Acclaimed author Studs Terkel dies at 96
Terkel won Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for book about World War II, "The Good War"
(CNN) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel died at his home Friday at the age of 96.
Terkel had grown frail since the publication last year of his memoir, "Touch and Go," said Gordon Mayer, vice president of the Community Media Workshop, which Terkel had supported.
"I'm still in touch, but I'm ready to go," he said last year at his last public appearance with the workshop, a nonprofit that recognizes Chicago reporters who take risks in covering the city.
"My dad led a long, full, eventful -- sometimes tempestuous -- satisfying life," his son Dan said in a statement.
"The last time I saw him, he was up, about, and mad as hell about the Cubs," workshop President Thom Clark said in the statement.
Terkel, known for his portrayal of ordinary people young and old, rich and poor, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for his remembrances of World War II, "The Good War."
Terkel was born in New York but moved to Chicago, where his parents ran a small hotel. Terkel would sit in the hotel lobby watching droves of people arguing, fighting, ranting and telling stories.
"That hotel was far more of an education to me than the University of Chicago was," Studs told CNN in 2000.
It seems that beginning would pave the way for Terkel's love of passing on people's oral histories. He could often be found behind a tape recorder talking to the people who would eventually become the basis for his books. Terkel became famous, if not synonymous with oral histories, for his ability to cast a light on the working class.
"Oral history preceded the written word," Terkel told CNN in 2000. "Oral history is having people tell their own stories and bringing it forth.
"That's what history's about: the oral history of the unknowns that make the wheel go 'round. And that's what I'm interested in."
In an interview with Lou Waters on CNN in 1995, Terkel spoke about his book "Coming of Age," which explored the lives of people who have been "scrappers" all of their lives. Inside the book are the stories of people between the ages of 70 and 95, a group he called "the truth tellers."
"Who are the best historians? Who are the storytellers?" Terkel asked. "Who lived through the Great Depression of the '30s, World War II that changed the whole psyche and map of the world, a Cold War, Joe McCarthy, Vietnam, the '60s, that's so often put down today and I think was an exhilarating and hopeful period, and, of course, the computer and technology. Who are the best ones to tell the story? Those who've borne witness to it. And they're our storytellers."
After Terkel's wife died in 1999, he began working on a book about death, eventually called "Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith."
"It's about life," Terkel said in 2000 when asked about the project. "How can one talk about life without saying sometime it's going to end? It makes the value of life all the more precious."
Friday, October 31, 2008
Anne Rice -- From Vampires to Jesus
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- It's Halloween, and Anne Rice has a new book -- a memoir, in fact -- that's climbing best-seller lists. Everything is normal, then.
Anne Rice (pictured) says she hopes to take her skills writing vampire books and "redeem myself."
Normal if it were 1994 -- the height of Rice's megaselling fame as a queen of Southern Gothic pulp.
For those who haven't been paying attention lately to vampire lit, America's most famous chronicler of bloodsuckers doesn't live in New Orleans anymore -- and hasn't since before Hurricane Katrina hit -- and she's riding new waves of enthusiasm: the memoir and Christian lit.
Her memoir, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession," is the latest piece of evidence that Rice is reinventing herself in an attempt to build a reputation as a serious Christian writer.
In the memoir, the 67-year-old writer doesn't disavow the two decades she spent churning out books on vampires, demons and witches -- with a batch of S&M erotica thrown in -- following the breakout success of her first novel in 1976, "Interview With the Vampire."
But she's clearly moved on.
In a telephone interview from her mountain home in Rancho Mirage, California, Rice laid out her goal:
"To be able to take the tools, the apprenticeship, whatever I learned from being a vampire writer, or whatever I was -- to be able to take those tools now and put them in the service of God is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful opportunity," she said. "And I hope I can redeem myself in that way. I hope that the Lord will accept the books I am writing now."
The memoir follows the release of two books in a planned four-part, first-person chronicle of the life of Jesus.
And in this new 245-page memoir, Rice presents her former life as vampire writer as that of a soul-searching wanderer in the deserts of atheism; as someone akin to her most famous literary creations -- Lestat, her "dark search engine," Louis the aristocrat-turned-vampire and Egyptian Queen Akasha, "the mother of all vampires."
"I do think that those dark books were always talking about religion in their own way. They were talking about the grief for a lost faith," she said.
In 2002, Rice broke away completely from atheism -- nearly four decades after she gave up her Roman Catholic faith as the 1960s started. It happened when she went off to college and found her peers talking about existentialism -- Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre. Religion, she writes, was too restrictive to the young Rice. Too out of step.
Yet, religion had to come back into her life, she writes. For her, it was something she'd have to face up to again like an absent parent or a long-lost love child or Banquo the ghost in "Macbeth."
By the late 1990s, when she went back to Mass, Rice -- the author whose books sold in the tens of millions and who had recharged Hollywood's appetite for vampire-inspired horror -- had fallen on hard times.
Her husband, poet and artist Stan Rice, died of a brain tumor in 2002. And she had become victim to diabetes.
Always over-the-top and beyond the rational, she writes that her return of faith was preceded by a series of epiphanies -- many while on travels to Europe's cathedrals, Israel and Brazil. In one episode, when she visited the giant Jesus statue above Rio de Janeiro, she writes that she felt "delirium" as the clouds broke and revealed the statue.
Her professed revelations recall the religious intoxication she describes of her childhood.
When she was 12, she had her father turn a room on the back porch of the family's Uptown home in New Orleans into an oratory modeled after St. Rose of Lima -- the saint Catholics believe turned roses into floating crosses. She wanted to be a saint, she writes.
In the memoir, Rice describes a familiar Catholic upbringing imbued with opulence and mystery. The incense. The statuary. The stained glass. The darkness. She learned the world, she writes, through her senses, through a "preliterate" understanding of the world. She writes that she possessed "an internal gallery of pictorial images" that, lamentably, was replaced "by the alphabetic letters" she learned later.
"You might call it the Mozart effect, but it was the Catholic effect on me," she said.
In a sense, the memoir also is a confessional about her struggle as a writer to be a reader, a thinker and an author with a distinct literary style. Her stories often are reveries with no end in sight -- and all too often ugly with pedantic unwinding, numbing in detail and overly simplistic, a pastiche of cliches.
Her turn in direction -- from vampire fiction to Christian musings -- still isn't winning the critics over.
In The New York Times, Christopher Buckley slammed Rice's memoir as "a crashing, mind-numbing bore. This is the literary equivalent of waterboarding."
And the bar is high when it comes to writing about Jesus.
"The best may be Nikos Kazantzakis' 'The Last Temptation of Christ,' " said Jason Berry, a novelist and journalist who has written extensively on the Catholic priest sex abuse scandal. "But also (G.K.) Chesterton, Norman Mailer. ... A lot of narrative artists in both literature and film have taken on Jesus, so to speak."
Rice isn't out to impress the critics, though.
"My objective is simple: It's to write books about our Lord living on Earth that make him real to people who don't believe in him; or people who have never really tried to believe in him," she said.
She pressed the point: "I mean, I've made vampires believable to grown women. Now, if I can do that, I can make our Lord Jesus Christ believable to people who've never believed in him. I hope and pray."
For her devotees, whatever she writes invariably goes down like a smooth bloodbath, that favorite Goth beverage sometimes made with raspberry liqueur, red wine and cranberry juice.
"There are so many people dedicated to her. They want her to write more vampire books," said Marta Acosta, author of the popular "Casa Dracula" series, a "comedy of manners" that plays on vampire themes. She also runs the Vampire Wire, a book blog for fans of gore and the undead.
As for her, Acosta couldn't care less if Rice sinks back into the vampire vein.
"People think it's sexual, but it's not. It's suppressed stuff. Southern Gothic," Acosta said. "How many centuries is Louis (played by Brad Pitt in the movie 'Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles') going to whine?"
Never again, it seems.
Rice is busy writing about Jesus as a minister. And that's a tall order, Rice said.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Brit Hume Leaving Fox
From CT Online.
Brit Hume Leaving Fox
Sarah Pulliam
Fox News anchor Brit Hume is leaving the cable news network after 12 years, saying "Christ is a big piece of it."
“Family is a big piece of it,” he told Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times. “And Christ is a big piece of it. And golf is a big piece of it.”
As he prepares to anchor his last presidential campaign, Hume said he’s eager to immerse himself in a more spiritual life after dwelling for so long in the secular. The anchor described himself as a “nominal Christian” until 10 years ago, when his son Sandy committed suicide at age 28.
“I feel like I was really kind of saved when my son died by faith and by the grace of God, and that’s very much on my consciousness,” said Hume, who plans to get more involved in his wife’s Bible study group.
Brit Hume Leaving Fox
Sarah Pulliam
Fox News anchor Brit Hume is leaving the cable news network after 12 years, saying "Christ is a big piece of it."
“Family is a big piece of it,” he told Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times. “And Christ is a big piece of it. And golf is a big piece of it.”
As he prepares to anchor his last presidential campaign, Hume said he’s eager to immerse himself in a more spiritual life after dwelling for so long in the secular. The anchor described himself as a “nominal Christian” until 10 years ago, when his son Sandy committed suicide at age 28.
“I feel like I was really kind of saved when my son died by faith and by the grace of God, and that’s very much on my consciousness,” said Hume, who plans to get more involved in his wife’s Bible study group.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
CT Editorial: Media Show Ignorance of Evangelicalism
An editorial from Christianity Today. To see the original, click here.
Misunderstanding Sarah
Media reaction to Gov. Palin shows ignorance of evangelicalism.
A Christianity Today editorial | posted 10/28/2008 03:56PM
The Vice Presidential nomination of Sarah Palin stunned the American public, especially the mainstream media. For weeks, the focus of Palin puzzlement shifted daily, from her support for aerial wolf hunting to her claiming per diem payments for nights spent at home to Tina Fey's jaw-dropping Palin impersonation.
But two sex- and gender-related questions caught our attention. First, reactions to news of Bristol Palin's out-of-wedlock pregnancy: liberal pundits gleefully announced that this was going to seriously undermine Governor Palin's standing with the Republican Party's evangelical base. Any informed evangelical watcher or evangelical believer could have told them that this is a non-issue.
It is a non-issue because John Newton's famous line, "I once was lost but now I'm found," defines the evangelical ethos. We specialize in troubled lives. Stories of transformation from sin and degradation to righteousness and wholeness frame the way evangelicals see life. From the slave-trading Newton to the White House "hatchet man" Chuck Colson, God saves people from their slavery to sin and uses them to restore others. Indeed, those of us who never did anything particularly shocking sometimes have trouble fitting in.
Evangelical pews are full of people whose family lives are untidy. If we get angry when a teen gets pregnant, it is not at the hot-blooded teens but at the fashion and entertainment industries that persistently sexualize the images of the young and set them up for bad choices. It's no wonder: One recent study showed that adolescents with a sexually charged media diet are more than twice as likely as others to have sex by the time they turn 16. Teen pregnancy is one of the situations in which it is easiest for us to hate the sin but love the sinner.
The second media reaction that caught our attention was liberal puzzlement over conservatives who believe that only men should lead churches and marriages, yet who would not hesitate to have a woman a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Richard Land told Christianity Today that such concerns are asinine. The president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission compares the Palins to the Thatcher household: Dennis was head of the family, while Maggie ran the government. Land subscribes to the Baptist Faith and Message, which teaches that ecclesiastical and marital leadership are male territory. But Land is married to a strong woman, a professional with a Ph.D.
Are Christians like Richard Land inconsistent? We don't think so. Gender is complex and fundamental and not a mere social construction. It functions in archetypal ways. Many conservative Christians (though not all) believe these archetypes provide symbolic structure to church and marriage. God distributes gifts across gender lines, and women and men who develop their gifts do so to the Giver's glory. God created church and marriage, they say, and God wrote the user's manual for each. But God also created society, and he gifted women from the biblical Deborah to Israel's likely new Prime Minister Tzipi Livni with the gifts to govern.
Not all evangelicals believe that biblical admonitions about gender, church, and marriage apply beyond their first-century context. Indeed, the late Kenneth Kantzer, Billy Graham's handpicked editor for CT, was an outspoken egalitarian. Yet the majority of evangelicals find it natural to follow what they see as a biblical pattern. Maleness and femaleness, though potent archetypes in church and home, are neither qualification nor impediment in any other endeavor.
Misunderstanding Sarah
Media reaction to Gov. Palin shows ignorance of evangelicalism.
A Christianity Today editorial | posted 10/28/2008 03:56PM
The Vice Presidential nomination of Sarah Palin stunned the American public, especially the mainstream media. For weeks, the focus of Palin puzzlement shifted daily, from her support for aerial wolf hunting to her claiming per diem payments for nights spent at home to Tina Fey's jaw-dropping Palin impersonation.
But two sex- and gender-related questions caught our attention. First, reactions to news of Bristol Palin's out-of-wedlock pregnancy: liberal pundits gleefully announced that this was going to seriously undermine Governor Palin's standing with the Republican Party's evangelical base. Any informed evangelical watcher or evangelical believer could have told them that this is a non-issue.
It is a non-issue because John Newton's famous line, "I once was lost but now I'm found," defines the evangelical ethos. We specialize in troubled lives. Stories of transformation from sin and degradation to righteousness and wholeness frame the way evangelicals see life. From the slave-trading Newton to the White House "hatchet man" Chuck Colson, God saves people from their slavery to sin and uses them to restore others. Indeed, those of us who never did anything particularly shocking sometimes have trouble fitting in.
Evangelical pews are full of people whose family lives are untidy. If we get angry when a teen gets pregnant, it is not at the hot-blooded teens but at the fashion and entertainment industries that persistently sexualize the images of the young and set them up for bad choices. It's no wonder: One recent study showed that adolescents with a sexually charged media diet are more than twice as likely as others to have sex by the time they turn 16. Teen pregnancy is one of the situations in which it is easiest for us to hate the sin but love the sinner.
The second media reaction that caught our attention was liberal puzzlement over conservatives who believe that only men should lead churches and marriages, yet who would not hesitate to have a woman a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Richard Land told Christianity Today that such concerns are asinine. The president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission compares the Palins to the Thatcher household: Dennis was head of the family, while Maggie ran the government. Land subscribes to the Baptist Faith and Message, which teaches that ecclesiastical and marital leadership are male territory. But Land is married to a strong woman, a professional with a Ph.D.
Are Christians like Richard Land inconsistent? We don't think so. Gender is complex and fundamental and not a mere social construction. It functions in archetypal ways. Many conservative Christians (though not all) believe these archetypes provide symbolic structure to church and marriage. God distributes gifts across gender lines, and women and men who develop their gifts do so to the Giver's glory. God created church and marriage, they say, and God wrote the user's manual for each. But God also created society, and he gifted women from the biblical Deborah to Israel's likely new Prime Minister Tzipi Livni with the gifts to govern.
Not all evangelicals believe that biblical admonitions about gender, church, and marriage apply beyond their first-century context. Indeed, the late Kenneth Kantzer, Billy Graham's handpicked editor for CT, was an outspoken egalitarian. Yet the majority of evangelicals find it natural to follow what they see as a biblical pattern. Maleness and femaleness, though potent archetypes in church and home, are neither qualification nor impediment in any other endeavor.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Christian Science Monitor Goes Down
From WorldMag blog:
The demise of a printed newspaper
by Emily Belz
The daily Christian Science Monitor won’t be printed daily anymore. CSM is the first national newspaper to succumb to the forces of the web and cut back the publication of its print version, with it now appearing only on weekends. The Boston-based paper’s circulation has dropped from its 1970 peak of 230,000 to 50,000, but its online presence has soared.
As a reporter who drools over newsprint, this death of the hard copy cuts me to the quick. There’s nothing like the serendipity of finding stories by skimming pages in a newspaper instead of clicking on the biggest headline on a web page - you end up reading things in a printed paper that you wouldn’t give five seconds thought to online. And if newspapers go online, what will we wrap fish in?
Industry gurus have been predicting that this would happen, and CSM will not be the last. I’m assuming most of you read your news online entirely?
The demise of a printed newspaper
by Emily Belz
The daily Christian Science Monitor won’t be printed daily anymore. CSM is the first national newspaper to succumb to the forces of the web and cut back the publication of its print version, with it now appearing only on weekends. The Boston-based paper’s circulation has dropped from its 1970 peak of 230,000 to 50,000, but its online presence has soared.
As a reporter who drools over newsprint, this death of the hard copy cuts me to the quick. There’s nothing like the serendipity of finding stories by skimming pages in a newspaper instead of clicking on the biggest headline on a web page - you end up reading things in a printed paper that you wouldn’t give five seconds thought to online. And if newspapers go online, what will we wrap fish in?
Industry gurus have been predicting that this would happen, and CSM will not be the last. I’m assuming most of you read your news online entirely?
Monday, October 27, 2008
Writing Assignment for next Monday
Hope you're all enjoying Fall Break.
No reading assignment for next Monday night and no quiz--I have a special treat for you.
The writing assignment that is due is this:
Find the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Winona Lake Town Council online and write a T-U news story based on those minutes.
Do NOT take the easy way out and create a start-to-finish chronology. Exercise your news judgment on what to lead with, what to emphasize, and what to either omit or de-emphasize. Guidance is in our last assigned reading from the text.
No reading assignment for next Monday night and no quiz--I have a special treat for you.
The writing assignment that is due is this:
Find the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Winona Lake Town Council online and write a T-U news story based on those minutes.
Do NOT take the easy way out and create a start-to-finish chronology. Exercise your news judgment on what to lead with, what to emphasize, and what to either omit or de-emphasize. Guidance is in our last assigned reading from the text.
A Reporter's Shame
From Worldmag blog:
A reporter’s shame
Written by Emily Belz, October 27
Michael Malone, an ABC.com columnist who has been a reporter for 30 years with newspapers like the San Jose Mercury News, as well as an editor, says he is embarrassed to tell people now that he is a journalist.
You need to understand how painful this is for me. I am one of those people who truly bleeds ink when I’m cut. I am a fourth generation newspaperman.
He writes that journalism has never attained a gold standard of objectivity, but the media in this election have ceased to strive for fair, hard-hitting coverage.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of those people who think the media has been too hard on, say, Gov. Palin, by rushing reportorial SWAT teams to Alaska to rifle through her garbage. This is the Big Leagues, and if she wants to suit up and take the field, then Gov. Palin better be ready to play….
No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side - or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for Senators Obama and Biden.
And he goes for the throat of the people he finds ultimately responsible for journalistic irresponsibility.
I also happen to believe that most reporters, whatever their political bias, are human torpedoes . . .and, had they been unleashed, would have raced in and roughed up the Obama campaign as much as they did McCain’s. That’s what reporters do, I was proud to have been one, and I’m still drawn to a good story, any good story, like a shark to blood in the water.
So why weren’t those legions of hungry reporters set loose on the Obama campaign? Who are the real villains in this story of mainstream media betrayal?
The editors. The men and women you don’t see; the people who not only decide what goes in the paper, but what doesn’t; the managers who give the reporters their assignments and lay-out the editorial pages. They are the real culprits.
Which brings me to this Associated Press headline from Saturday:
“Biden a reliable running mate amid the stumbles.”
A reporter’s shame
Written by Emily Belz, October 27
Michael Malone, an ABC.com columnist who has been a reporter for 30 years with newspapers like the San Jose Mercury News, as well as an editor, says he is embarrassed to tell people now that he is a journalist.
You need to understand how painful this is for me. I am one of those people who truly bleeds ink when I’m cut. I am a fourth generation newspaperman.
He writes that journalism has never attained a gold standard of objectivity, but the media in this election have ceased to strive for fair, hard-hitting coverage.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of those people who think the media has been too hard on, say, Gov. Palin, by rushing reportorial SWAT teams to Alaska to rifle through her garbage. This is the Big Leagues, and if she wants to suit up and take the field, then Gov. Palin better be ready to play….
No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side - or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for Senators Obama and Biden.
And he goes for the throat of the people he finds ultimately responsible for journalistic irresponsibility.
I also happen to believe that most reporters, whatever their political bias, are human torpedoes . . .and, had they been unleashed, would have raced in and roughed up the Obama campaign as much as they did McCain’s. That’s what reporters do, I was proud to have been one, and I’m still drawn to a good story, any good story, like a shark to blood in the water.
So why weren’t those legions of hungry reporters set loose on the Obama campaign? Who are the real villains in this story of mainstream media betrayal?
The editors. The men and women you don’t see; the people who not only decide what goes in the paper, but what doesn’t; the managers who give the reporters their assignments and lay-out the editorial pages. They are the real culprits.
Which brings me to this Associated Press headline from Saturday:
“Biden a reliable running mate amid the stumbles.”
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Feedback From Conference Speaker
I thought you might be interested in this blogpost by one of the speakers for the recent missions conference at Grace. You may access her blog here.
Rebecca (Z) and I set out on Oct. 6th for Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana for their annual missions conference. Our time there was very encouraging. God is doing big things on that campus, including lighting a fire in the hearts of the students for Human Trafficking. I was able to lead 2 seminars on ESL, speak to 2 women's floors and join the students in early morning prayer. I was blessed to have the opportunity to share my life with the students of Grace College. They are amazing people who I know will impact the world for the Kingdom.
Rebecca (Z) and I set out on Oct. 6th for Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana for their annual missions conference. Our time there was very encouraging. God is doing big things on that campus, including lighting a fire in the hearts of the students for Human Trafficking. I was able to lead 2 seminars on ESL, speak to 2 women's floors and join the students in early morning prayer. I was blessed to have the opportunity to share my life with the students of Grace College. They are amazing people who I know will impact the world for the Kingdom.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Evangelicals in the Newsroom
Sent to me by a friend:
Evangelicals are in the news, but not in newsrooms
By ROSE FRENCH, (Published October 17, 2008)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Here is a foolproof way for politicians to score points with evangelical voters: Attack the media, an institution widely seen as lacking conservative Christian voices.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and his evangelical running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have done just that at times during the campaign, with repeated jabs at the "liberal media."
One way to change this perception, some church leaders, social commentators and journalists say, is for mainstream news organizations to employ - and keep - more evangelicals in their newsrooms.
"Journalism has become more of a white-collar field that draws from elite colleges," said Terry Mattingly, director of the Washington Journalism Center for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and a religion columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. "While there's been heavy gender and racial diversity ... there's a lack of cultural diversity in journalism," including religion.
Since the 1980s, when the Christian right emerged as a powerful force in American culture and politics, evangelicals have made significant inroads in law and government by training believers to work inside secular institutions. But while the same universities that helped students launch careers in those fields are offering similar programs in journalism, they haven't been as successful at changing the nation's newsrooms.
"The media - journalism - remain one of the hardest fields for them to realize their power," said D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University and author of "Faith in the Halls of Power."
Many evangelical journalists start out in secular news organizations but they soon join Christian media that offer an environment more accepting of their beliefs and more family-friendly than the long hours and low pay of secular journalism, said Robert Case II, director of the World Journalism Institute, which offers seminars for young evangelicals seeking work in secular media.
Martha Krienke, 26, who attended one of Case's seminars in 2003, worked for two secular newspapers in Minnesota before she finally took a job as an editor at Brio, a magazine for young girls published by Focus on the Family.
At one paper, Krienke disagreed with the edit of an opinion piece about what Christmas meant to her.
"My editor wanted to change several paragraphs, and it totally changed the tone and message of my opinion," she said. "Going through that situation just confirmed to me why I wanted to work for a Christian magazine."
It's unclear exactly how many evangelicals work in newsrooms, and federal laws against religious discrimination prevent news managers from asking about a job candidate's beliefs. But the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported in 2007 that 8 percent of journalists surveyed at national media outlets said they attended church or synagogue weekly. The survey also found 29 percent never attend such services, with 39 percent reporting they go a few times a year.
Pew polling of the general public found 39 percent of Americans say they attend religious services weekly.
In seeking a greater voice in the media, most evangelical leaders say their goal isn't to evangelize inside newsrooms, which demand that journalists set aside their beliefs for the sake of objectivity.
"They have to be journalists first," Mattingly said. "You don't need more Christian journalists. You need more journalists who happen to be Christians if they're going to contribute to any real diversity in newsrooms."
He also says evangelical journalists can bring a range of contacts to the table and can draw on their knowledge to help explain and shape religion coverage.
Case's primary concern is that evangelicals are frequently portrayed in the media as a monolithic bloc, when in fact they are diverse politically, intellectually and theologically.
"It bothers me that when mainstream outlets want an evangelical voice, they've turned to Jerry Falwell or James Dobson or Pat Robertson," he said. "They are men of high regard and standing, but there are others who have a different take on things."
Scott Bosley, executive director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, doesn't believe there has been a bias against evangelicals in hiring or in the workplace, and that it's common for groups to feel underrepresented in newsrooms.
"I don't think the sole measures of the effectiveness or success of newsrooms in reflecting their communities depends on having precise quotas of folks representing all different ideologies, be they Christian or not," he said. "We have a lot of generalists in newsrooms and they tend to have to learn about a lot of things."
Religious scholars estimate there are nearly two dozen evangelical colleges in the U.S. that offer either journalism degrees or classes. And the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, holds an annual conference in which students get career advice from Christians working in U.S. media outlets.
The Rev. Pat Robertson, the well-known evangelical leader who is founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, even considered buying The Virginian-Pilot newspaper of Norfolk, Va., to give students at his Regent University opportunities for internships. But he later abandoned the plan because of newspapers' overall financial decline.
Still, "journalism is important and it's one of the areas in society I think our graduates should play a role in," Robertson said. "I think the idea of transforming the culture, of having Christians involved as salt and light in every area of endeavor, is an important thing."
Evangelicals are in the news, but not in newsrooms
By ROSE FRENCH, (Published October 17, 2008)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Here is a foolproof way for politicians to score points with evangelical voters: Attack the media, an institution widely seen as lacking conservative Christian voices.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and his evangelical running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, have done just that at times during the campaign, with repeated jabs at the "liberal media."
One way to change this perception, some church leaders, social commentators and journalists say, is for mainstream news organizations to employ - and keep - more evangelicals in their newsrooms.
"Journalism has become more of a white-collar field that draws from elite colleges," said Terry Mattingly, director of the Washington Journalism Center for the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and a religion columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. "While there's been heavy gender and racial diversity ... there's a lack of cultural diversity in journalism," including religion.
Since the 1980s, when the Christian right emerged as a powerful force in American culture and politics, evangelicals have made significant inroads in law and government by training believers to work inside secular institutions. But while the same universities that helped students launch careers in those fields are offering similar programs in journalism, they haven't been as successful at changing the nation's newsrooms.
"The media - journalism - remain one of the hardest fields for them to realize their power," said D. Michael Lindsay, a sociologist at Rice University and author of "Faith in the Halls of Power."
Many evangelical journalists start out in secular news organizations but they soon join Christian media that offer an environment more accepting of their beliefs and more family-friendly than the long hours and low pay of secular journalism, said Robert Case II, director of the World Journalism Institute, which offers seminars for young evangelicals seeking work in secular media.
Martha Krienke, 26, who attended one of Case's seminars in 2003, worked for two secular newspapers in Minnesota before she finally took a job as an editor at Brio, a magazine for young girls published by Focus on the Family.
At one paper, Krienke disagreed with the edit of an opinion piece about what Christmas meant to her.
"My editor wanted to change several paragraphs, and it totally changed the tone and message of my opinion," she said. "Going through that situation just confirmed to me why I wanted to work for a Christian magazine."
It's unclear exactly how many evangelicals work in newsrooms, and federal laws against religious discrimination prevent news managers from asking about a job candidate's beliefs. But the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported in 2007 that 8 percent of journalists surveyed at national media outlets said they attended church or synagogue weekly. The survey also found 29 percent never attend such services, with 39 percent reporting they go a few times a year.
Pew polling of the general public found 39 percent of Americans say they attend religious services weekly.
In seeking a greater voice in the media, most evangelical leaders say their goal isn't to evangelize inside newsrooms, which demand that journalists set aside their beliefs for the sake of objectivity.
"They have to be journalists first," Mattingly said. "You don't need more Christian journalists. You need more journalists who happen to be Christians if they're going to contribute to any real diversity in newsrooms."
He also says evangelical journalists can bring a range of contacts to the table and can draw on their knowledge to help explain and shape religion coverage.
Case's primary concern is that evangelicals are frequently portrayed in the media as a monolithic bloc, when in fact they are diverse politically, intellectually and theologically.
"It bothers me that when mainstream outlets want an evangelical voice, they've turned to Jerry Falwell or James Dobson or Pat Robertson," he said. "They are men of high regard and standing, but there are others who have a different take on things."
Scott Bosley, executive director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors, doesn't believe there has been a bias against evangelicals in hiring or in the workplace, and that it's common for groups to feel underrepresented in newsrooms.
"I don't think the sole measures of the effectiveness or success of newsrooms in reflecting their communities depends on having precise quotas of folks representing all different ideologies, be they Christian or not," he said. "We have a lot of generalists in newsrooms and they tend to have to learn about a lot of things."
Religious scholars estimate there are nearly two dozen evangelical colleges in the U.S. that offer either journalism degrees or classes. And the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, holds an annual conference in which students get career advice from Christians working in U.S. media outlets.
The Rev. Pat Robertson, the well-known evangelical leader who is founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, even considered buying The Virginian-Pilot newspaper of Norfolk, Va., to give students at his Regent University opportunities for internships. But he later abandoned the plan because of newspapers' overall financial decline.
Still, "journalism is important and it's one of the areas in society I think our graduates should play a role in," Robertson said. "I think the idea of transforming the culture, of having Christians involved as salt and light in every area of endeavor, is an important thing."
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday NIght's Writing Assignment
In preparing this week's writing assignment (obituary), take a look at the two examples in the textbook on pages 210 and 211 in the Morgue. Yours should look much more like the one on the right (BGSU professor), giving just the essential facts about the deceased's interests and accomplishments, along with details about survivors and funeral services.
McDonald's Yields to Anti-Gay Boycott
This piece by David Waters is from the Washington Post. How do you feel about faith-motivated economic boycotts? Do they work? Are they the right thing to do? Is there a more effective way to make your viewpoint heard?
McDonald's Yields to Anti-Gay Boycott
In the growing culture war battles over same-sex marriage, economic boycotts seem to be the weapon of choice.
Earlier this week, the conservative Christian American Family Association announced that it was calling off its five-month boycott of McDonald's after the fast-food giant ended it relationship with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. AFA has led boycotts against Ford, Disney and Hallmark for similar reasons.
Meanwhile, "Californians Against Hate" has called for a boycott of two San Diego hotels owned by Doug Manchester, a devout Catholic who said his faith inspired him to donate $125,000 to support a ballot issue that would ban gay marriage. CAH says it is considering boycotts against other donors such as Intel and Bolthouse Farms.
(This morning, CAH called off its Bolthouse Farms boycott after the food company announced plans to start a diversity program and extended benefits to same-sex partners of gay employees.)
Do boycotts work? Do you join faith-based boycotts?
Christian Right-led boycotts often get a lot of attention (who can forget the Southern Baptist boycott of Disney?), but economic boycotts are a time-honored tactic of religious groups everywhere. Gandhi led boycotts of British products. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. "A boycott is not an end within itself," King wrote. "It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority."
I'm not sure corporations can experience shame (we're not seeing much evidence of it on Wall Street these days), but I do think they work. Over the years I have joined faith-based calls to boycott Exxon, Taco Bell, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart (not to mention lettuce and grapes when I was a kid, thanks Mom.) I've also engaged in counter-boycotts when I thought they were wrong or just silly. For example, when the SBC announced its Disney boycott, I told my kids we were going to Disney World.
Even if the boycotts I join don't work, I think there are times when my faith -- meaning my understanding of what is right and just -- compels me to try. I'm not looking to awaken shame. I am trying to avoid it.
McDonald's Yields to Anti-Gay Boycott
In the growing culture war battles over same-sex marriage, economic boycotts seem to be the weapon of choice.
Earlier this week, the conservative Christian American Family Association announced that it was calling off its five-month boycott of McDonald's after the fast-food giant ended it relationship with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. AFA has led boycotts against Ford, Disney and Hallmark for similar reasons.
Meanwhile, "Californians Against Hate" has called for a boycott of two San Diego hotels owned by Doug Manchester, a devout Catholic who said his faith inspired him to donate $125,000 to support a ballot issue that would ban gay marriage. CAH says it is considering boycotts against other donors such as Intel and Bolthouse Farms.
(This morning, CAH called off its Bolthouse Farms boycott after the food company announced plans to start a diversity program and extended benefits to same-sex partners of gay employees.)
Do boycotts work? Do you join faith-based boycotts?
Christian Right-led boycotts often get a lot of attention (who can forget the Southern Baptist boycott of Disney?), but economic boycotts are a time-honored tactic of religious groups everywhere. Gandhi led boycotts of British products. King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. "A boycott is not an end within itself," King wrote. "It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor and challenge his false sense of superiority."
I'm not sure corporations can experience shame (we're not seeing much evidence of it on Wall Street these days), but I do think they work. Over the years I have joined faith-based calls to boycott Exxon, Taco Bell, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart (not to mention lettuce and grapes when I was a kid, thanks Mom.) I've also engaged in counter-boycotts when I thought they were wrong or just silly. For example, when the SBC announced its Disney boycott, I told my kids we were going to Disney World.
Even if the boycotts I join don't work, I think there are times when my faith -- meaning my understanding of what is right and just -- compels me to try. I'm not looking to awaken shame. I am trying to avoid it.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Most Often Misspelled English Word
Most Often Misspelled English Word
Here's a fun game for all you word geeks: What is the most frequently misspelled word?(And, no, it's not "misspelled," although that would be funny if it were.)
It's "supersede."
That's the word from Collins Dictionaries of Britain, which admittedly has made this pronouncement based only on an estimation. Still, the company says "supersede" is misspelled one out of every 10 times it is used because many other words with phonetically similar endings, such as "intercede" and "precede," are spelled with the letter "c" instead of "s," reports The Daily Telegraph.
Using a software program that analyzed thousands of documents on the Internet, including published books, blogs and news articles, the Collins Dictionaries researchers were able to identify "supersede" as the most misspelled word.
Runners-up are:
* conscience
* indict
* foreign
* mortgage
* phlegm
These are challenging to writers since the spelling of each is different from their phonetic pronunciations.
"The real spelling problems occur when people have (learned) the rules or have a bit of knowledge, but then make mistakes in how they apply this," Ian Brookes, the managing editor of dictionaries at Collins, told the Telegraph.
Here's a fun game for all you word geeks: What is the most frequently misspelled word?(And, no, it's not "misspelled," although that would be funny if it were.)
It's "supersede."
That's the word from Collins Dictionaries of Britain, which admittedly has made this pronouncement based only on an estimation. Still, the company says "supersede" is misspelled one out of every 10 times it is used because many other words with phonetically similar endings, such as "intercede" and "precede," are spelled with the letter "c" instead of "s," reports The Daily Telegraph.
Using a software program that analyzed thousands of documents on the Internet, including published books, blogs and news articles, the Collins Dictionaries researchers were able to identify "supersede" as the most misspelled word.
Runners-up are:
* conscience
* indict
* foreign
* mortgage
* phlegm
These are challenging to writers since the spelling of each is different from their phonetic pronunciations.
"The real spelling problems occur when people have (learned) the rules or have a bit of knowledge, but then make mistakes in how they apply this," Ian Brookes, the managing editor of dictionaries at Collins, told the Telegraph.
Ugliest Two Words in English
Ugliest Two Words in English
They aren't hateful. They aren't disgusting. They're just annoying. The editors of the Webster's New World College Dictionary say the two ugliest words in the English language are: "like" and "go."
As in: "And I go, 'I can't believe it!' and she's like, 'You didn't know?'"
Once a year, the dictionary editors stop their serious work and indulge in a good rant about the state of the English language. Here is the best of what they consider to be the worst:
Most irksome euphemism: Issues
We used to have problems. Now we have issues.
Worst replacement for good old "yes" or "I agree": Absolutely
The close runner-up is "definitely."
Most cheapened cherished word: Awesome
A C+ on an algebra test is mediocre, not awesome. Dude.
Worst unnecessary lead-in: I mean
I mean, if you didn't mean it, you wouldn't be saying it!
Most infuriating idiocy in news headlines: Neck in neck
And it's used everywhere, including the New York Times, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Reuters, Fox News, the Akron Beacon-Journal and too many others.
Worst orthographic innovation: Stunt spelling
This is a cutesy-poo, middle school infatuation that began as early as Mötley Crüe, progressed to phat and continues downward with boyz.
Worst grammatical abuse: The present progressive
"i'm lovin' it" without a capital "I" and without a period is the idiocy reduced to its essentials. Well, McDonald's thought it so fine that they took out a trademark on it.
They aren't hateful. They aren't disgusting. They're just annoying. The editors of the Webster's New World College Dictionary say the two ugliest words in the English language are: "like" and "go."
As in: "And I go, 'I can't believe it!' and she's like, 'You didn't know?'"
Once a year, the dictionary editors stop their serious work and indulge in a good rant about the state of the English language. Here is the best of what they consider to be the worst:
Most irksome euphemism: Issues
We used to have problems. Now we have issues.
Worst replacement for good old "yes" or "I agree": Absolutely
The close runner-up is "definitely."
Most cheapened cherished word: Awesome
A C+ on an algebra test is mediocre, not awesome. Dude.
Worst unnecessary lead-in: I mean
I mean, if you didn't mean it, you wouldn't be saying it!
Most infuriating idiocy in news headlines: Neck in neck
And it's used everywhere, including the New York Times, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Reuters, Fox News, the Akron Beacon-Journal and too many others.
Worst orthographic innovation: Stunt spelling
This is a cutesy-poo, middle school infatuation that began as early as Mötley Crüe, progressed to phat and continues downward with boyz.
Worst grammatical abuse: The present progressive
"i'm lovin' it" without a capital "I" and without a period is the idiocy reduced to its essentials. Well, McDonald's thought it so fine that they took out a trademark on it.
Significant Living Acquires 'Today's Christian' From CTI
Significant Living acquires 'Today's Christian'
Christianity Today International (CTI) has announced the acquisition of Today's Christian magazine by Significant Living, a nonprofit organization that targets American Christians 50 and older.
The last issue of Today's Christian will be the November/December 2008 issue, CTI officials said. To be called Significant Living's Today's Christian, the new publication will launch in January 2009 with a larger full-size magazine format.
The magazine, which will focus on those in midlife and beyond, will feature articles on Christian celebrities and sports figures as well as prominent personalities in ministry. "We believe our readers will be delighted with our magazine, the premier publication of its kind," said Jerry Rose, president of Significant Living, www.SL50.org, and Total Living International.
Today's Christian's Web site, www.todays-christian.com, and its e-newsletter will continue as part of ChristianityToday.com. "We are pleased that the ministry of Today's Christian magazine will continue and expand under the leadership of Significant Living," said CTI Vice President Terumi Echols
Christianity Today International (CTI) has announced the acquisition of Today's Christian magazine by Significant Living, a nonprofit organization that targets American Christians 50 and older.
The last issue of Today's Christian will be the November/December 2008 issue, CTI officials said. To be called Significant Living's Today's Christian, the new publication will launch in January 2009 with a larger full-size magazine format.
The magazine, which will focus on those in midlife and beyond, will feature articles on Christian celebrities and sports figures as well as prominent personalities in ministry. "We believe our readers will be delighted with our magazine, the premier publication of its kind," said Jerry Rose, president of Significant Living, www.SL50.org, and Total Living International.
Today's Christian's Web site, www.todays-christian.com, and its e-newsletter will continue as part of ChristianityToday.com. "We are pleased that the ministry of Today's Christian magazine will continue and expand under the leadership of Significant Living," said CTI Vice President Terumi Echols
'Love Dare' #1 on NTY Bestseller's List
This is also an example of a product-PR news release from a publishing company:
THE LOVE DARE JUMPS TO NO. 1 ON NEW YORK TIMES’ PAPERBACK ADVICE BESTSELLERS LIST AS DEMAND FOR THE BOOK IN THE FILM, FIREPROOF, SPREADS
Samuel Goldwyn’s FIREPROOF Continues To Soar, In The Box Office Top 10
For Third Straight Week
NASHVILLE, TN — Oct. 16, 2008: The Love Dare (www.lovedarebook.com), a plot device in the box office hit FIREPROOF (www.fireproofthemovie.com) until early audiences repeatedly requested copies for themselves, just hit #1 on the New York Times Paperback Advice Bestsellers. Written by Stephen and Alex Kendrick (the writers/director of FIREPROOF, respectively), The Love Dare is #4 on Amazon.com and, currently in its seventh printing. When Stephen and Alex Kendrick wrote the script for FIREPROOF, they knew that eventually they would expand the six days of The Love Dare seen in the film into a full book covering all 40 days. They envisioned a leather bound edition that would be handed down from couple to couple. After engaging B&H Publishing Group, they set a January 2009 release date.
As soon as Provident Films – responsible for the faith based grassroots and marketing of FIREPROOF - began screening the film in March, the audience wanted the book as soon as they saw the film. They wanted to carry the inspiration of the film home from the theater. The team continued to press for a release tied to the film’s opening. The Kendrick brothers were consumed with post-production of the film and it didn't seem likely they could complete the manuscript in time.
After 7000 pastors stood up at the Southern Baptist Convention and said we need this book now, the book was fast tracked into a trade edition that would be ready for the film's release. After shutting out the world for several weeks to complete the manuscript and relying on their wives for feedback, the filmmakers-turned- authors squeaked under the deadline. The original leather bound vision will become a reality when a Legacy Edition of The Love Dare is released in January 2009.
In the meantime, the trade edition is on its seventh printing and #1 on the NEW YORK TIMES paperback advice list.
“To see FIREPROOF is to want the book, The Love Dare,” said John Thompson, marketing vice president for B&H Publishing Group. “At the same time, for readers, this powerful little book stands alone in opening new understanding—and new relationships.”
Having reached the top 10 for the third straight week, Samuel Goldwyn Films’ FIREPROOF starring Kirk Cameron and filmed in Albany, GA with an all-volunteer cast, has already grossed north of $17.5 million.
On both FACING THE GIANTS and FIREPROOF, Goldwyn, Provident and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Affirm Films unit worked together to devise and execute a marketing strategy to blend traditional theatrical marketing with an aggressive grass roots and faith based outreach. Provident held screenings across the country and provided resources and materials for pastors and churches to spread the word about the film. Through its vast network, Provident created opportunities for them to bring the film to their respective areas and generate excitement within their communities.
Communities across the U.S. are using the film as a tool to support local firefighters, police, and other first responders’ groups with divorce rates up to 90 percent. As churches, individuals, and groups send first responders and their spouses for a night at the movies, volunteer babysitting brigades are freeing up couples to go. Parents are buying tickets for their married children. Churches are buying for members and using the movie to kick off marriage courses. Thousands of couples are on day one, day four, day ten and day twelve of The Love Dare’s 40 day journey of unconditional love.
The Kendrick brothers and Sherwood Baptist Church have received hundreds of emails and letters from people all over the country who feel new life has been breathed into their failing marriages through FIREPROOF and The Love Dare, while others say it’s a wonderful reminder, and an exercise that electrifies the most important relationship in their lives.
B&H Publishing Group (www.bhpublishinggroup.com) is a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, the world's largest provider of Christian products and services including Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, and church supplies. LifeWay serves 150,000 church customers, shipping over 61 million units of product a year from a 350,000 square-foot distribution center. From its original core of Bibles, textbooks, and reference titles, B&H has developed into a major publisher of Christian living, fiction, youth, history, academic, reference, and electronic products. B&H is home to bestselling authors Beth Moore, Henry Blackaby, Gary Chapman, Oliver North, Chuck Norris, Vicki Courtney, Dan MiIler, and Thom S. Rainer.
-30-
THE LOVE DARE JUMPS TO NO. 1 ON NEW YORK TIMES’ PAPERBACK ADVICE BESTSELLERS LIST AS DEMAND FOR THE BOOK IN THE FILM, FIREPROOF, SPREADS
Samuel Goldwyn’s FIREPROOF Continues To Soar, In The Box Office Top 10
For Third Straight Week
NASHVILLE, TN — Oct. 16, 2008: The Love Dare (www.lovedarebook.com), a plot device in the box office hit FIREPROOF (www.fireproofthemovie.com) until early audiences repeatedly requested copies for themselves, just hit #1 on the New York Times Paperback Advice Bestsellers. Written by Stephen and Alex Kendrick (the writers/director of FIREPROOF, respectively), The Love Dare is #4 on Amazon.com and, currently in its seventh printing. When Stephen and Alex Kendrick wrote the script for FIREPROOF, they knew that eventually they would expand the six days of The Love Dare seen in the film into a full book covering all 40 days. They envisioned a leather bound edition that would be handed down from couple to couple. After engaging B&H Publishing Group, they set a January 2009 release date.
As soon as Provident Films – responsible for the faith based grassroots and marketing of FIREPROOF - began screening the film in March, the audience wanted the book as soon as they saw the film. They wanted to carry the inspiration of the film home from the theater. The team continued to press for a release tied to the film’s opening. The Kendrick brothers were consumed with post-production of the film and it didn't seem likely they could complete the manuscript in time.
After 7000 pastors stood up at the Southern Baptist Convention and said we need this book now, the book was fast tracked into a trade edition that would be ready for the film's release. After shutting out the world for several weeks to complete the manuscript and relying on their wives for feedback, the filmmakers-turned- authors squeaked under the deadline. The original leather bound vision will become a reality when a Legacy Edition of The Love Dare is released in January 2009.
In the meantime, the trade edition is on its seventh printing and #1 on the NEW YORK TIMES paperback advice list.
“To see FIREPROOF is to want the book, The Love Dare,” said John Thompson, marketing vice president for B&H Publishing Group. “At the same time, for readers, this powerful little book stands alone in opening new understanding—and new relationships.”
Having reached the top 10 for the third straight week, Samuel Goldwyn Films’ FIREPROOF starring Kirk Cameron and filmed in Albany, GA with an all-volunteer cast, has already grossed north of $17.5 million.
On both FACING THE GIANTS and FIREPROOF, Goldwyn, Provident and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's Affirm Films unit worked together to devise and execute a marketing strategy to blend traditional theatrical marketing with an aggressive grass roots and faith based outreach. Provident held screenings across the country and provided resources and materials for pastors and churches to spread the word about the film. Through its vast network, Provident created opportunities for them to bring the film to their respective areas and generate excitement within their communities.
Communities across the U.S. are using the film as a tool to support local firefighters, police, and other first responders’ groups with divorce rates up to 90 percent. As churches, individuals, and groups send first responders and their spouses for a night at the movies, volunteer babysitting brigades are freeing up couples to go. Parents are buying tickets for their married children. Churches are buying for members and using the movie to kick off marriage courses. Thousands of couples are on day one, day four, day ten and day twelve of The Love Dare’s 40 day journey of unconditional love.
The Kendrick brothers and Sherwood Baptist Church have received hundreds of emails and letters from people all over the country who feel new life has been breathed into their failing marriages through FIREPROOF and The Love Dare, while others say it’s a wonderful reminder, and an exercise that electrifies the most important relationship in their lives.
B&H Publishing Group (www.bhpublishinggroup.com) is a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, the world's largest provider of Christian products and services including Bibles, church literature, books, music, audio and video recordings, and church supplies. LifeWay serves 150,000 church customers, shipping over 61 million units of product a year from a 350,000 square-foot distribution center. From its original core of Bibles, textbooks, and reference titles, B&H has developed into a major publisher of Christian living, fiction, youth, history, academic, reference, and electronic products. B&H is home to bestselling authors Beth Moore, Henry Blackaby, Gary Chapman, Oliver North, Chuck Norris, Vicki Courtney, Dan MiIler, and Thom S. Rainer.
-30-
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Rolling Stone Trims Down
Rolling Stone ends large format after 4 decades
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Rolling Stone magazine is shrinking with the times.
After more than four decades of standing out with a larger format than other magazines, it will step back and look like everyone else starting with the Oct. 30 issue, due out this week.
The adoption of a standard format could boost single-copy sales and reduce production costs for advertising inserts such as scent strips and tear-out postcards. The magazine says any cost savings, though, will be offset by the inclusion of more pages and the shift to thicker, glossier paper.
Like other devoted readers, Eddie Ward, 35, said he will miss the old format, which was an inch taller and two inches wider. But he looks forward to the change and might even buy a ``more fashionable'' bag to carry his belongings.
``For years since I graduated from college, I have refused to buy a small messenger bag ... since it couldn't fit my Rolling Stone,'' said Ward, a publicist who lives in New York. ``I never wanted to crease the pages or put cracks in the cover.''
Rolling Stone chose Barack Obama, who is campaigning for president on a theme of change, for the cover of the Oct. 30 issue. By contrast, the last issue in the oversize format featured a cartoon of Obama's opponent, John McCain.
``Like the man we are featuring on the cover for the third time in seven months ... we embrace the idea of change,'' editor Jann S. Wenner wrote in the new issue. ``Not change for the sake of change, but change as evolution and growth and renewal, change as the kind of cultural renaissance that gave birth to Rolling Stone more than four decades ago.''
Magazines constantly undergo redesigns - The Atlantic, for instance, debuts new sections with its November issue out Tuesday. A few also have changed dimensions over the years, including TV Guide, which grew into a full-size format in 2005.
In fact, Rolling Stone has changed formats twice before. It first published in 1967 as a tabloid-size newspaper because that was all its budget covered. It began printing on a four-color press in 1973 and magazine-quality paper in 1981, when it also shrank to its just-abandoned 10-by-12-inch size and adopted the feel of a magazine-newspaper hybrid.
The switch to a standard format completes the magazine's transformation into, well, a magazine and comes as readers depend less on the printed pages for breaking news common in newspapers, said Anthony DeCurtis, a longtime writer for the magazine.
And size may not matter in the Internet era, though Rolling Stone says the Web site will remain supplemental to print, which has seen circulation stable since 2006 at about 1.45 million.
The decision to change officially came down to this: Why not?
``The size is a nostalgic element but not the iconic part of the magazine,'' publisher Will Schenck said in an interview. ``Evolution and change is part of our DNA.''
Will Dana, the magazine's managing editor, said the size change forced Rolling Stone to ``think a little differently ... (and) open our minds out a little more.'' He said editors can now squeeze in more content and better sprinkle longer stories with photos, though he insists the length and types of stories won't change.
Rolling Stone said it will add enough pages to each issue to offset the loss of space from switching to the smaller size. The 148 pages in the next issue, for instance, accommodate about as much material as 100 pages in the old size.
The smaller format lets the magazine run more full-page photos, however, because each now takes up less surface area. Comic strips and other elements also take less space, even though they are in the same proportion to the rest of the page. That opens the added pages to new content.
Likewise, full-page ads will take less space - though ad rates won't drop.
``It's like, should somebody pay more for a commercial on TV if it's a 50-inch screen or a 20-inch screen?'' Schenck said. ``We're really selling the relationship with readers, and the size of the ad is really irrelevant.''
This summer, Rolling Stone produced one issue in both formats and sent 3,000 copies of the smaller version to selected subscribers. The feedback was mostly positive - to the surprise of even many at Rolling Stone.
The new paper should make photographs shine more, and the smaller size will make it easier to carry and read. A glued rather than stapled binding should make ad inserts easier to produce.
The new size also will fit better on magazine racks and could help boost single-copy sales, which now account for only 8 percent of the magazine's circulation.
``We're expecting to get better placement,'' Schenck said. ``Right now because of the size, it tends to be placed on the floor.''
Ana Barbu, a student at Adelphi University near New York who regularly reads the magazine, said she hopes the change will expose the magazine to readers previously intimidated by seeing so much text on the larger pages.
``Switching the format to attract more readers is a logical decision that will continue Rolling Stone's tradition of revolutionizing society's way of thinking,'' Barbu said.
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Rolling Stone magazine is shrinking with the times.
After more than four decades of standing out with a larger format than other magazines, it will step back and look like everyone else starting with the Oct. 30 issue, due out this week.
The adoption of a standard format could boost single-copy sales and reduce production costs for advertising inserts such as scent strips and tear-out postcards. The magazine says any cost savings, though, will be offset by the inclusion of more pages and the shift to thicker, glossier paper.
Like other devoted readers, Eddie Ward, 35, said he will miss the old format, which was an inch taller and two inches wider. But he looks forward to the change and might even buy a ``more fashionable'' bag to carry his belongings.
``For years since I graduated from college, I have refused to buy a small messenger bag ... since it couldn't fit my Rolling Stone,'' said Ward, a publicist who lives in New York. ``I never wanted to crease the pages or put cracks in the cover.''
Rolling Stone chose Barack Obama, who is campaigning for president on a theme of change, for the cover of the Oct. 30 issue. By contrast, the last issue in the oversize format featured a cartoon of Obama's opponent, John McCain.
``Like the man we are featuring on the cover for the third time in seven months ... we embrace the idea of change,'' editor Jann S. Wenner wrote in the new issue. ``Not change for the sake of change, but change as evolution and growth and renewal, change as the kind of cultural renaissance that gave birth to Rolling Stone more than four decades ago.''
Magazines constantly undergo redesigns - The Atlantic, for instance, debuts new sections with its November issue out Tuesday. A few also have changed dimensions over the years, including TV Guide, which grew into a full-size format in 2005.
In fact, Rolling Stone has changed formats twice before. It first published in 1967 as a tabloid-size newspaper because that was all its budget covered. It began printing on a four-color press in 1973 and magazine-quality paper in 1981, when it also shrank to its just-abandoned 10-by-12-inch size and adopted the feel of a magazine-newspaper hybrid.
The switch to a standard format completes the magazine's transformation into, well, a magazine and comes as readers depend less on the printed pages for breaking news common in newspapers, said Anthony DeCurtis, a longtime writer for the magazine.
And size may not matter in the Internet era, though Rolling Stone says the Web site will remain supplemental to print, which has seen circulation stable since 2006 at about 1.45 million.
The decision to change officially came down to this: Why not?
``The size is a nostalgic element but not the iconic part of the magazine,'' publisher Will Schenck said in an interview. ``Evolution and change is part of our DNA.''
Will Dana, the magazine's managing editor, said the size change forced Rolling Stone to ``think a little differently ... (and) open our minds out a little more.'' He said editors can now squeeze in more content and better sprinkle longer stories with photos, though he insists the length and types of stories won't change.
Rolling Stone said it will add enough pages to each issue to offset the loss of space from switching to the smaller size. The 148 pages in the next issue, for instance, accommodate about as much material as 100 pages in the old size.
The smaller format lets the magazine run more full-page photos, however, because each now takes up less surface area. Comic strips and other elements also take less space, even though they are in the same proportion to the rest of the page. That opens the added pages to new content.
Likewise, full-page ads will take less space - though ad rates won't drop.
``It's like, should somebody pay more for a commercial on TV if it's a 50-inch screen or a 20-inch screen?'' Schenck said. ``We're really selling the relationship with readers, and the size of the ad is really irrelevant.''
This summer, Rolling Stone produced one issue in both formats and sent 3,000 copies of the smaller version to selected subscribers. The feedback was mostly positive - to the surprise of even many at Rolling Stone.
The new paper should make photographs shine more, and the smaller size will make it easier to carry and read. A glued rather than stapled binding should make ad inserts easier to produce.
The new size also will fit better on magazine racks and could help boost single-copy sales, which now account for only 8 percent of the magazine's circulation.
``We're expecting to get better placement,'' Schenck said. ``Right now because of the size, it tends to be placed on the floor.''
Ana Barbu, a student at Adelphi University near New York who regularly reads the magazine, said she hopes the change will expose the magazine to readers previously intimidated by seeing so much text on the larger pages.
``Switching the format to attract more readers is a logical decision that will continue Rolling Stone's tradition of revolutionizing society's way of thinking,'' Barbu said.
I'm Proud of You
I sent our last evening's guest a thank-you note, and here is part of his response. Good job!
"You are quite welcome. I actually enjoy speaking with students. Your class was the most engaged I have spoken to in a long time. They really had some great questions. I would be happy to take a look at any stories you might like to have published. Job shadowing also is no problem. I also had this thought: Seems to me Grace is taking its Journalism Department to a new level."
"You are quite welcome. I actually enjoy speaking with students. Your class was the most engaged I have spoken to in a long time. They really had some great questions. I would be happy to take a look at any stories you might like to have published. Job shadowing also is no problem. I also had this thought: Seems to me Grace is taking its Journalism Department to a new level."
Taylor Closing FW Campus, Writing Program
Here is a sad announcement made yesterday by the Taylor University administration. There's a really fine professional writing major at TUFW, run by my good friend Doc Hensley. I'd encourage you to pray for him and for all the affected students and faculty who will now be forced to adjust. These are excerpts, read the entire story by clicking here.
Taylor exits city campus - Losses in millions; Upland shift urged
Kelly Soderlund, The Journal Gazette
Taylor University will eliminate its undergraduate program in Fort Wayne as of May 31, the university’s president announced Monday, citing a poor business model and a “downward spiral” of enrollment as the chief causes.
Students are being encouraged to finish their degrees on Taylor’s Upland campus, nearly 60 miles from Fort Wayne. Taylor President Eugene Habecker said details are still being ironed out, and it’s unclear how many of the 120 faculty and staff in Fort Wayne will have jobs in Upland or what will happen to the 17 buildings on the local campus.
Some programs, yet to be determined, may be moved to the Upland campus. The consolidation will not affect the Fort Wayne-based master’s of business administration program, which is run out of the Northeast Innovation Center off campus; the online learning program; or the WBCL Radio Network.
Some tracks, such as criminal justice, a different professional writing program and financial planning, currently are offered only on the Fort Wayne campus.
Taylor exits city campus - Losses in millions; Upland shift urged
Kelly Soderlund, The Journal Gazette
Taylor University will eliminate its undergraduate program in Fort Wayne as of May 31, the university’s president announced Monday, citing a poor business model and a “downward spiral” of enrollment as the chief causes.
Students are being encouraged to finish their degrees on Taylor’s Upland campus, nearly 60 miles from Fort Wayne. Taylor President Eugene Habecker said details are still being ironed out, and it’s unclear how many of the 120 faculty and staff in Fort Wayne will have jobs in Upland or what will happen to the 17 buildings on the local campus.
Some programs, yet to be determined, may be moved to the Upland campus. The consolidation will not affect the Fort Wayne-based master’s of business administration program, which is run out of the Northeast Innovation Center off campus; the online learning program; or the WBCL Radio Network.
Some tracks, such as criminal justice, a different professional writing program and financial planning, currently are offered only on the Fort Wayne campus.
Brody on Journalism as a Witness
David Brody: Journalism excellence leads to witness
By David Roach
RSS: When Christian journalists offer intelligent insights about the stories they cover, they increase the likelihood people will want to hear what they have to say about Jesus, David Brody said Oct. 11 at the Excellence in Journalism Banquet in Nashville, Tenn.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--When Christian journalists offer intelligent insights about the stories they cover, they increase the likelihood people will want to hear what they have to say about Jesus, David Brody said Oct. 11 at the Excellence in Journalism Banquet in Nashville, Tenn.
The banquet -- the culminating event of the eighth-annual Baptist Press Collegiate Journalism Conference -- featured award presentations for students in the fields of print journalism, photojournalism, broadcasting, web design and yearbook.
Brody, the senior national correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network's CBN News, is a regular guest commentator on NBC, CNN and other television networks. His political blog, The Brody File, has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.
"If we can go ahead and say intelligent things on the air in a mainstream media network, then maybe they'll listen to our Jesus talk as well," Brody said. "And you never know how that's subconsciously going through, but I can tell you that you definitely get witnessing opportunities to shine your light in the mainstream media world."
Even in the midst of covering the 2008 presidential campaign, Brody's journalistic excellence opened doors to talk about salvation in Christ, he said. After discussing Barack Obama's faith recently, a CNN anchor asked him whether Jesus really changes lives.
In another instance, Brody wrote a blog entry on Todd Palin, the husband of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. He discussed Todd Palin's DUI conviction 22 years ago and in the process mentioned the Christian concepts of grace and redemption.
"The blog that I write is viewed by the mainstream networks, and it's an opportunity at that point to really talk to people about what it means to be saved and grace and redemption of Jesus Christ," he said. "I do that quite a bit on my blog. You don't hammer them over the head with it, but at the same time you don't want to miss opportunities either."
In addition to articulating a Christian worldview in their work, Christian journalists also must rely on God to sustain them and guide them, Brody said. He told how God has worked through prayer many times to land interviews and work out challenging details.
During the 2008 primary season, Brody worked for an entire year to get an interview with Hillary Clinton. The night before the scheduled interview, it was still uncertain whether Clinton would come, he said. But his producer spent an hour and a half in prayer, and Clinton showed up at the appointed time.
Prayer plays a major role when Brody appears on television, he said, telling students how he prays before going on the air.
"I'm not the most articulate guy in the world, but when I get on the air, by the grace of God, He's able to allow me to go ahead and really just express what needs to be said," Brody said. "But it doesn't happen because I just go up and do it. It happens because I pray about it first."
Sometimes Brody has been in a hurry before going on the air and failed to pray. On those occasions, God reminded him that no journalism can be successful without divine enabling, he said.
"There were a few times where I was in a rush and I did not pray," he said. "I just did not pray. And I fumbled my words, I jumbled everything on the air, and I was like, 'OK God, You're telling me something.'"
Successful journalism involves more than just prayer though, Brody said. Hard work and aggression are essential components as well, he said.
"Go after it hard," he said. "Be very, very aggressive. I can't tell you this enough. ... You need to make multiple phone calls a day to get your source to talk. You need to make sure that you are constantly really going after the story. Don't ever let up."
Brody has interviewed Obama four times, he said, but it took many conversations and lunch appointments with Obama's staff to convince them he would benefit from appearing on CBN. Before each meeting, Brody worked hard to gather facts in support of his arguments, he said.
Another part of working hard in journalism is gaining a broad knowledge of many subjects and bringing that knowledge to bear upon some niche in life, he said.
"Make sure you really find your niche, and make sure you know what you are passionate about," he said.
By combining reliance on God and hard work, Christian journalists have an opportunity to change the world, Brody said. He noted that Christian journalists should never feel alone in their work because God is at work all around them.
"Remember that God is involved in everything we do at all times," he said. "Hopefully you can all remember that."
--30--
David Roach is pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Ky., and a Ph.D. candidate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.
Friday, October 10, 2008
What is the Duty of the Christian Writer?
From the Worldmagblog of Harrison Scott Key. Do you agree or disagree with him?
What is the duty of the Christian writer?
by Harrison Scott Key - October 10
This question is both important, and rather impossible to answer in any absolute way. On one hand, the Christian writer (and by that, I mean to speak about those who write imaginative literature: personal essays, novels, short stories, poems, plays) has the same responsibility as any writer: to write well.
But on the other hand, the Christian writer, if he has been paying attention during the last two or three decades, has a certain burden to build in some kind of Christian apologetic into his work.
I’m not saying this is right or good; I’m just saying that in the Culture Wars, the Church has – sometimes passively, sometimes actively – enlisted Christian writers with this task.
“You’re writing novels! They should be Christian novels!”
“You’re writing screenplays! They should undo the damage of a thousand depraved screenplays!”
“Flannery O’Conner and C.S. Lewis wrote books that had something to do with Jesus! So should you!”
These kinds of entreaties and enlistments can really burden the young writer with far too much to think about. Writing good stories is hard enough. Writing good stories with built-in apologetics is nigh impossible.
The best answer for the Christian writer, then, is to look at other writers who were Christians: O’Connor, Lewis, Walker Percy, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, George Herbert, John Donne, Tolstoy (depending on who you ask), and especially Dostoevsky.
There are, of course, a thousand other famous Christian writers, but we don’t know who they are, because they were kind enough not to write about their faith too much and instead focus on good stories. But Dostoevsky hid nothing in this regard, as critic A.N. Wilson points out:
[T]he better Western novelists have tended to fight clear of theology. Their works might contain a religious element, but they are not vehicles, as Dostoevsky’s great novels are, for the presentation of raw metaphysical debate. It simply is not possible to read The Brothers Karamazov without becoming engaged with the God questions: Does he exist? If he exists, how can the suffering of a child even be thinkable? Is there an alternative to the seductive, and ultimately blasphemous allure of the Grand Inquisitor’s creation of a religion which offers mystery and authority?
Wilson continues:
Is the novel the most Christian fictional work ever written, or the most damning indictment of religious faith, from which in fact no “realist” account of religious belief could ever be extrapolated? Or is it neither? Is it a book which enables the reader to wrestle with these questions, unshackled either by obedience to a tightly defined religious system, or by that equally limiting worship of science which the nineteenth century erected as a substitute?
That novel, and Dostoevsky’s other novels, are about as far as one can get from the Left Behind series without actually leaving the bookstore. Dostoevsky gives no easy answers to these questions, and as such, everyone (pagans and Christians alike) walks away with more to think about. Pagans leave this novel having read about a devout believer who is not unlikable. Christians leave this novel having read about a devout pagan who is not unlikable.
Sounds like real life to me. And that’s what Christian writers should be writing about, after all.
What is the duty of the Christian writer?
by Harrison Scott Key - October 10
This question is both important, and rather impossible to answer in any absolute way. On one hand, the Christian writer (and by that, I mean to speak about those who write imaginative literature: personal essays, novels, short stories, poems, plays) has the same responsibility as any writer: to write well.
But on the other hand, the Christian writer, if he has been paying attention during the last two or three decades, has a certain burden to build in some kind of Christian apologetic into his work.
I’m not saying this is right or good; I’m just saying that in the Culture Wars, the Church has – sometimes passively, sometimes actively – enlisted Christian writers with this task.
“You’re writing novels! They should be Christian novels!”
“You’re writing screenplays! They should undo the damage of a thousand depraved screenplays!”
“Flannery O’Conner and C.S. Lewis wrote books that had something to do with Jesus! So should you!”
These kinds of entreaties and enlistments can really burden the young writer with far too much to think about. Writing good stories is hard enough. Writing good stories with built-in apologetics is nigh impossible.
The best answer for the Christian writer, then, is to look at other writers who were Christians: O’Connor, Lewis, Walker Percy, Evelyn Waugh, T.S. Eliot, George Herbert, John Donne, Tolstoy (depending on who you ask), and especially Dostoevsky.
There are, of course, a thousand other famous Christian writers, but we don’t know who they are, because they were kind enough not to write about their faith too much and instead focus on good stories. But Dostoevsky hid nothing in this regard, as critic A.N. Wilson points out:
[T]he better Western novelists have tended to fight clear of theology. Their works might contain a religious element, but they are not vehicles, as Dostoevsky’s great novels are, for the presentation of raw metaphysical debate. It simply is not possible to read The Brothers Karamazov without becoming engaged with the God questions: Does he exist? If he exists, how can the suffering of a child even be thinkable? Is there an alternative to the seductive, and ultimately blasphemous allure of the Grand Inquisitor’s creation of a religion which offers mystery and authority?
Wilson continues:
Is the novel the most Christian fictional work ever written, or the most damning indictment of religious faith, from which in fact no “realist” account of religious belief could ever be extrapolated? Or is it neither? Is it a book which enables the reader to wrestle with these questions, unshackled either by obedience to a tightly defined religious system, or by that equally limiting worship of science which the nineteenth century erected as a substitute?
That novel, and Dostoevsky’s other novels, are about as far as one can get from the Left Behind series without actually leaving the bookstore. Dostoevsky gives no easy answers to these questions, and as such, everyone (pagans and Christians alike) walks away with more to think about. Pagans leave this novel having read about a devout believer who is not unlikable. Christians leave this novel having read about a devout pagan who is not unlikable.
Sounds like real life to me. And that’s what Christian writers should be writing about, after all.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Can Time Magazine Explain/Understand Bible-Believers?
Here is a really interesting example from a major news organ (Time magazine) that relates to the issue we've been discussing regarding whether journalists for secular news media have the depth of understanding and proper vocabulary to accurately report a story that gets so far into the specifics of evangelicalism and its various iterations. I would be interested in your reactions. This is a short excerpt--the entire article may be read by clicking here.
Does Sarah Palin Have a Pentecostal Problem?
By AMY SULLIVAN Thursday, Oct. 09, 2008
If conservative columnist William Kristol is to be believed, Sarah Palin is surprised that her own campaign hasn't made a bigger deal out of the controversial remarks of Barack Obama's former pastor. The relationship between Obama and Jeremiah Wright is, according to Palin, fair game in the presidential campaign because it goes to the question of the Democratic candidate's character. "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more," Kristol, writing in the New York Times, quoted Palin as telling him.
McCain campaign aides could probably answer that question for Palin. The ink on Kristol's column had barely dried before they were on the phone to political reporters declaring that the GOP nominee had long believed it would be inappropriate to raise the Wright issue. But McCain's current sensitivity is much more related to his running mate's own pastor problems than to any newfound campaign honor code.
Palin's religious background initially was surely seen as a positive by McCain campaign vetters, who assumed that her faith would appeal to the conservative base of the party that has always been suspicious of McCain.
But ever since she joined the ticket in late August, the Alaska Governor's various religious affiliations have caused headaches. First came reports that her pastor at the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church was connected to Jews for Jesus, an organization that seeks to convert Jews to Christianity. Prominent Jewish leaders, including the co-chair of McCain's Jewish outreach effort, have since demanded to know whether Palin also believes that Jews must be converted. The Bible Church became an issue again when Katie Couric asked her about the church's promotion of a program to help gays "overcome" their homosexuality.
And finally a videotape surfaced of a 2005 service at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church, the Pentecostal church that Palin attended for most of her life. In the scene captured on video, Palin stands at the front of the sanctuary while a visiting African pastor prays that God will help her gubernatorial campaign and protect her "from every form of witchcraft." Later in the same service, the pastor complains that "Israelites" held too many prominent positions in business, a comment that has further alienated Jewish voters.
While the McCain campaign has promoted Palin to religious conservatives as a woman of "strong faith," they have gone to unusual lengths to avoid providing a picture of that faith. In fact, a Palin spokeswoman says the Alaska governor is "not a Pentecostal," and points out that Palin was baptized as a child as a Roman Catholic, although there is no record that her family attended Catholic services before joining the Pentecostal church where she became saved at age 11. The candidate does not even claim the evangelical label, using instead the code phrase "Bible-believing Christian" to describe herself. Palin's official biography on the McCain campaign website makes no mention of her religious affiliation.
See Any Problem Here?
From my hometown newspaper in Pennsylvania:
Church celebrates 20th anniversary
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Dayton Glade Run Presbyterian Church has been celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.
Special events for the celebration included a Prayer and Praise Service; Heritage Sunday; Pioneer Meal; Memory Night; a 200-scoop, ice cream sundae event; and a church float for the local firemen's parade.
Festivities will conclude with a Homecoming Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
Church celebrates 20th anniversary
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Dayton Glade Run Presbyterian Church has been celebrating its 200th anniversary this year.
Special events for the celebration included a Prayer and Praise Service; Heritage Sunday; Pioneer Meal; Memory Night; a 200-scoop, ice cream sundae event; and a church float for the local firemen's parade.
Festivities will conclude with a Homecoming Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
Cleveland Newspaper Cuts Back Journalist Staff
From Editor & Publisher:
Cleveland 'P-D' Cutting 38 More Union Journos
By E&P Staff - Published: October 08, 2008 10:00 AM ET
CHICAGO The Plain Dealer in Cleveland is looking to lop 38 more jobs from the unionized newsroom, and is giving journalists until Nov. 20 to decide whether they want to jump.
If enough employees do not volunteer, P-D Editor Susan Goldberg told the staff, the paper will impose layoffs. The number of resignations the P-D is looking for amounts to about 16% of the 238 newsroom employees represented by the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild.
The P-D is offering severance of two week's pay for each year of service -- but no health care benefits.
Goldberg said if necessary layoffs will follow the Guild contract criteria, which include length of service, but also, according to the P-D account "job performance, special skills or abilities, (and) adaptability to future work assignments."
"This is a tough decision," President and Publisher Terry Egger told union members in a meeting Tuesday. "But the end result of what we're trying to do is keep the newspaper strong and able to serve the community for a long time." The meeting was reported late Tuesday on the P-D's Web site by Sarah Hollander.
Egger told the staff that the paper is turning a small profit, but much less than the Newhouse family-owned paper expected, Hollander reported.
This latest round of reductions comes just as the P-D has completed a buyout offer extended to nearly all non-union employees. That package included six to 18 months' pay plus health care benefits.
Egger said 10 non-union newsroom employees had taken the offer, but he declined to give a number for the entire newspaper.
At another Newhouse-owned paper, the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., executives have said the daily will be sold or shut down unless about 200 non-union employees resign and its unions agree to concessions. It appeared Wednesday the paper was close to meeting its demands.
Cleveland 'P-D' Cutting 38 More Union Journos
By E&P Staff - Published: October 08, 2008 10:00 AM ET
CHICAGO The Plain Dealer in Cleveland is looking to lop 38 more jobs from the unionized newsroom, and is giving journalists until Nov. 20 to decide whether they want to jump.
If enough employees do not volunteer, P-D Editor Susan Goldberg told the staff, the paper will impose layoffs. The number of resignations the P-D is looking for amounts to about 16% of the 238 newsroom employees represented by the Northeast Ohio Newspaper Guild.
The P-D is offering severance of two week's pay for each year of service -- but no health care benefits.
Goldberg said if necessary layoffs will follow the Guild contract criteria, which include length of service, but also, according to the P-D account "job performance, special skills or abilities, (and) adaptability to future work assignments."
"This is a tough decision," President and Publisher Terry Egger told union members in a meeting Tuesday. "But the end result of what we're trying to do is keep the newspaper strong and able to serve the community for a long time." The meeting was reported late Tuesday on the P-D's Web site by Sarah Hollander.
Egger told the staff that the paper is turning a small profit, but much less than the Newhouse family-owned paper expected, Hollander reported.
This latest round of reductions comes just as the P-D has completed a buyout offer extended to nearly all non-union employees. That package included six to 18 months' pay plus health care benefits.
Egger said 10 non-union newsroom employees had taken the offer, but he declined to give a number for the entire newspaper.
At another Newhouse-owned paper, the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., executives have said the daily will be sold or shut down unless about 200 non-union employees resign and its unions agree to concessions. It appeared Wednesday the paper was close to meeting its demands.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sample Personality Profile/Feature
Several have asked for a model of a personality feature, so I'm posting here one which I just wrote for the next issue of FGBC World. It's about 640 words long.
Griffiths and Molliards to Initiate a New Ministry in France
After 40 years in the printing business as employee, manager, owner, and CEO, Michel Molliard is embarking on a new venture with Grace Brethren missionaries Dave and Sue Griffith to expand God’s work through the Grace Brethren in France.
Molliard, 59, retired in 2007 from his business, and is now serving his second two-year term as president of the Union of French Grace Brethren Churches, which he helped co-found in 1985. He and his wife, Dominique, have been married for 34 years and are parents of four young adults, the youngest of which is 21.
Molliard became a believer in Jesus Christ at age 30. He says he was going through an “existential depression” and went to a doctor for a prescription. The doctor, who was a believer, treated him, but also witnessed to his faith.
The doctor’s wife, who was in the habit of inviting CEOs of local businesses for dinner, invited Molliard and his family to dinner, and also invited an evangelist, who gave a presentation of the gospel. About three months later, Molliard committed his life to Christ.
As a new believer, he knew he needed to learn more about the Bible. Shortly thereafter he met Grace Brethren International Missions’ Kent Good. “I want to be trained to serve God and to be an evangelist,” he told Good.
Good could hardly believe his ears. He had been praying for a year for someone to train. “You are the answer,” he told the burly French businessman.
So Molliard became part of a group that was trained in the Bible and mission at the Chateau St. Alban. Missionaries Tom Julien and Kent Good were directing a four-year training program at the time. Molliard committed to the training, completed it, and became an elder in the Grace Brethren church at Chalon in 1983. Several years later he helped co-found the Union of French Grace Brethren churches.
Dave and Sue Griffith relocated this summer to the town of Tournus, just north of the Chateau St. Albain, where they and the Molliards will join together to initiate a new ministry.
There are currently six established Grace Brethren churches in France. Dijon is in the north and Lyon is in the south. In between, clustered around the chateau, are four smaller churches.
The Griffiths and the Molliards were seeking God about the best place to launch a new ministry that would enable those four churches to pool their resources, share talent, and join together in a renewed evangelism and outreach effort.
They went to three towns, praying on each site. All four individuals agreed that Tournus should be the place. So they made a recommendation which was submitted to the French ministerium and also to GBIM, as represented by GBIM regional director Paul Klawitter.
The French ministerium includes 17 elders who meet once a quarter. In addition, they have an annual congress of churches, which is held annually on Ascension Day in May at the chateau and is attended by about 200 people.
How can Grace Brethren churches and people pray for this new effort in France?
Molliard asks for prayer that his family and the Griffiths be effective as a team, with good personal chemistry. In addition, they ask for wisdom in developing momentum for evangelism among the French churches in the region, as part of their goal is to help mobilize existing Christians. They also desire to help reinvigorate the chateau ministry and the four churches around it.
Florent Varak, pastor of the Lyon church, explains that the chateau will welcome a Word of Life team this fall so the chateau may be used as an evangelistic base for youth ministry. The projected plan is to hold yearly camps in the month of August.
“We need humble hearts and a willingness to cooperate,” says Molliard. “We all want to see this.”
-30-
Sunday, October 5, 2008
October 13 Writing Assignment
Here, once again, is the writing assignment for Monday, October 13:
Writing Assignment for Monday, October 13 (due at beginning of class period)
You’re to write a personality feature article suitable for publication in either:
a. a campus newspaper
b. the local newspaper (Warsaw Times-Union)
c. a hometown newspaper (such as the hometown paper of your subject)
Minimum 700 words, maximum 1,000
Use news style, but because it’s a personality feature story, you can loosen up a bit on issues like the inverted pyramid and the style of lead. Still no personal opinion, and use multiple sources (single-interview stories are thin).
If you are able to shoot several photos of the subject while interviewing them, please do so. If we get some stories I feel are worthy of it, I’ll suggest submitting them for publication.
Who on campus or in the local community would make a good profile subject? Here are some suggestions from the author of your text:
A star athlete, especially what the person does off the field or court
The college/university president
An urban student coming to a rural university (or vice versa)
Students who work and attend school
Students who are married or have children
Skydivers or students who partake in unusual hobbies
People you don’t see or pay too much attention to (cafeteria cooks, groundskeepers, custodians, etc.)
A security officer
An average freshman
A coach
A student with a disability or the person who cares for that student
Our guest in class on October 13 will be Gary Gerard, the editor of the Warsaw Times-Union. As you read the text assignment for this coming week (pp. 102-110), please be thinking of questions to ask Mr. Gerard about how the local newspaper covers beats, police stories, obituaries, fires/disasters and local features.
Writing Assignment for Monday, October 13 (due at beginning of class period)
You’re to write a personality feature article suitable for publication in either:
a. a campus newspaper
b. the local newspaper (Warsaw Times-Union)
c. a hometown newspaper (such as the hometown paper of your subject)
Minimum 700 words, maximum 1,000
Use news style, but because it’s a personality feature story, you can loosen up a bit on issues like the inverted pyramid and the style of lead. Still no personal opinion, and use multiple sources (single-interview stories are thin).
If you are able to shoot several photos of the subject while interviewing them, please do so. If we get some stories I feel are worthy of it, I’ll suggest submitting them for publication.
Who on campus or in the local community would make a good profile subject? Here are some suggestions from the author of your text:
A star athlete, especially what the person does off the field or court
The college/university president
An urban student coming to a rural university (or vice versa)
Students who work and attend school
Students who are married or have children
Skydivers or students who partake in unusual hobbies
People you don’t see or pay too much attention to (cafeteria cooks, groundskeepers, custodians, etc.)
A security officer
An average freshman
A coach
A student with a disability or the person who cares for that student
Our guest in class on October 13 will be Gary Gerard, the editor of the Warsaw Times-Union. As you read the text assignment for this coming week (pp. 102-110), please be thinking of questions to ask Mr. Gerard about how the local newspaper covers beats, police stories, obituaries, fires/disasters and local features.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
'Word from the Springs' on Portal
I've posted the October issue of "Word from the Springs," the newsletter from Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild on the portal.
I've posted it because I think there are several articles that will really be of interest to writers--one is Dennis Hensley's article about subject close to home (in this case, Fort Wayne), and also I think you'll find the "books I'm reading" section from some of the mentors to be of interest.
It's a pdf file. Enjoy!
I've posted it because I think there are several articles that will really be of interest to writers--one is Dennis Hensley's article about subject close to home (in this case, Fort Wayne), and also I think you'll find the "books I'm reading" section from some of the mentors to be of interest.
It's a pdf file. Enjoy!
Zondervan Launches Interesting Pseudo-Event
One of the world's largest Bible publishers is enlisting the help of over 31,000 Americans to publish their next edition of the Bible.
A team of four will drive the 42-foot luxury motorhome, donated by Spartan Motors, more than 15,000-miles across the country over the next five months. Zondervan's Bible Across America tour will stop in 90 cities to allow over 31,000 Americans to handwrite a verse in their next NIV Bible edition.Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the popular New International Version translation, Zondervan is traveling to 90 cities in 44 states to allow the American people to write a verse in the new NIV Bible.
The ambitious Bible Across America tour kicked off Tuesday from Zondervan headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich., and will make stops at special events, churches, universities, retail stores and U.S. landmarks. The tour takes shape in the form of a 42-foot luxury motorhome, donated by Spartan Motors, which will be driven more than 15,000 miles by a team of four over the next five months.
"The Bible is America's favorite book of all time. And because of its accuracy, clarity and literary quality, the NIV has become the most successful Bible translation of all time," said Moe Girkins, president and CEO of Zondervan, in a released statement. "We believe that a completely handwritten version of the NIV Bible by people from all across our country will help America rediscover the Bible in a fresh, new way."
"The Bible Across America is a symbol of Zondervan's commitment to make the Word of God more accessible and more relevant to more people," he continued. "We couldn't think of a better way to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the NIV Bible than by inviting Americans to join us on this monumental tour and open more hearts to the Word of God."
According to Zondervan, more people use an NIV Bible than any other English-language translation and there are more than 300 million copies in print worldwide.
The collection of handwritten verses, each written by 31,173 contributors on actual thin-stock Bible paper, will be published as a complete America's NIV Bible and sold in stores nationwide next year. While most verses will be written by regular American people, Zondervan hopes to collect a few from President Bush, the Rev. Billy Graham and others, according to The Associated Press.
The Michigan-based publisher plans to create two original editions, one of which will be offered to the Smithsonian Institution. The other edition will be auctioned off to benefit the International Bible Society, which owns the copyright to the NIV.
The tour stops in Detroit on Wednesday and will conclude in San Diego on Feb. 12, 2009.
On the Web: www.bibleacrossamerica.com
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