Sarah D. Bunting, also known online as Sars, [1] is known as an American writer and journalist, and a co-founder of Television Without Pity (TWoP). [2] She has written for a number of magazines and journals, and has received coverage for her website Tomato Nation. [3]
Bunting and Tara Ariano met online on a Beverly Hills, 90210 fansite before in 1998 founding Dawson's Wrap, [4] a website devoted to the TV soap Dawson's Creek . The site, dedicated to critical commentary on the show, expanded its coverage to more shows, was renamed Mighty Big TV and eventually relaunched as Television Without Pity (TWoP). The site became both popular with fans and influential among television executive producers and screenwriters, [4] as evidenced in cases as when Rescue Me showrunner Peter Tolan used it to publish an open letter to fans defending the depiction of rape in a controversial episode. [5]
In a 2004 interview Bunting expressed skepticism about the effect that TWoP had on the creation of TV shows. She acknowledged nonetheless that certain shows had made evident nods toward the site's effects, including the positioning of a TWoP branded messenger bag in a background shot, and a West Wing character's jibe at the moderator of a fictional internet message board "who I'm sure wears a muu-muu and chain smokes Parliaments." [6] Bunting described the attentions of West Wing producer Aaron Sorkin, however ambivalent, as a net positive for the site: "If we're on his radar it's a good thing. And it drove up our page views." [7]
With Ariano, Bunting published a TWoP spinoff book in 2006, called Television Without Pity: 752 Things We Love To Hate (and Hate To Love) About TV. [8] The site was acquired by Bravo in 2007; Bunting and the other cofounders initially remained on the editorial staff [9] before leaving in 2008. [10]
Bunting founded her website, TomatoNation.com, in 1997, and still blogs there. [9] [11] The site drew attention for its advice column, The Vine, which journalists described as an edgier alternative to Dear Abby and Ann Landers for younger people. [12] As a relatively early and prominent blog, it was also among the subjects of Viviane Serfaty's 2004 book The mirror and the veil: an overview of American online diaries and blogs, in which Serfaty analysed Tomato Nation's use of humor in constructing an identity as a blogger. [3]
Bunting's account of her experiences during the 9/11 terror attacks on New York in 2001 (she was working a few blocks from the World Trade Center when the attacks began), [13] first published at Tomato Nation, was syndicated on diarist.net and received print news attention. [14]
In 2006 Bunting participated for the first time in a bloggers' challenge coordinated by fundraising site DonorsChoose.org, which allows teachers in disadvantaged US schools to bid for private donations to fund classroom projects. The Bloggers' Challenge (later Social Media Challenge) invited blog fans to compete to raise greater sums in donations than could readers of other blogs. Bunting pledged to shave her head in exchange for her readership raising $30,000 in donations. [15] She again won the 2007 contest for Tomato Nation by raising $100,000 through reader donations, from an estimated reader base of 100,000 people. [16] The feat was repeated with a $111,000 reader donation haul in 2008, [17] and $314,158 of reader donations again won the challenge for Tomato Nation in 2009. [18]
Bunting has been a contributor to MSNBC, [19] Salon [20] and New York Magazine . [9] [21] Her original play The Famous Ghost Monologues was performed at the Abingdon Theater, [22] off-off-Broadway, in 2004. [9]
She is currently a writer for (and the editor-in-chief of) the true crime publication Best Evidence. [11]
Sarah and Mark Blankenship started the Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs podcast in March 2016, [23] a weekly pop music podcast that contains in-depth and humorous discussions of individual songs chosen by the hosts or the fans. Starting with episode 50 every tenth episode ranks every song on an album. Ranked episodes include Indigo Girls, GHV2, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Jagged Little Pill , and The Clueless Soundtrack .
Sarah is also a cohost of the podcasts Extra Hot Great (about television shows), Again With This: Beverly Hills, 90210 & Melrose Place, and Quaid in Full (which ranks Dennis Quaid's television appearances). [11] [24] [25]
Sarah was the host of the true crime podcast The Blotter Presents, which was the flagship podcast of the true crime website The Blotter; she founded The Blotter in 2011. [26] [27] [11]
She is the owner of Exhibit B., a used bookstore that specializes in true crime, located at 508 76th Street, Brooklyn, New York. [28] [29]
Bunting was born and raised in New Jersey [9] and attended Princeton University, [2] where she majored in English Literature. [30] Prior to the establishment of Tomato Nation she had jobs as a church secretary, a records clerk, and a dealer in antique books. [9] She lives in Brooklyn [31] and married in July 2013, [32] not changing her last name. [33]
On September 11, 2022, she wrote that her mother and her (Sarah's) cat Mabel had died in the past eleven months. [34]
A blog is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. In the 2000s, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, "multi-author blogs" (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple authors and sometimes professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets, universities, think tanks, advocacy groups, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the news media. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Wendy Mesley is a Canadian television journalist, podcaster, and blogger. She worked for CBC News from 1981 to 2021 in roles including national correspondent at the Quebec Legislature and the Ottawa Parliamentary Bureau. She was the anchor of The National, host of Undercurrents, Disclosure, and Marketplace, and from 2018 to 2020, she hosted the Sunday morning talk show The Weekly with Wendy Mesley.
Wonkette is an American online magazine of topical and political gossip, established in 2004 by Gawker Media and founding editor Ana Marie Cox. The editor since 2012 is Rebecca Schoenkopf, formerly of OC Weekly. Wonkette covers U.S. politics in a satirical manner.
The Leaky Cauldron, also called Leaky, TLC, or Leaky News, is a Harry Potter fansite and blog. The site features news, image and video galleries, downloadable widgets, a chat room and discussion forum, and an essay project called Scribbulus, among other offerings. Since 2005, the Leaky Cauldron has also hosted an official podcast, called PotterCast.
Amanda Felicitas Stepto is a Canadian former actress who is best known for her role as Christine "Spike" Nelson in the Degrassi television franchise. With no previous acting experience, Stepto rose to prominence playing the character in the critically and commercially successful CBC series Degrassi Junior High (1987–89) and its follow-up Degrassi High (1989–91).
Television Without Pity was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism and opinion alongside a retelling of an episode's events, which the site referred to as "snark". Their official motto is "Spare the snark, spoil the networks," a takeoff on "spare the rod, spoil the child" and its mascot is Tubeelzebub, a devilish television set with horns and a pointed tail.
"I Am God" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars, and the fortieth episode overall. Written by Diane Ruggiero and Cathy Belben and directed by Martha Mitchell, the episode premiered on UPN on April 11, 2006.
Mary Katharine Ham is an American journalist. She has been a contributing editor for Townhall and Hot Air, a writer at The Federalist, and a CNN contributor.
Nadine Jolie Courtney is a Circassian American lifestyle writer, novelist, and former media personality. She is the author of the YA novel All-American Muslim Girl, Romancing the Throne, Beauty Confidential: The No Preaching, No Lies, Advice-You'll-Actually-Use-Guide to Looking Your Best, and Confessions of a Beauty Addict. Her blog "Jolie in NYC" received international press in 2005 after Courtney, a former beauty editor, was outed and dooced for anonymously blogging about the beauty industry. The New York Post subsequently dubbed her "the poster girl for the blogger generation".
Sarah Maria Austin is an American author and tech entrepreneur. She is the CMO and co-founder of metaverse funding platform, QGlobe, and former CEO at Broad Listening, an artificial emotional intelligence agent. She is the chairperson of the board of directors at Coding FTW, a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity and equal rights in the technology sector.
Nastassia Bianca Schroeder Clark is an American television personality, podcast host, fashion blogger, model and author. She is best known for appearing on Bravo's reality television series Vanderpump Rules (2013–2020) for eight seasons.
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and user forums. On 31 December 2014, Smart TV manufacturer VIZIO acquired BuddyTV's parent Advanced Media Research Group, Inc., in order to expand content and service offerings. The site was shut down on 22 May 2018. The site was later relaunched on 30 August 2021 by a small web content company with the intent to resurrect BuddyTV.
"Self Made Man" is the 20th episode of the United States television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (T:TSCC). The episode aired on Fox on December 1, 2008, "Self Made Man" explores Cameron's nighttime activities of enlisting help to research a Terminator's presence in the past, as well as John Connor's continuing relationship with Riley Dawson.
Mark Blankenship is an American writer, critic and the co-creator and editor-in-chief of the now dormant popular culture blog The Critical Condition. Since June 2021, he has been the New Works Director for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
Hot Air is a conservative American political blog. It is written by the pseudonymous Allahpundit, Ed Morrissey, John Sexton, and Jazz Shaw.
Krystal Marie Ball is an American political commentator and media host. She was previously a political candidate, as well as a television host at MSNBC, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, and a co-host of The Hill's Rising along with Saagar Enjeti. In May 2021, Ball and Enjeti announced that they were leaving the show in order to launch their own independent project titled Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar. Ball is a co-host with her husband Kyle Kulinski on the podcast Krystal Kyle & Friends. She has made guest appearances on networks such as CNN, CNBC, Fox News, and programs including Real Time with Bill Maher.
Literary Hub or LitHub is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter.
Kristen Doute is an American television personality, clothing designer, entrepreneur, actress and author. She was a series regular on the Bravo reality television series Vanderpump Rules (2013–2020) for eight seasons and its spin-off series The Valley (2024–present).
Dolores Catania is an American television personality, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. She is best known as a main cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, appearing in that capacity since the show's seventh season in 2016.
Linda Holmes is an American author, cultural critic, and podcaster. She currently writes for NPR and hosts their podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour; Holmes also edits the Pop Culture Happy Hour blog on NPR.