cool.
Where do you summer?
"Summer" would be a strong verb. We go to a bit of Brigadoon in the Poconos called Skytop, much nicer than it sounds: no trailers, no champagne tubs, lots of golfing WASPs.
Just how much do you really love New York?
I tried to leave a few times but I couldn't. New York sucks you back in like a vortex or at least a squid.
Medication: What and how much do you take?
I take beta blockers indirectly brought on by 9/11: Inhaling the dust of destruction at the World Trade Center brought on pneumonia, which brought on a lung test, which included a spritz of something that caused the heart to race (the cardiologist called it a "beta antagonist," showing me that you don't want to f*** with my betas), which caused afibrillation, which brought on the drugs, which make me run slower and which forces me to calm down and be less psychotic, which is to say, it makes me less of a New Yorker. In short: I take 25mg of anti-New-Yorker medication every morning with my orange juice.
Jeff writes daily on his Buzzmachine blog. Make sure to check out his cover story in The Nation, F*cked by the F*CC.
Tagged
9/11
As
bloggers
blogs
bush
But I
california
cambridge
church
commenters
comments
conde nast
Congress
dining
drugs
entertainment
entertainment weekly
event
first amendment
food
government
harlem
howard stern
industry
internet
interview
Jason Calacanis
jobs
justice department
kids
Krucoff Questionnaire
law
love
media
new jersey
new york
new yorker
Nick Denton
nyc
once
orange juice
Politics
race
republican
rupert murdoch
san francisco
suburbs
summer
The Basics
The Nation
Trade Center
tv
Warehouse Sale
Wednesday
Weekly
world trade center
Gothamist Staff
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 22, 2026 at 11:18 a.m. ET
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
By
Sonia Rao
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .