Jeff Koyen
Encyclopedia
Jeff Koyen, born in 1969 in suburban New Jersey
, is an American journalist
living in Venice Beach, CA. He is a graduate of Rutgers University
. He has worked as a freelance travel and culture writer, filing with Travel and Leisure, The New York Times
, New York magazine, Radar
, New York Post
, New York Press
, Penthouse
, Wired.com, The Prague Pill, and others.
In July 2010, he started the travel, crime and weirdness website, Caveat Viator. He also founded the writing project 100 Words in 2001.
Crank, from 1994 to 2000.
He was the production manager at New York Press before he quit in 2001. He moved to Prague, and was hired as associate editor at the expatriate paper, The Prague Pill. In February 2003, he was hired as editor-in-chief of New York Press by new owners. He quit after publishing a controversial article that criticized a then-dying Pope John Paul II.
In October 2007 he was hired as the senior editor of Forbes Traveler, the luxury travel website published by Forbes
; he left in 2009 during a wave of layoffs at Forbes. In late 2010, he joined Travel + Leisure as online deputy editor, filling in for an editor on maternity leave. Since leaving that short-term job, he has been contributing freelance work to the T+L website.
In addition to freelancing for the New York Times, New York magazine and other publications, he was one of the founding bloggers at True/Slant
. When True/Slant announced its acquisition by Forbes Media, he started a new blog where he covers travel and international culture, Caveat Viator.
, the newspaper ran a cover story by Matt Taibbi
entitled "52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of the Pope". The article was widely condemned by Senator
s Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
, Matt Drudge
, and Abe Foxman, among others, including now-disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner who suggested that New Yorkers take copies of that issue out of their news boxes and destroy them. The publisher responded to the attacks by demanding that Koyen publicly apologize for the article. Koyen instead chose to resign his position. He went on to defend the story, attacking owner David Unger and publisher Chris Rohland in the media, saying "They couldn't handle the controversy... I didn't expect them to cave in and cower so easily. I'm really surprised they were so spineless." No apology was ever issued for Taibbi's article.
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, is an American journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
living in Venice Beach, CA. He is a graduate of Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. He has worked as a freelance travel and culture writer, filing with Travel and Leisure, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, New York magazine, Radar
Radar (magazine)
RadarOnline is an American online publication. It started as a magazine first printed in 2003 as a test issue, relaunched twice in 2005 and 2006, and ceased publication in 2008. The magazine published articles on entertainment, fashion, politics, and human interest...
, New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, New York Press
New York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
, Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
, Wired.com, The Prague Pill, and others.
In July 2010, he started the travel, crime and weirdness website, Caveat Viator. He also founded the writing project 100 Words in 2001.
Biography
He was the editor of the zineOnline magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
Crank, from 1994 to 2000.
He was the production manager at New York Press before he quit in 2001. He moved to Prague, and was hired as associate editor at the expatriate paper, The Prague Pill. In February 2003, he was hired as editor-in-chief of New York Press by new owners. He quit after publishing a controversial article that criticized a then-dying Pope John Paul II.
In October 2007 he was hired as the senior editor of Forbes Traveler, the luxury travel website published by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
; he left in 2009 during a wave of layoffs at Forbes. In late 2010, he joined Travel + Leisure as online deputy editor, filling in for an editor on maternity leave. Since leaving that short-term job, he has been contributing freelance work to the T+L website.
In addition to freelancing for the New York Times, New York magazine and other publications, he was one of the founding bloggers at True/Slant
True/Slant
True/Slant , a company based in a loft in SoHo in New York City funded with $3 million in capital by Forbes Media and Fuse Capital and sold to Forbes in May 2010, was an original content news network....
. When True/Slant announced its acquisition by Forbes Media, he started a new blog where he covers travel and international culture, Caveat Viator.
Controversy
In March 2005, while serving as the editor-in-chief of the New York PressNew York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
, the newspaper ran a cover story by Matt Taibbi
Matt Taibbi
Matthew C. "Matt" Taibbi is an American author and journalist reporting on politics, media, finance, and sports for Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, often in a polemical style. He has also edited and written for The eXile, the New York Press, and The Beast.- Early years :Taibbi grew up in the...
entitled "52 Funniest Things About the Upcoming Death of the Pope". The article was widely condemned by Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
s Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, New York Mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, Matt Drudge
Matt Drudge
Matthew Nathan Drudge is the American creator and editor of the Drudge Report, a news aggregation website. Drudge is self-described as being conservative and populist. Drudge has also authored a book and hosted a radio show and a television show.-Early years:Matthew Drudge was raised in Takoma...
, and Abe Foxman, among others, including now-disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner who suggested that New Yorkers take copies of that issue out of their news boxes and destroy them. The publisher responded to the attacks by demanding that Koyen publicly apologize for the article. Koyen instead chose to resign his position. He went on to defend the story, attacking owner David Unger and publisher Chris Rohland in the media, saying "They couldn't handle the controversy... I didn't expect them to cave in and cower so easily. I'm really surprised they were so spineless." No apology was ever issued for Taibbi's article.
Reviews
(Koyen's) willingness to slaughter sacred cows appears to be working. It may not seem that way, but Koyen says he is slowly, but surely building a younger readership with an approach which may turn away the older, stodgier readers and critics. Koyen's not mad – he doesn't want them reading anyway.
The New York Times really outdid itself this weekend. Amid the sighs over St. Lucia's proclaimed hotness, Jeff Koyen has piped in from Bangladesh, and finally we can't tease the Times for hyping the over-hyped.
Koyen is certainly a manager who stuck by his writer. Call it the editorial Omerta—the code that required editors to support their writers and editorial staffers in times of crisis. If the staff is taking heat from readers and bloggers, from publicists, or even from the higher-ups at the company, most editors feel they need to circle the wagons, even if it means putting themselves at peril.