Dem
47
GOP
53
There was a time when the Internet gossip space was pretty jam-packed, with a number of high-profile players. There's still plenty of gossip but, in contrast to a decade ago, there is also a clear king of the hill. That would be TMZ, which not only has a highly trafficked website, but also a syndicated TV program.
For many, many years, TMZ—which is based in Los Angeles, and focused primarily on celebrities in the entertainment industry—has hinted it's thinking about expanding its operations to Washington, DC. And now, it's happened. The site has hired three staffers to run a D.C. bureau. Their material will be posted on the main TMZ website, but in a TMZDC subsection.
Maybe TMZDC will amount to nothing, and they won't find much stuff to write about. On the other hand, the stories of former representatives Madison Cawthorn, Matt Gaetz, Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, etc. serve as evidence of a seedy underbelly to the Hill, one that is often whispered about, but that usually stays hidden. TMZ has a different focus, and different editorial standards than, say, The New York Times, and so might end up breaking stories that news-focused outlets aren't willing to touch. The outlet's first two items for the new section were about Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who should both prove fruitful for TMZDC, in many different ways.
And since this item is pretty short, we'll add in a little bit of trivia. Most people, even in L.A., have no idea what TMZ means or stands for. The answer is that, many years ago, the entertainment business was concentrated heavily in the Hollywood area. However, Hollywood became touristy and run-down, and so most of the studios decamped for other places in the Los Angeles area (joining, it should be noted, several studios that were NEVER in Hollywood). Today, the only major studio that is still actually in Hollywood is Paramount.
The business is very unionized, of course, and the union contracts spell out exactly what benefits employees get, and under what circumstances they get them. One such benefit is lodging and per diem, which employees are entitled to if they travel more than 30 miles from the "center of the entertainment business." When that was "Hollywood," it was pretty easy to calculate. But now that the studios are all around L.A., using Hollywood as the "center of the entertainment business" would be great for Paramount, but not so great for, say, Sony Pictures Studios, which is 6-7 miles southwest of Hollywood, in Culver City.
So, many years ago, the studios hired a mathematician to determine the numerically fairest "center" of the entertainment business. He put all the major studios on a map, and then used his compass (and other tools) to figure out that the fairest centerpoint is this intersection in Los Angeles:
That is the legally defined center of the entertainment business. If you are within 30 miles of this spot, and you're working on a production, you don't get the lodging and the per diem. You are considered to be working "locally" because you are within the Thirty Mile Zone. Hence, TMZ.
And now, we don't want to hear any more about how you never learned anything from reading this site. (Z)