Read it while it's hot

A FOLLOW-UP: I'm happy to report both The Obscure Store and Media Gossip (albeit in a different form) are both quite alive and well. The Obscure Store is available at the same URL listed below; MediaGossip -- now called MediaNews -- is at http://www.poynter.org/medianews/

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Earlier this year, I posted a column on Suite101.com about some interesting Web sites created by ink-stained and carpel-tunneled wretches. In it, I highlighted one particular site that -- unbenownst to me -- was just days away from evaporating from cyberspace.

Well, here I am with another site -- http://www.mediagossip.com -- that's not long for this world. In fact you have only about a month left to check it out. Enjoy it while it lasts.

There is some good news, however. The site's creator, Jim Romenesko, is revising MediaGossip for a new home at the Poynter Institute. And he does plan to continue putting together another delightful site --- http://www.obscurestore.com -- that I heartily recommend for bookmarking.

But, first, let's look at MediaGossip.com. It's an entertaining and informative mix of links to articles about journalists in the news. It's updated daily, or nearly daily, and each link has a pithy and usually witty introduction. The breadth of news sources is impressive. You'll also find extensive links to media columnists, alternative newspapers and more.

At the moment, Jim Romenesko is an Internet columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press (the paper Jesse "The Brain" Ventura loves to hate). Romenesko created The Obscure Store and Reading Room about a decade ago as an offshoot of a zine called Obscure. A few years ago, he launched MediaGossip.com.

The Obscure Store is a collection of quirky news stories, updated daily, with Romenesko providing witty introductions. "News of the Weird" knock-off sites are a dime a dozen on the Web, but this one is among the best in the genre. The site is also a valuable source of links to AP and other wire services, tech news, biz news and transcripts from talking head shows.

Andrew Zipern, CyberTimes producer for The New York Times on the Web, says he reads "the Obscure Store every day, and increasingly, everyone I know in the media biz with a slightly campy or navel-gazing sensibility does as well."

For more about the history of MediaGossip.com and The Obscure store, visit a recent story at Salon magazine at http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/col/p...

Also, check the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages at http://www.citypages.com/databank/20/965...

Media.Gossip.com will go into retirement in October 1999, when Romenesko begins work on a media news page for the Poynter Institute. The Obscure Store will live on.

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