Now, this is scary:

Humorist Elliott Kalan - who is, among other things, a segment producer for Jon Stewart's The Daily Show - was fired from his weekly humor column-writing gig with New York gimme-tabloid Metro for... well... writing his weekly humor column.

Turns out he took a whack at one of his print media publisher's sacred cows - that being print media - when he wrote that "Nobody reads newspapers anymore..."

Unfortunately, somebody actually WAS reading the newspaper in which Kalan's column appeared, and that someone was Metro International's interim CEO, Chris Spalding; Mr. Spalding apparently hadn't been briefed by his board of directors on the shadings of humor (perhaps he suffers from a severe case of left-brain dominance), and the word came down that Kalan was outta there.

Kalan is taking things in stride - it's not like he won't continue to write humorous material for those who actually appreciate it. Still, this whole incident has me a bit flustered...

Dear Fisher corporate headquarters folk:

Just in case I happen at some juncture to write something that makes fun of traditional and/or non-traditional media - in fact, if I post anything at all that in any way assaults any of your closely-held business and/or social beliefs - please know that I am doing so in a light-hearted, humorous fashion and that there may be irony involved. Feel free to consult me if you have any questions about the possible presence of irony or its sneaky, snarky kissing cousin, satire.

Yours truly - John P. Meyer, film guy