Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon: this week on Fresh Powder

/in

A summary of journalism news and pop culture brought to you by  SNO

The lede

Apparently, you can quit your family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are showing us the way. “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment.” (People)

. . . “The Queen is not thrilled. Buckingham Palace aides are ‘shocked,’ ‘devastated’ and ‘downright furious.’ And, according to the Daily Mail’s sources, Harry and I ‘spent weeks secretly plotting’ [our] decision … in what one insider branded a ‘staggering level of deceit.’ They were wrong. It has not been weeks. It has been decades.” Washington Post: Honestly, I, Meghan Markle, have been plotting this my entire life

. . . BuzzFeed News: Here Are 20 Headlines Comparing Meghan Markle To Kate Middleton That Might Show Why She And Prince Harry Are Cutting Off Royal Reporters

Seconded

“In less than a month, after Iowans gather to hash it out, the race will move on to New Hampshire and beyond, and Ms. Pfannenstiel, like her predecessors, will have to accustom herself to a sudden quiet.” For now, Brianne Pfannenstiel and The Des Moines Register are the reporter and paper of record in the middle of the Democratic primary. (The New York Times)

TGIThursday

Chain restaurants get a bad rap, man. But they give people jobs, better pay on average than places with fancier plates, health insurance, and foundational on-site training for those who want to pay attention. (Hey, one person’s lizard in a salad is another’s School of Hard Knocks.) NYT: Current Job: Award-Winning Chef. Education: University of IHOP.

#MillennialProblems

Why does New Jersey’s state government have a Twitter account and how is it so good? Meet Megan Coyne and Pearl Gabel. The New Yorker: “Coyne scrolled through Twitter, looking for material. ‘Someone’s tweeting about how Trenton doesn’t deserve to be the capital of New Jersey,’ she said. ‘We could do a response to that. ‘How rude.’’ They let that idea drop. Gabel surveyed her desk for inspiration: a cucumber water, a half-eaten muffin. ‘Maybe it could just be ‘muffin.’” (Spoiler: The tweet would not end up being, “muffin,” but contemplation is half the fun.)

. . . NYT: The Mystery of Teen Vogue’s Disappearing Facebook Article. “As the debate about the article made Teen Vogue a trending topic on Twitter, another online critic linked to the article and posed the question, “What is this Teen Vogue?” To that, the verified Teen Vogue account replied in a tweet that was later deleted: “literally idk.”

Sports!

From a Major League Baseball investigation into sign-stealing operations, the managers of two of the last three World Series champions have been fired. ESPN’s David Schoenfield: “They knew. They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew they were cheating. Not much different from the PED users some two decades ago shooting up in secret. They knew.”

. . . Sports journalism news: ESPN is preparing an offer that could make Tony Romo the highest-paid sports broadcaster in history

Thinking ahead

Scarlett Johansson is the first actor in 12 years to be nominated for two Academy Awards in the same year, as she earned nods in the lead and support actress categories for different movies this week. (Weird, because it was supposed to be Margot Robbie’s year.)

This also happened last week: A massive Wizarding World of Harry Potter store, spanning three floors and 20,000 square feet, is coming to New York this summer.