'Daily News' loses senior gossip reporter Carson Griffith
Carson Griffith.
4:40 pm Feb. 19, 20131
The Daily News has lost its lead gossip writer.
Carson Griffith, who's been on the News' gossip and nightlife beat for the past three-and-a-half years, is leaving the paper as of Feb. 28.
Griffith declined to comment when reached by phone this afternoon. But it's no secret there's a high burnout rate for anyone on her beat, which requires constantly working sources for tabloid-worthy celebrity scoops and prowling parties most nights of the week digging up exclusives.
Griffith's resignation is the latest in a series of changes to the News' gossip pages, which were overhauled and rebranded as "Confidential" last summer in a bid to ramp up competition with the New York Post's Page Six franchise.
News features editor John Oswald, who oversees the section, also declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing personnel matters. But sources said he's on the hunt for a replacement and has been happy with Confidential's other two reporters, Brian Niemietz and Marianne Garvey, both of whom joined the paper less than a year ago.
Griffith was the most well-known byline on the column, which under its previous iteration, Gatecrasher, was helmed by veterans like Frank DiGiacamo and Ben Widdicombe.
The News' famous "Rush & Molloy" column, written for some 15 years by the husband-wife gossip duo of George Rush and Joanna Molloy, came to an end in 2010, when Rush left the paper. Molloy is still a columnist there, covering general news.
Will miss reading you at the News! Excited for your book!