Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    TMZ a Force to Be Reckoned with, but Is It Journalism?

    With a website and two TV shows, TMZ deals in celebrity gossip with videos that often go viral. Now the highbrow New Yorker magazine is taking note with a long article, " Digital Dirt ." Nicholas Schmidle is a staff writer for the New Yorker.

    • rss
    • Share
    By Warren Olney • Feb 17, 2016 • 10m Listen

    With a website and two TV shows, TMZ deals in celebrity gossip with videos that often go viral. Now the highbrow New Yorker magazine is taking note with a long article, "Digital Dirt." Nicholas Schmidle is a staff writer for the New Yorker.

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Impact of Scalia's Vacancy on SCOTUS Cases and 2016 Election
    1. 1:47Apple Will Contest Order to Unlock iPhone
    2. 8:39The US Supreme Court and the Race to the White House
    3. 41:50TMZ a Force to Be Reckoned with, but Is It Journalism?You’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Gideon Brower

      Independent Producer

    • KCRW placeholder

      Paul von Zielbauer

      Co-founder of Geezer magazine, former producer for To the Point and Which Way LA?; former reporter for the New York Times

    • KCRW placeholder

      Nicholas Schmidle

      New Yorker magazine

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    Impact of Scalia's Vacancy on SCOTUS Cases and 2016 Election
    1. 1:47Apple Will Contest Order to Unlock iPhone
    2. 8:39The US Supreme Court and the Race to the White House
    3. 41:50TMZ a Force to Be Reckoned with, but Is It Journalism?You’re reading this
    Back to To the Point