The newspaper industry had another bad year in 2010. Overall, circulation for newspapers in the U.S. declined 5 percent during the six months ended Sept. 30, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ Fas-Fax, the industry’s semi-annual scorecard.
Just one American newspaper — the Wall Street Journal — managed to increase its
circulation during that period — up 1.82 percent. Some papers, like the
San Francisco Chronicle (11.2 percent), saw its paid circulation take a double-digit tumble.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
A Word for Discouraged Writers
Are you a discouraged writer? Take heart and be encouraged from this glimpse into the life of novelist Mary Higgins Clark, who has now sold 80 million copies in the U.S., and millions more around the world.
She grew up in the Bronx during the Depression, the daughter of Irish immigrants who ran a pub.
She worked a secretary, then as a flight attendant for Pan Am, married at age 22, and had a child nine months later. She would have four more children in the next eight years. Then her husband died. To make ends meet, she wrote four-minute-long radio scripts for a show called Portrait of a Patriot.
But in the early mornings, before her kids woke up, she sat at the typewriter and wrote short stories — her true passion. She sent them off to magazines, and she got back dozens of rejection slips. One read: "Mrs. Clark, your stories are light, slight, and trite." Another slip said: "We found the heroine as boring as her husband had."
While she was still writing radio scripts she decided to try writing a novel, a historical one about George Washington. It was published, she said, and then "remaindered as it came off the press."
A group of her radio co-workers went out to lunch and she pointed out her book in a Manhattan bookstore window. When they came back from lunch, the book was not there any more. She insisted that it must have been snapped up. But when they passed by the store again at the end of the workday, the book was there in the window again. She went inside to ask about it, and the bookstore employee told her: "Whoever bought it returned it."
But she was highly encouraged by the fact that she had been published at all, and she decided to try writing a suspense novel inspired by the time that her three-year-old child had gone missing briefly near a deep lake. In 1974, she sold it to a publisher for a modest $3000. Three months later, she found out the paperback rights to the book had sold for $100,000.
Her second suspense novel sold for $1.5 million, and soon she was being paid $12 million per story. Each one of her suspense novels has been a best-seller.
She grew up in the Bronx during the Depression, the daughter of Irish immigrants who ran a pub.
She worked a secretary, then as a flight attendant for Pan Am, married at age 22, and had a child nine months later. She would have four more children in the next eight years. Then her husband died. To make ends meet, she wrote four-minute-long radio scripts for a show called Portrait of a Patriot.
But in the early mornings, before her kids woke up, she sat at the typewriter and wrote short stories — her true passion. She sent them off to magazines, and she got back dozens of rejection slips. One read: "Mrs. Clark, your stories are light, slight, and trite." Another slip said: "We found the heroine as boring as her husband had."
While she was still writing radio scripts she decided to try writing a novel, a historical one about George Washington. It was published, she said, and then "remaindered as it came off the press."
A group of her radio co-workers went out to lunch and she pointed out her book in a Manhattan bookstore window. When they came back from lunch, the book was not there any more. She insisted that it must have been snapped up. But when they passed by the store again at the end of the workday, the book was there in the window again. She went inside to ask about it, and the bookstore employee told her: "Whoever bought it returned it."
But she was highly encouraged by the fact that she had been published at all, and she decided to try writing a suspense novel inspired by the time that her three-year-old child had gone missing briefly near a deep lake. In 1974, she sold it to a publisher for a modest $3000. Three months later, she found out the paperback rights to the book had sold for $100,000.
Her second suspense novel sold for $1.5 million, and soon she was being paid $12 million per story. Each one of her suspense novels has been a best-seller.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
PR Agency Project Coordinator Position Posting
Here is a current job opening posted at the DeMoss Group (public relations agency) in Atlanta. I post it just to give you insight as to the skills needed, and potential duties of a position with an agency.
Project Coordinator
Position Description:
Assist the project manager in the implementation and management of projects, schedules, creative production and distribution for public/media relations, marketing and administrative campaigns.
Key Responsibilities:
* Project Coordination: Maintain a master calendar for all projects requiring distribution, printing, compilation, mailing and creative development, as well as keep projects on schedule.
* Quality Control: Proofread all materials for grammar and spelling errors, applying extensive knowledge of the Associated Press Stylebook; modify Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents for formatting and content consistency.
* Computer Knowledge: Possess a high proficiency in multiple software applications including, but not limited to, Web-based applications, Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a working knowledge of the programs Visio and Photoshop is beneficial.
* Website Newsroom Maintenance: Update and maintain online client newsrooms through the web-based application Expression Engine.
* Production: Complete general production tasks, including copying, collating and assembling press kits, notebooks and reports.
* Systematization: Organize and maintain client stock media materials and collateral, archived projects, production supplies, etc.
* Clipping Management: Procure, lay out and maintain media clips, including press kit articles and clipping packets.
* Record Keeping: Assist with producing and filing information regarding completed projects.
Core Proficiencies:
* College degree (preferred)
* Ability to manage multiple projects and demanding deadlines
* Excellent grammar and proofreading skills
* Computer expertise
* Aptitude for learning new software packages and web applications easily
Project Coordinator
Position Description:
Assist the project manager in the implementation and management of projects, schedules, creative production and distribution for public/media relations, marketing and administrative campaigns.
Key Responsibilities:
* Project Coordination: Maintain a master calendar for all projects requiring distribution, printing, compilation, mailing and creative development, as well as keep projects on schedule.
* Quality Control: Proofread all materials for grammar and spelling errors, applying extensive knowledge of the Associated Press Stylebook; modify Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents for formatting and content consistency.
* Computer Knowledge: Possess a high proficiency in multiple software applications including, but not limited to, Web-based applications, Word, Excel and PowerPoint; a working knowledge of the programs Visio and Photoshop is beneficial.
* Website Newsroom Maintenance: Update and maintain online client newsrooms through the web-based application Expression Engine.
* Production: Complete general production tasks, including copying, collating and assembling press kits, notebooks and reports.
* Systematization: Organize and maintain client stock media materials and collateral, archived projects, production supplies, etc.
* Clipping Management: Procure, lay out and maintain media clips, including press kit articles and clipping packets.
* Record Keeping: Assist with producing and filing information regarding completed projects.
Core Proficiencies:
* College degree (preferred)
* Ability to manage multiple projects and demanding deadlines
* Excellent grammar and proofreading skills
* Computer expertise
* Aptitude for learning new software packages and web applications easily
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Is Internship the New Entry-Level Job?
This is an excerpt from a CNN posting entitled "Is an Internship the New Entry-Level Job?" To read the entire article, click here.
(CNN) -- Ani Kevork has interned at seven companies since she graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2009. She's trying to get a full-time job, but there's just nothing out there.
"It wasn't really a choice," she said. "It's just the reality of the job market today."
No. 7 proved lucky for Kevork in that her current internship at a film studio in London is paid, unlike her six previous internships. Still, she has no benefits, no job security and no idea where she'll be in a few weeks.
Kevork and two of her former classmates started a blog, The Eternal Intern, about the struggles of the current job market for other college grads with the same plights.
"I want to do what I studied, and I don't want to settle," she said. "I'm still applying for full-time positions, but I don't see that happening anytime soon for me."
Like Kevork, a growing number of college graduates are forced into internships after graduation because of the lack of entry-level jobs. For now, it's important to take those internships, said Phil Gardner, director of Michigan State University's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.
"In this environment, if a young person gets an internship, I'd tell him to take it," Gardner said. "Not because he needs another internship, but because he needs to stay engaged in the labor market so that when jobs open, he can switch to a full-time position.
"You can't go home and sit and whine and wait for something to happen. This is one way to be proactive."
(CNN) -- Ani Kevork has interned at seven companies since she graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 2009. She's trying to get a full-time job, but there's just nothing out there.
"It wasn't really a choice," she said. "It's just the reality of the job market today."
No. 7 proved lucky for Kevork in that her current internship at a film studio in London is paid, unlike her six previous internships. Still, she has no benefits, no job security and no idea where she'll be in a few weeks.
Kevork and two of her former classmates started a blog, The Eternal Intern, about the struggles of the current job market for other college grads with the same plights.
"I want to do what I studied, and I don't want to settle," she said. "I'm still applying for full-time positions, but I don't see that happening anytime soon for me."
Like Kevork, a growing number of college graduates are forced into internships after graduation because of the lack of entry-level jobs. For now, it's important to take those internships, said Phil Gardner, director of Michigan State University's Collegiate Employment Research Institute.
"In this environment, if a young person gets an internship, I'd tell him to take it," Gardner said. "Not because he needs another internship, but because he needs to stay engaged in the labor market so that when jobs open, he can switch to a full-time position.
"You can't go home and sit and whine and wait for something to happen. This is one way to be proactive."
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Memoirs of an Airport 'Writer in Residence'
Here is an excerpt from an article on a 'writer in residence' who lived for a time and wrote in London's Heathrow airport. To read the entire article, click here.
(CNN) -- The man at a check-in counter at London's Heathrow Airport lost it.
He had just made a frantic sprint to catch his flight to Tokyo, Japan, only to be told he was too late to board. So he banged his fists on the counter and let out a primal scream so loud that he could be heard at the other end of the terminal.
Alain de Botton was watching it all unfold -- one of the many human dramas he observed as Heathrow's first "writer-in-residence." The job required him to do what many travelers would dread: Spend a week at the airport.
Last year, at the invitation of the company that owns Heathrow, de Botton set up a desk in the departures hall of Terminal 5 (perhaps best known to many travelers for its massive baggage handling problems when it opened in 2008) and took in the sights of what he calls "the imaginative center of contemporary culture."
He also visited the factory where workers assemble thousands of airline meals every day, watched air traffic controllers follow the path of planes on a giant map "like parents worrying about their children" and contemplated the poetry of a room-service menu at his airport hotel, where the roar of a plane taking off once prompted a waiter to shout, "God help us!"
De Botton, a Swiss-born writer who lives in London, chronicles his experiences in "A Week at the Airport," an elegantly slim and funny book recently released in the United States.
Virgin Releases IPad-Only Magazine Project
Virgin Releases IPad-only Magazine, Project
By David Dahlquist, Macworld
At a New York City press conference on Tuesday, Virgin CEO Richard Branson and his editorial team from customer engagement agency Seven Squared showed off Virgin's new digital publication for iPad, Project.
Branson bills the publication as the "first truly digital magazine for creative people, by creative people." Its editorial sections will focus on technology, entrepreneurs, design, and entertainment, and will profile influential people in these fields.
Branson noted that the focus of the magazine will be on people who are important to their fields, rather than on celebrities and big name stars. Though, with Jeff Bridges adorning the first issue's cover, it's clear they've made room for marquee names as well.
Project's editor in chief, Anthony Noguera, said he believes the iPad is "the most exciting thing to happen in generations" for media; he describes Project as "an agenda-setting magazine that spotlights the people who are changing the world in large and small ways."
During the press conference, Noguera gave a live demonstration of the app. The "cover" of the magazine closely resembles a print magazine, but from that point on, the differences quickly become apparent. The publication takes full advantage of the iPad's gesture-based controls, and was clearly designed to maximize reader interaction.
You can take a virtual tour through Tokyo, led by five prominent city residents; you can view high-resolution photos of the new Jaguar concept car--and even listen to the sound of its engine purring; touch a picture of Jeff Bridges, and watch him come to life. This is what the future of print media should look like.
Project will also make heavy use of crowdsourcing and user-generated content for its stories--a contest to develop next month's cover design is already underway.
By completely abandoning print media in favor of a digital medium, Project will be free of the constraints of typical magazines--an advantage Branson clearly plans to build on. All content can be custom-tailored to capitalize on the iPad's interactive abilities. Even the advertisements will be designed to be as engaging as possible--something entrepreneur Branson is especially excited about.
The Project app is free, but each month's issue will cost $3 as an in-app purchase. Unlike traditional magazines, however, the content of each issue will evolve throughout the month, with updates made on a regular basis. The first issue, featuring Tron: Legacy actor Jeff Bridges, is available now.
By David Dahlquist, Macworld
At a New York City press conference on Tuesday, Virgin CEO Richard Branson and his editorial team from customer engagement agency Seven Squared showed off Virgin's new digital publication for iPad, Project.
Branson bills the publication as the "first truly digital magazine for creative people, by creative people." Its editorial sections will focus on technology, entrepreneurs, design, and entertainment, and will profile influential people in these fields.
Branson noted that the focus of the magazine will be on people who are important to their fields, rather than on celebrities and big name stars. Though, with Jeff Bridges adorning the first issue's cover, it's clear they've made room for marquee names as well.
Project's editor in chief, Anthony Noguera, said he believes the iPad is "the most exciting thing to happen in generations" for media; he describes Project as "an agenda-setting magazine that spotlights the people who are changing the world in large and small ways."
During the press conference, Noguera gave a live demonstration of the app. The "cover" of the magazine closely resembles a print magazine, but from that point on, the differences quickly become apparent. The publication takes full advantage of the iPad's gesture-based controls, and was clearly designed to maximize reader interaction.
You can take a virtual tour through Tokyo, led by five prominent city residents; you can view high-resolution photos of the new Jaguar concept car--and even listen to the sound of its engine purring; touch a picture of Jeff Bridges, and watch him come to life. This is what the future of print media should look like.
Project will also make heavy use of crowdsourcing and user-generated content for its stories--a contest to develop next month's cover design is already underway.
By completely abandoning print media in favor of a digital medium, Project will be free of the constraints of typical magazines--an advantage Branson clearly plans to build on. All content can be custom-tailored to capitalize on the iPad's interactive abilities. Even the advertisements will be designed to be as engaging as possible--something entrepreneur Branson is especially excited about.
The Project app is free, but each month's issue will cost $3 as an in-app purchase. Unlike traditional magazines, however, the content of each issue will evolve throughout the month, with updates made on a regular basis. The first issue, featuring Tron: Legacy actor Jeff Bridges, is available now.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Three Great Writers Born on This Day
It's the birthday of Louisa May Alcott, born in Germantown, Pennsylvania (1832). She's the author of Little Women (1868), a book that over the last century has been adapted into numerous stage plays, an opera, a Broadway musical, several Japanese anime films, and about a dozen Hollywood movies — including movies starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst, and Claire Danes.
And this 1868 children's book inspired the novel that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize: Geraldine Brooks's March (2005), which is a retelling of Little Women, this time narrated by the girls' absent father. And in 2008, a dual biography of Louisa May Alcott and her dad won the Pulitzer Prize for biography. That book: John Matteson's Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father (2007).
Little Women begins:
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words.
It's the birthday of the writer who said: "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." That's C.S. Lewis, born in Belfast (1898), the author of the seven-volume children's series The Chronicles of Narnia, which begins with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), the story of four children sent away from London because of wartime air raids. He also said, "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
As a teenager, he went off to boarding school in England. He hated it there. He said that English accents sounded to him like the "voices of demons." Worst of all was the landscape; he first looked at it and in that moment, he said, "conceived a hatred for England which took many years to heal." Also, he felt that his favorite poet, W.B. Yeats, — "an author exactly after [his] own heart" — was totally underappreciated in England. He wrote to a friend: "Perhaps his appeal is purely Irish — if so, then thank the gods that I am Irish." But despite all his disdain and contempt for England, he chose to live and teach at Oxford University for almost 30 years — while acquainting himself with other Irish people living in England as much as possible.
Besides fairy tales and children's classics, he wrote theological books, including The Screwtape Letters (1942), a novel in which a demon writes to his nephew; and The Great Divorce (1945), where residents of hell take a bus ride to heaven, and Mere Christianity (1952), based on talks he gave on the BBC during World War II.
C.S. Lewis said, "Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see."
From the archives:
It's the birthday Madeleine L'Engle, born in New York City (1918), who struggled to find any success as a writer with novels about ordinary families and ordinary situations. But after reading about the ideas of Albert Einstein, she wrote a science fiction novel called A Wrinkle in Time (1962), about a group of children who have to rescue their father from a planet where individuality has been outlawed. The book was rejected by 26 different publishers, who all felt that it was too difficult for children but too fantastic for adults. But when it came out in 1962, the novel won the Newbery Medal, and it sells about 15,000 copies a year.
Madeleine L'Engle said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."
And this 1868 children's book inspired the novel that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize: Geraldine Brooks's March (2005), which is a retelling of Little Women, this time narrated by the girls' absent father. And in 2008, a dual biography of Louisa May Alcott and her dad won the Pulitzer Prize for biography. That book: John Matteson's Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father (2007).
Little Women begins:
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
"We've got Father and Mother, and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words.
It's the birthday of the writer who said: "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." That's C.S. Lewis, born in Belfast (1898), the author of the seven-volume children's series The Chronicles of Narnia, which begins with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), the story of four children sent away from London because of wartime air raids. He also said, "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
As a teenager, he went off to boarding school in England. He hated it there. He said that English accents sounded to him like the "voices of demons." Worst of all was the landscape; he first looked at it and in that moment, he said, "conceived a hatred for England which took many years to heal." Also, he felt that his favorite poet, W.B. Yeats, — "an author exactly after [his] own heart" — was totally underappreciated in England. He wrote to a friend: "Perhaps his appeal is purely Irish — if so, then thank the gods that I am Irish." But despite all his disdain and contempt for England, he chose to live and teach at Oxford University for almost 30 years — while acquainting himself with other Irish people living in England as much as possible.
Besides fairy tales and children's classics, he wrote theological books, including The Screwtape Letters (1942), a novel in which a demon writes to his nephew; and The Great Divorce (1945), where residents of hell take a bus ride to heaven, and Mere Christianity (1952), based on talks he gave on the BBC during World War II.
C.S. Lewis said, "Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see."
From the archives:
It's the birthday Madeleine L'Engle, born in New York City (1918), who struggled to find any success as a writer with novels about ordinary families and ordinary situations. But after reading about the ideas of Albert Einstein, she wrote a science fiction novel called A Wrinkle in Time (1962), about a group of children who have to rescue their father from a planet where individuality has been outlawed. The book was rejected by 26 different publishers, who all felt that it was too difficult for children but too fantastic for adults. But when it came out in 1962, the novel won the Newbery Medal, and it sells about 15,000 copies a year.
Madeleine L'Engle said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."
Sunday, November 21, 2010
A Digital Newspaper for the iPad?
Website: Media magnate Murdoch preps digital newspaper for iPad
By Craig Johnson, Special to CNN
(CNN) -- Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is developing a digital newspaper exclusively for the iPad and other electronic tablet devices, according to the Women's Wear Daily website.
Murdoch, who has made no secret of his ambitions to charge internet users for news content, has assembled a team of journalists for the project, called "The Daily," and hopes to roll out a beta version around Christmas, WWD reported.
Available to the public in early 2011, the Daily would cost 99 cents a week, about $4.25 a month, and true to its name, publish seven days a week, according to WWD.
Murdoch and Apple CEO Steve Jobs have long been bullish on projections that the iPad, and devices like it, will soon evolve into the premiere content-reading device for the web.
Charging for news content has long been a challenge and philosophical crux for news organizations with large online presences such as News Corporation, which Murdoch owns. The Daily would focus on national issues and combine the features of a tabloid and broadsheet publication, WWD reported.
To show the seriousness of the project, Murdoch has enlisted top-tier talent from his media empire to run the show, according to WWD.
Jesse Angelo, former managing editor of The New York Post, will lead the effort, along with journalists culled from media outfits such as Page Six, AOL, ABC News and The New Yorker, WWD reported.
By Craig Johnson, Special to CNN
(CNN) -- Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is developing a digital newspaper exclusively for the iPad and other electronic tablet devices, according to the Women's Wear Daily website.
Murdoch, who has made no secret of his ambitions to charge internet users for news content, has assembled a team of journalists for the project, called "The Daily," and hopes to roll out a beta version around Christmas, WWD reported.
Available to the public in early 2011, the Daily would cost 99 cents a week, about $4.25 a month, and true to its name, publish seven days a week, according to WWD.
Murdoch and Apple CEO Steve Jobs have long been bullish on projections that the iPad, and devices like it, will soon evolve into the premiere content-reading device for the web.
Charging for news content has long been a challenge and philosophical crux for news organizations with large online presences such as News Corporation, which Murdoch owns. The Daily would focus on national issues and combine the features of a tabloid and broadsheet publication, WWD reported.
To show the seriousness of the project, Murdoch has enlisted top-tier talent from his media empire to run the show, according to WWD.
Jesse Angelo, former managing editor of The New York Post, will lead the effort, along with journalists culled from media outfits such as Page Six, AOL, ABC News and The New Yorker, WWD reported.
How Many Classics Have You Read?
Attention literary friends:
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. How do you measure up? A friend of mine just e-mailed that she’s read 56 of the 100.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas.
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. How do you measure up? A friend of mine just e-mailed that she’s read 56 of the 100.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma -Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas.
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Agenda for Monday Night's City Council Meeting
WARSAW COMMON COUNCIL
November 15, 2010
7:00 PM
I. ORGANIZATION OF MEETING
1. Call to Order
2. Invocation
3. Pledge of Allegiance
4. Approval of Minutes for: November 1, 2010
II. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
1. Terry White & Grace College Journalism students
III. REPORTS / ORAL & WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
1. Fort Wayne Business Weekly articles:
• “OrthoWorx supports continued life sciences innovation in state”
• “Experience made Robertson the right choice as county’s
new development director”
• “Grace College starts grad program on orthopedic regulatory,
clinical affairs”
2. Fire Dept. - October Activity Report
3. Comcast Cable quarterly Franchise Fee
IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
1. Ordinance No. 2010-11-03: Aviation – Additional Appropriation
2. Ordinance No. 2010-11-04: Aviation – Transfer Funds
3. Resolution No. 2010-11-01: Amendment of Redevelopment Plan
Authorizing Notice of Public Hearing for an Additional Appropriation
4. Ordinance No. 2010-11-05: Additional Appropriation to pay for
Acquisition of Property by the Redevelopment Commission
5. Street Light Request at Scott & Smith Streets
VI. OTHER MATTERS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL
VII. MEETING REVIEW
1. Items Carried Forward
2. Visitors’ Questions & Comments
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
November 15, 2010
7:00 PM
I. ORGANIZATION OF MEETING
1. Call to Order
2. Invocation
3. Pledge of Allegiance
4. Approval of Minutes for: November 1, 2010
II. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
1. Terry White & Grace College Journalism students
III. REPORTS / ORAL & WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
1. Fort Wayne Business Weekly articles:
• “OrthoWorx supports continued life sciences innovation in state”
• “Experience made Robertson the right choice as county’s
new development director”
• “Grace College starts grad program on orthopedic regulatory,
clinical affairs”
2. Fire Dept. - October Activity Report
3. Comcast Cable quarterly Franchise Fee
IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
V. NEW BUSINESS
1. Ordinance No. 2010-11-03: Aviation – Additional Appropriation
2. Ordinance No. 2010-11-04: Aviation – Transfer Funds
3. Resolution No. 2010-11-01: Amendment of Redevelopment Plan
Authorizing Notice of Public Hearing for an Additional Appropriation
4. Ordinance No. 2010-11-05: Additional Appropriation to pay for
Acquisition of Property by the Redevelopment Commission
5. Street Light Request at Scott & Smith Streets
VI. OTHER MATTERS THAT MAY COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL
VII. MEETING REVIEW
1. Items Carried Forward
2. Visitors’ Questions & Comments
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Want to Earn Some Money . . .
. . . and get good journalism experience at the same time?
The Warsaw Times-Union is looking for correspondents to cover some of the outlying town boards, meetings, etc.
Here is a note the editor, Gary Gerard, sent me:
Did you notice the ad at the bottom of page one? Any of your students
interested? It pays $25 per meeting plus mileage. Correspondents cover
the meeting and e-mail me a story for the next day's edition. Great way
to get practical experience and clips.
Thanks,
Gary
Sure would be great if one or several of you could help meet his need, and get this good experience (and clippings) at the same time!
Contact Gary at:
Telephone
574.267.3111
Sports/News Fax - 574.267.7784
Advertising Fax - 574.268.1300
E-mails:
News - news@timesuniononline.com
The Warsaw Times-Union is looking for correspondents to cover some of the outlying town boards, meetings, etc.
Here is a note the editor, Gary Gerard, sent me:
Did you notice the ad at the bottom of page one? Any of your students
interested? It pays $25 per meeting plus mileage. Correspondents cover
the meeting and e-mail me a story for the next day's edition. Great way
to get practical experience and clips.
Thanks,
Gary
Sure would be great if one or several of you could help meet his need, and get this good experience (and clippings) at the same time!
Contact Gary at:
Telephone
574.267.3111
Sports/News Fax - 574.267.7784
Advertising Fax - 574.268.1300
E-mails:
News - news@timesuniononline.com
IU Journalism Students Blog
Take a look at what some Indiana University journalism students are doing.
Blogs
Blogging has become an important addition to journalism, offering a way for journalists to share their "backstories," the nuts and bolts of how they go about the business of storytelling. Blogs also provide an outlet for journalists to reflect on the topics they cover, to analyze or interpret their experiences outside the practices of objective news writing.
Click here to see some of the student blogs.
Blogs
Blogging has become an important addition to journalism, offering a way for journalists to share their "backstories," the nuts and bolts of how they go about the business of storytelling. Blogs also provide an outlet for journalists to reflect on the topics they cover, to analyze or interpret their experiences outside the practices of objective news writing.
Click here to see some of the student blogs.
Happy Birthday, 'Rolling Stone'
It was on this day, November 9, in 1967 that the first issue of Rolling Stone was published. It was started by 21-year-old Jann Wenner, who dropped out of Berkeley and borrowed $7,500 from family members and from people on a mailing list that he stole from a local radio station, and with that money he managed to put together a magazine.
The cover of the first issue featured John Lennon, and in it, Wenner wrote, "Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces."
Today Rolling Stone has a circulation of about 1.4 million.
The cover of the first issue featured John Lennon, and in it, Wenner wrote, "Rolling Stone is not just about music, but also about the things and attitudes that the music embraces."
Today Rolling Stone has a circulation of about 1.4 million.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Yet Another News Weekly Goes Down
US News & World Report to drop monthly print mag
The Associated Press
U.S. News & World Report magazine is going to stop sending its monthly print edition to subscribers next year and go mostly online.
Brian Kelly, the magazine's editor, outlined the changes in a memo sent to staff on Friday.
In the memo, Kelly said the December issue will be the last monthly issue sent to subscribers. Monthly print versions will continue to be available at newsstands, and it will continue to publish occasional guides on colleges, history, personal finance and other topics. Its content will continue to be available at USNews.com, which has 9 million visitors a month.
Kelly told The New York Times that the move won't result in more layoffs.
U.S. Media News Group president Bill Holiber said on the magazine's website that the decision "allows us to continue to grow our online business" and take advantage of new distribution platforms.
The company developed a U.S. News Weekly digital magazine last year that it is adapting for Apple Inc.'s iPad and other devices.
Hurt by declining print advertisements and readers' shift to the Web, U.S. News said in June 2008 it would become a biweekly magazine, instead of a weekly; six months later it decided to go monthly.
U.S. News was founded in 1933 and merged with World Report in 1948, and considered itself one of the nation's three major newsweekly magazines alongside Newsweek and Time.
Last month, The Washington Post Co. revealed how much it got for selling Newsweek, a once-prized asset it bought in 1961, to audio equipment magnate Sidney Harman: $1.
WORLD Magazine to Expand; Olasky to Oversee
WORLD Magazine Announces Expanded News Coverage, Development of Digital Platforms
Dr. Marvin Olasky to Oversee Expansion of WORLD's News Operations
ASHEVILLE, N.C.-WORLD Magazine's parent organization has announced a multi-year strategy to transform WORLD from a magazine with web-based delivery mechanisms into a comprehensive news organization that will move aggressively into the space vacated by retreating news organizations and onto new digital platforms.
"WORLD's readers have enabled us already to more than double our news-gathering capabilities in the past year or two," said Kevin Martin, CEO of God's World Publications (GWP), WORLD's parent. "But we need to expand both the breadth and the depth of our coverage to fill the news void with reporting from a Biblical worldview. And we need to be able to deliver our reporting and analysis in a lot of different ways, not just in a magazine."
WORLD's Publisher Nick Eicher has been leading the organization's transformation. Under Eicher's direction, WORLD is transitioning to a new content management system that will dramatically streamline the process of disseminating the news. Eicher is also leading the development of WORLD's digital apps.
And since January, Eicher has been producing WORLD's daily radio/audio newscast, "This is News." The spot is carried by radio stations around the country, and is heard in a podcast format by thousands of people every day.
The vastly expanded reach of WORLD's coverage and the new delivery platforms create new journalistic challenges. "We are no longer just producing content for a magazine that comes out every two weeks," Eicher said. "We are producing news on a daily--even on an hourly--basis. As we increase the development and delivery or our reporting, we need to re-think the ways we gather, write, fact-check, and edit the news."
That's where Dr. Marvin Olasky comes in. Under Olasky's leadership as editor-in-chief, WORLD has developed a robust cadre of Christian journalists who have significantly and steadily increased the quality of the content. "When Marvin joined WORLD, it was a good magazine. He helped make it great," Eicher said. "We want him to do that with our expanded offerings as well."
To that end, Olasky has resigned his post as Provost of The King's College and will devote 100 percent of his energies to the transformation of WORLD from a news magazine into a comprehensive news organization. Olasky will leave New York, where he has lived and worked for the past three years, and move to Asheville, North Carolina, GWP's headquarters.
According to Olasky: "New York is the most exciting city in the world, and it will be tough to leave. But journalism is in a state of transition, and that has created a historically unique opportunity for an organization like ours. Seizing this opportunity will require all of my attention. Living in Asheville will allow for better interaction with Kevin, Mindy (Belz, WORLD's Editor), and Joel (Belz, WORLD's Founder), along with the staff of GWP's other divisions."
Dr. Olasky will continue to organize and host the King's "Distinguished Visitors Series" that has generated for WORLD's readers many vital conversations with public figures. Also remaining at King's campus in New York City are the offices of the World Journalism Institute (WJI), GWP's journalism training division, led by Bob Case.
According to Martin, "The relationship between GWP and King's is not ending. It is simply maturing. We hope WJI and the Distinguished Visitors Series are merely first steps of collaboration with King's."
Olasky plans to remain as Provost at King's until January 31, 2011. He already has begun the transition to Asheville.
WORLD magazine is the nation's most widelyread Christian news magazine. WORLD maintains staff writers in Washington, New York, and other key U.S. cities, and has a network of correspondents around the world.
Dr. Marvin Olasky to Oversee Expansion of WORLD's News Operations
ASHEVILLE, N.C.-WORLD Magazine's parent organization has announced a multi-year strategy to transform WORLD from a magazine with web-based delivery mechanisms into a comprehensive news organization that will move aggressively into the space vacated by retreating news organizations and onto new digital platforms.
"WORLD's readers have enabled us already to more than double our news-gathering capabilities in the past year or two," said Kevin Martin, CEO of God's World Publications (GWP), WORLD's parent. "But we need to expand both the breadth and the depth of our coverage to fill the news void with reporting from a Biblical worldview. And we need to be able to deliver our reporting and analysis in a lot of different ways, not just in a magazine."
WORLD's Publisher Nick Eicher has been leading the organization's transformation. Under Eicher's direction, WORLD is transitioning to a new content management system that will dramatically streamline the process of disseminating the news. Eicher is also leading the development of WORLD's digital apps.
And since January, Eicher has been producing WORLD's daily radio/audio newscast, "This is News." The spot is carried by radio stations around the country, and is heard in a podcast format by thousands of people every day.
The vastly expanded reach of WORLD's coverage and the new delivery platforms create new journalistic challenges. "We are no longer just producing content for a magazine that comes out every two weeks," Eicher said. "We are producing news on a daily--even on an hourly--basis. As we increase the development and delivery or our reporting, we need to re-think the ways we gather, write, fact-check, and edit the news."
That's where Dr. Marvin Olasky comes in. Under Olasky's leadership as editor-in-chief, WORLD has developed a robust cadre of Christian journalists who have significantly and steadily increased the quality of the content. "When Marvin joined WORLD, it was a good magazine. He helped make it great," Eicher said. "We want him to do that with our expanded offerings as well."
To that end, Olasky has resigned his post as Provost of The King's College and will devote 100 percent of his energies to the transformation of WORLD from a news magazine into a comprehensive news organization. Olasky will leave New York, where he has lived and worked for the past three years, and move to Asheville, North Carolina, GWP's headquarters.
According to Olasky: "New York is the most exciting city in the world, and it will be tough to leave. But journalism is in a state of transition, and that has created a historically unique opportunity for an organization like ours. Seizing this opportunity will require all of my attention. Living in Asheville will allow for better interaction with Kevin, Mindy (Belz, WORLD's Editor), and Joel (Belz, WORLD's Founder), along with the staff of GWP's other divisions."
Dr. Olasky will continue to organize and host the King's "Distinguished Visitors Series" that has generated for WORLD's readers many vital conversations with public figures. Also remaining at King's campus in New York City are the offices of the World Journalism Institute (WJI), GWP's journalism training division, led by Bob Case.
According to Martin, "The relationship between GWP and King's is not ending. It is simply maturing. We hope WJI and the Distinguished Visitors Series are merely first steps of collaboration with King's."
Olasky plans to remain as Provost at King's until January 31, 2011. He already has begun the transition to Asheville.
WORLD magazine is the nation's most widelyread Christian news magazine. WORLD maintains staff writers in Washington, New York, and other key U.S. cities, and has a network of correspondents around the world.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Shelter Meeting Cancelled--Media Uninvited
From Thursday's Times-Union:
Homeless Shelter Meeting Canceled After Media Interest
Jennifer Peryam
Times-Union Staff Writer
A meeting that was scheduled Wednesday night for downtown merchants to ask questions about a proposed homeless shelter in downtown Warsaw was canceled.
The Times-Union was originally invited to attend the meeting but was informed at approximately 4 p.m. that the meeting was closed to the media.
A sign was posted Wednesday night on the building where the shelter is proposed to be located at 110 E. Market St., the former Brennan Building. The building is next to Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
The sign read "The meeting has been canceled. Sorry for inconvenience, Fellowship Mission."
Signs also were posted on the doors of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation where the meeting was to be held from 7 to 8 p.m.
A sign read "A private meeting between downtown merchants and business owners and Fellowship Mission will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Doors open at 6:45. No media please."
Another sign also read "Tonight's private meeting between downtown merchants and business owners and Fellowship Mission has been canceled."
During Monday night's Warsaw City Council meeting, more than 80 people packed into council chambers - with additional people outside - to hear a homeless shelter presentation by Eric Lane, Fellowship Mission director.
Attendees were not allowed to ask questions, as it was a time for Lane to speak about the shelter.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins asked Warsaw Community Development Corp. to organize a meeting between downtown merchants and Fellowship Mission so downtown merchants could learn more about the proposed shelter.
The Times-Union was contacted Tuesday afternoon by Lane who said a meeting was scheduled between downtown merchants and Fellowship Mission. He also said the Times-Union was invited to attend the meeting and report on it, and the newspaper agreed to run a story previewing the meeting.
Lane called the Times-Union three hours before the meeting Wednesday night stating the meeting was closed to the media.
The Times-Union called Cindy Dobbins, WCDC director, Wednesday afternoon. She said a television station had been notified and a film crew was in town. She said the meeting would be canceled because downtown business merchants did not want to go on camera during the meeting.
Approximately 10 downtown business owners showed up Wednesday night to find the meeting canceled.
George Brennan, president and CEO of Lake City Group, 118 A S. Buffalo St., located a half block west of where the proposed homeless shelter may be, said he came to the meeting to learn more about the shelter.
Brennan said he has no ties to the former Brennan Building where the shelter is being proposed.
"I think the shelter is a great idea and I wanted to hear about it. I think we have a responsibility to take care of the people of the community," Brennan said. "I can't imagine why anyone would be upset by having the shelter here."
Brennan said if people have concerns they should speak up, and he said he didn't know why the meeting was canceled and the media was not allowed to attend.
"I think the media should be here because if the issues are going to be discussed, the media should let the rest of the general population who are not able to attend know what is going on," Brennan said.
Mike Bergen, Alderfer Bergen & Co. partner, 116 W. Market St., said he came to the meeting to learn more about the shelter.
"I'm disappointed to not hear what the story is. I don't know what is going on and I don't have an opinion until I have more info," Bergen said.
Bree Oscallahan, employee of Take Action Tattoo, 938 N. Detroit St., said she came to the meeting to hear what the proposed shelter plans were.
Oscallahan said she is a coach for a local roller derby league, and they have started collecting items for the homeless.
"People need items who are homeless whether a shelter goes here or not," Oscallahan said.
Homeless Shelter Meeting Canceled After Media Interest
Jennifer Peryam
Times-Union Staff Writer
A meeting that was scheduled Wednesday night for downtown merchants to ask questions about a proposed homeless shelter in downtown Warsaw was canceled.
The Times-Union was originally invited to attend the meeting but was informed at approximately 4 p.m. that the meeting was closed to the media.
A sign was posted Wednesday night on the building where the shelter is proposed to be located at 110 E. Market St., the former Brennan Building. The building is next to Kosciusko County Community Foundation.
The sign read "The meeting has been canceled. Sorry for inconvenience, Fellowship Mission."
Signs also were posted on the doors of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation where the meeting was to be held from 7 to 8 p.m.
A sign read "A private meeting between downtown merchants and business owners and Fellowship Mission will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Doors open at 6:45. No media please."
Another sign also read "Tonight's private meeting between downtown merchants and business owners and Fellowship Mission has been canceled."
During Monday night's Warsaw City Council meeting, more than 80 people packed into council chambers - with additional people outside - to hear a homeless shelter presentation by Eric Lane, Fellowship Mission director.
Attendees were not allowed to ask questions, as it was a time for Lane to speak about the shelter.
Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins asked Warsaw Community Development Corp. to organize a meeting between downtown merchants and Fellowship Mission so downtown merchants could learn more about the proposed shelter.
The Times-Union was contacted Tuesday afternoon by Lane who said a meeting was scheduled between downtown merchants and Fellowship Mission. He also said the Times-Union was invited to attend the meeting and report on it, and the newspaper agreed to run a story previewing the meeting.
Lane called the Times-Union three hours before the meeting Wednesday night stating the meeting was closed to the media.
The Times-Union called Cindy Dobbins, WCDC director, Wednesday afternoon. She said a television station had been notified and a film crew was in town. She said the meeting would be canceled because downtown business merchants did not want to go on camera during the meeting.
Approximately 10 downtown business owners showed up Wednesday night to find the meeting canceled.
George Brennan, president and CEO of Lake City Group, 118 A S. Buffalo St., located a half block west of where the proposed homeless shelter may be, said he came to the meeting to learn more about the shelter.
Brennan said he has no ties to the former Brennan Building where the shelter is being proposed.
"I think the shelter is a great idea and I wanted to hear about it. I think we have a responsibility to take care of the people of the community," Brennan said. "I can't imagine why anyone would be upset by having the shelter here."
Brennan said if people have concerns they should speak up, and he said he didn't know why the meeting was canceled and the media was not allowed to attend.
"I think the media should be here because if the issues are going to be discussed, the media should let the rest of the general population who are not able to attend know what is going on," Brennan said.
Mike Bergen, Alderfer Bergen & Co. partner, 116 W. Market St., said he came to the meeting to learn more about the shelter.
"I'm disappointed to not hear what the story is. I don't know what is going on and I don't have an opinion until I have more info," Bergen said.
Bree Oscallahan, employee of Take Action Tattoo, 938 N. Detroit St., said she came to the meeting to hear what the proposed shelter plans were.
Oscallahan said she is a coach for a local roller derby league, and they have started collecting items for the homeless.
"People need items who are homeless whether a shelter goes here or not," Oscallahan said.
Did NPR Commit Suicide With Williams Decision?
From Investors.com:
NPR's Suicide?
Media: Did National Public Radio jump the shark? Just hours after sacking Juan Williams for making sensible but allegedly insensitive remarks on Fox, the federally funded outfit has brought itself under painful scrutiny.
Williams no doubt has been riding an emotional roller coaster, both smarting from NPR's patently unjust action and reveling in a new $2 million-plus contract with the Fox News Channel. For the rest of us who are concerned with restoring integrity to the news business, there's good news in this.
For one, NPR was condemned across the spectrum — at least to the far fringes of the left, where the George Soros-funded Media Matters now wants similar action to be taken against Mara Liasson, the other NPR journalist who regularly moonlights on Fox.
There's also good news in the recovery by many traditional liberals of their commitment to fairness and free speech for which they were known before political correctness set in many years ago.
Even the Washington Post — where early in his career Williams worked as a reporter — was so outraged that it defended its former writer in a lead editorial.
NPR's reflexive intolerance also occasioned a revisiting of the left-leaning organization's many past sins.
Exhibit A: the record of "correspondent" Nina Totenberg, who, on one of those soporific shows from "inside Washington" on yet another network, also doubles as a panelist.
Whereas Williams thoughtfully explained the frisson he shares with millions of Americans when boarding airplanes alongside passengers in Muslim garb, Totenberg grotesquely wished AIDS by transfusion on the late senator Jesse Helms and his grandchildren.
So when does she get the ax?
The boiling indignation now moves to Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans and likely a few Democrats will put NPR on the squirm seat. There it will have to explain why it shouldn't be defunded — which would be a good thing.
Just months ago the Federal Trade Commission, feeling the Oba-maite impulse to nationalize, prepared a report on how the government could "save journalism" by subsidizing various news outlets and pumping up public broadcast outlets.
Alarmingly, the plan was well received by some media "leaders" who once prized their independence. NPR stood to gain by the blueprint, which resembled authoritarian media practices from Ceaucescu's Romania to Chavez's Venezuela.
By sacking Juan Williams, NPR may inadvertently have brought that plan to a screeching and welcome halt.
NPR's Suicide?
Media: Did National Public Radio jump the shark? Just hours after sacking Juan Williams for making sensible but allegedly insensitive remarks on Fox, the federally funded outfit has brought itself under painful scrutiny.
Williams no doubt has been riding an emotional roller coaster, both smarting from NPR's patently unjust action and reveling in a new $2 million-plus contract with the Fox News Channel. For the rest of us who are concerned with restoring integrity to the news business, there's good news in this.
For one, NPR was condemned across the spectrum — at least to the far fringes of the left, where the George Soros-funded Media Matters now wants similar action to be taken against Mara Liasson, the other NPR journalist who regularly moonlights on Fox.
There's also good news in the recovery by many traditional liberals of their commitment to fairness and free speech for which they were known before political correctness set in many years ago.
Even the Washington Post — where early in his career Williams worked as a reporter — was so outraged that it defended its former writer in a lead editorial.
NPR's reflexive intolerance also occasioned a revisiting of the left-leaning organization's many past sins.
Exhibit A: the record of "correspondent" Nina Totenberg, who, on one of those soporific shows from "inside Washington" on yet another network, also doubles as a panelist.
Whereas Williams thoughtfully explained the frisson he shares with millions of Americans when boarding airplanes alongside passengers in Muslim garb, Totenberg grotesquely wished AIDS by transfusion on the late senator Jesse Helms and his grandchildren.
So when does she get the ax?
The boiling indignation now moves to Capitol Hill, where congressional Republicans and likely a few Democrats will put NPR on the squirm seat. There it will have to explain why it shouldn't be defunded — which would be a good thing.
Just months ago the Federal Trade Commission, feeling the Oba-maite impulse to nationalize, prepared a report on how the government could "save journalism" by subsidizing various news outlets and pumping up public broadcast outlets.
Alarmingly, the plan was well received by some media "leaders" who once prized their independence. NPR stood to gain by the blueprint, which resembled authoritarian media practices from Ceaucescu's Romania to Chavez's Venezuela.
By sacking Juan Williams, NPR may inadvertently have brought that plan to a screeching and welcome halt.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Sports Story Sample
Here is a pretty good sample of a sports coverage article to study as we prepare to write sports stories--it's from the Tuesday, November 2 Times-Union. Note the use of language particular to the sport (such as "perimeter players," "charity stripe," etc.). Note the structure of the story, including the way quotes are handled. Good example.
Grace Men Open Season With Win
Dale Hubler
Times-Union Sports Editor
WINONA LAKE - Grace College's perimeter players didn't shoot the ball particularly well in Monday night's season opener against the Andrews University Cardinals.
The frontcourt duo of junior Duke Johnson and freshman Greg Miller certainly made up for it, however, as the NAIA Division II 17th-ranked Lancers beat the Cardinals 72-53 in men's basketball action at the Orthopaedic Capital Center.
On a night the Lancers were just 2 of 15 from three-point range, the 6-foot-11 Johnson and 6-6 Miller were a dominant force in the paint, combining for 48 points on 21-of-25 shooting.
"We went to them and they responded," 34th-year Grace College coach Jim Kessler said of Johnson and Miller. "That's what they need to do. We didn't shoot the ball well tonight, but Duke and Greg were very productive inside."
Against an Andrews University team that had just one player as tall as 6-5, the Lancers scored 54 points in the paint and outrebounded the Cardinals 44-23.
Johnson scored Grace's first 12 points and finished the game with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while Miller came off the bench to add 18 points and six rebounds.
"Eighteen points and six rebounds in his first game as a freshman, and to do it in 20 minutes, that's pretty good production," Kessler said of Miller, a highly-touted player who came to Grace as North Miami High School's all-time leading scorer.
Johnson and Miller were the only double-digit scorers for the Lancers, who were 31 of 60 from the field.
Junior Jacob Peattie scored seven points off the bench, while sophomore Bruce Grimm Jr., and junior Dayton Merrell scored five points each.
Grimm, who started five games last season for Division I program East Tennessee State, dished out a team-high six assists and made two steals.
"It was our first game, we sputtered at times," said Kessler. "We lacked the continuity that I think we'll see. It'll find itself as the season plays out. We found some things we need to work on."
Grace was just 8 of 16 at the free throw line and committed 21 turnovers.
Behind 30 first-half points from Johnson and Miller, the Lancers led 38-31 at the intermission.
The Cardinals closed the gap to two, 41-39, with 18:02 remaining in the game, but Grace went on a 25-9 run that put the finishing touches on the win.
With Grace up 52-42, Miller made a steal and dished it to sophomore guard Elliot Smith for an easy layup. Two minutes later, Peattie made a steal and turned it into a two-handed dunk.
Defensively, Grace made 12 steals in the game and held the Cardinals to just 22 points in the second half.
Andrews University finished the game 23 of 58 (40 percent) from the field, 6 of 23 from three-point range, and 1 of 2 from the charity stripe.
After shooting 56 percent from the field in the first half, the Cardinals shot just 27 percent in the second half.
"They're a scrappy team," Kessler said of the Cardinals. "They shot well, especially in the first half. I thought we were able to do some things defensively in the second half. We held them to 22 points in the second half, that's pretty good."
Ryan Little led Andrews University with 17 points, while Matthew Little added 15 points. Thomas Jardine and Ben Weakley chipped in with seven and six points, respectively.
The Lancers are in action again Saturday when they host Ohio-Eastern University for Homecoming.
The women's game is scheduled for 1 p.m., followed by the men's game at approximately 3 p.m.
GRACE COLLEGE 72, ANDREWS UNIVERSITY 53
AU 31 22 - 53
GC 38 34 - 72
Andrews - Jerome Murray 1-6 1-1 3, Matthew Little 7-15 0-1 15, Ryan Little 7-12 0-0 17, Tyler Wooldridge 2-7 0-0 5, Thomas Jardine 3-8 0-0 7, Joshua Faehner 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Garrett 0-1 0-0 0, Ronaldo Green 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Goulding 0-0 0-0 0, Clifford Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Weakley 3-5 0-0 6, Jason Garrett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 1-2 53.
Grace - Dayton Merrell 2-3 0-0 5, Tannan Peters 0-5 0-0 0, Duke Johnson 13-16 4-4 30, Elliot Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Bruce Grimm Jr. 2-10 1-6 5, Lee Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Long 0-0 0-0 0, David Henry 1-4 0-0 2, Jacob Peattie 3-5 1-2 7, Benjamin Euler 1-2 0-0 3, Greg Miller 8-9 2-4 18, Jared Treadway 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-60 8-16 72.
Three-point goals - Andrews 6 (R. Little 3, M. Little, Wooldridge, Jardine), Grace 2 (Merrell, Euler). Rebounds - Andrews 23 (Jardine 4), Grace 44 (Johnson 16). Assists - Andrews 18 (R. Little 7), Grace 18 (Grimm 6), Turnovers - Andrews 22, Grace 21. Fouls - Andrews 12, Grace 12. Fouled out - none. Records: Andrews 1-1, Grace 1-0
Grace Men Open Season With Win
Dale Hubler
Times-Union Sports Editor
WINONA LAKE - Grace College's perimeter players didn't shoot the ball particularly well in Monday night's season opener against the Andrews University Cardinals.
The frontcourt duo of junior Duke Johnson and freshman Greg Miller certainly made up for it, however, as the NAIA Division II 17th-ranked Lancers beat the Cardinals 72-53 in men's basketball action at the Orthopaedic Capital Center.
On a night the Lancers were just 2 of 15 from three-point range, the 6-foot-11 Johnson and 6-6 Miller were a dominant force in the paint, combining for 48 points on 21-of-25 shooting.
"We went to them and they responded," 34th-year Grace College coach Jim Kessler said of Johnson and Miller. "That's what they need to do. We didn't shoot the ball well tonight, but Duke and Greg were very productive inside."
Against an Andrews University team that had just one player as tall as 6-5, the Lancers scored 54 points in the paint and outrebounded the Cardinals 44-23.
Johnson scored Grace's first 12 points and finished the game with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while Miller came off the bench to add 18 points and six rebounds.
"Eighteen points and six rebounds in his first game as a freshman, and to do it in 20 minutes, that's pretty good production," Kessler said of Miller, a highly-touted player who came to Grace as North Miami High School's all-time leading scorer.
Johnson and Miller were the only double-digit scorers for the Lancers, who were 31 of 60 from the field.
Junior Jacob Peattie scored seven points off the bench, while sophomore Bruce Grimm Jr., and junior Dayton Merrell scored five points each.
Grimm, who started five games last season for Division I program East Tennessee State, dished out a team-high six assists and made two steals.
"It was our first game, we sputtered at times," said Kessler. "We lacked the continuity that I think we'll see. It'll find itself as the season plays out. We found some things we need to work on."
Grace was just 8 of 16 at the free throw line and committed 21 turnovers.
Behind 30 first-half points from Johnson and Miller, the Lancers led 38-31 at the intermission.
The Cardinals closed the gap to two, 41-39, with 18:02 remaining in the game, but Grace went on a 25-9 run that put the finishing touches on the win.
With Grace up 52-42, Miller made a steal and dished it to sophomore guard Elliot Smith for an easy layup. Two minutes later, Peattie made a steal and turned it into a two-handed dunk.
Defensively, Grace made 12 steals in the game and held the Cardinals to just 22 points in the second half.
Andrews University finished the game 23 of 58 (40 percent) from the field, 6 of 23 from three-point range, and 1 of 2 from the charity stripe.
After shooting 56 percent from the field in the first half, the Cardinals shot just 27 percent in the second half.
"They're a scrappy team," Kessler said of the Cardinals. "They shot well, especially in the first half. I thought we were able to do some things defensively in the second half. We held them to 22 points in the second half, that's pretty good."
Ryan Little led Andrews University with 17 points, while Matthew Little added 15 points. Thomas Jardine and Ben Weakley chipped in with seven and six points, respectively.
The Lancers are in action again Saturday when they host Ohio-Eastern University for Homecoming.
The women's game is scheduled for 1 p.m., followed by the men's game at approximately 3 p.m.
GRACE COLLEGE 72, ANDREWS UNIVERSITY 53
AU 31 22 - 53
GC 38 34 - 72
Andrews - Jerome Murray 1-6 1-1 3, Matthew Little 7-15 0-1 15, Ryan Little 7-12 0-0 17, Tyler Wooldridge 2-7 0-0 5, Thomas Jardine 3-8 0-0 7, Joshua Faehner 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Garrett 0-1 0-0 0, Ronaldo Green 0-1 0-0 0, Chris Goulding 0-0 0-0 0, Clifford Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Weakley 3-5 0-0 6, Jason Garrett 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 1-2 53.
Grace - Dayton Merrell 2-3 0-0 5, Tannan Peters 0-5 0-0 0, Duke Johnson 13-16 4-4 30, Elliot Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Bruce Grimm Jr. 2-10 1-6 5, Lee Ross 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Long 0-0 0-0 0, David Henry 1-4 0-0 2, Jacob Peattie 3-5 1-2 7, Benjamin Euler 1-2 0-0 3, Greg Miller 8-9 2-4 18, Jared Treadway 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-60 8-16 72.
Three-point goals - Andrews 6 (R. Little 3, M. Little, Wooldridge, Jardine), Grace 2 (Merrell, Euler). Rebounds - Andrews 23 (Jardine 4), Grace 44 (Johnson 16). Assists - Andrews 18 (R. Little 7), Grace 18 (Grimm 6), Turnovers - Andrews 22, Grace 21. Fouls - Andrews 12, Grace 12. Fouled out - none. Records: Andrews 1-1, Grace 1-0
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Plagiarism Leads to Personal Turnaround
Here's an excerpt from an interesting article in WORLD magazine that is (a) about journalism ethics and (b) has a local--Fort Wayne--connection.
Wins & losses
Even in politics, falling down can lead to a new kind of strength
by Warren Cole Smith
Since 2001, Tim Goeglein had helped run the White House Office of Public Liaison, a heady job that gave him almost daily access to President George W. Bush. All that came to an end on Feb. 29, 2008.
Blogger Nancy Nall Derringer did a web search on an unusual name in a column Goeglein had been writing for several years for his hometown newspaper, the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel. She discovered Goeglein had copied verbatim a 1998 editorial from the Dartmouth Review.
She blogged about the plagiarism, and The News-Sentinel discovered at least 27 of Goeglein's 38 pieces for the paper had been plagiarized. By mid-afternoon the next day, Goeglein's career in the White House was over.
For Goeglein, that began "a personal crisis unequaled in my life, bringing great humiliation on my wife and children, my family, and my closest friends, including the president of the United States."
His two-decade political career had included nearly eight years in the White House and stints as spokesman for Gary Bauer's presidential campaign and for former Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who is again running for the U.S. Senate this year. "But I was guilty as charged," he admitted. Why did he plagiarize? "It was 100 percent pride."
Wins & losses
Even in politics, falling down can lead to a new kind of strength
by Warren Cole Smith
Since 2001, Tim Goeglein had helped run the White House Office of Public Liaison, a heady job that gave him almost daily access to President George W. Bush. All that came to an end on Feb. 29, 2008.
Blogger Nancy Nall Derringer did a web search on an unusual name in a column Goeglein had been writing for several years for his hometown newspaper, the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel. She discovered Goeglein had copied verbatim a 1998 editorial from the Dartmouth Review.
She blogged about the plagiarism, and The News-Sentinel discovered at least 27 of Goeglein's 38 pieces for the paper had been plagiarized. By mid-afternoon the next day, Goeglein's career in the White House was over.
For Goeglein, that began "a personal crisis unequaled in my life, bringing great humiliation on my wife and children, my family, and my closest friends, including the president of the United States."
His two-decade political career had included nearly eight years in the White House and stints as spokesman for Gary Bauer's presidential campaign and for former Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., who is again running for the U.S. Senate this year. "But I was guilty as charged," he admitted. Why did he plagiarize? "It was 100 percent pride."
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Don't Throw Away That Early Work!
30-year-old Homework Assignment from Frank McCourt Finally Finds Publisher
NEW YORK, Oct. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- Best-selling author Anthony DeStefano wrote his best book at age 15, as a student in a creative writing class taught by Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt.
"I peaked at 15," said DeStefano, whose new children's book, Little Star, has finally been published almost 30 years later, and just in time for Christmas. "I honestly think this is the best thing I've ever done."
Not everyone would agree with the self-effacing writer. DeStefano is the author of the adult best-sellers A Travel Guide to Heaven, and Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. This Little Prayer of Mine, a children's book, was published earlier this year.
But Little Star was his first book, written as an assignment for Angela's Ashes author McCourt when DeStefano was a student at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. "Frank McCourt was a very unorthodox teacher," said DeStefano. "He knew that the best way to get young writers to write simply was to make them write children's books. And we had to send them out to publishers."
Little Star is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Nativity story that focuses on the star of Bethlehem -- the smallest star in the heavens and until then all but unnoticed in the night sky -- who burns himself out to keep the newborn baby Jesus warm in his cold stable.
DeStefano's book was initially turned down by publishers, but many of them tempered their rejections with letters of encouragement. In 1981, famed actress Helen Hayes did a public reading of the book during an Easter Seals event in Manhattan.
DeStefano still has the original manuscript in his office in New York City. The new version, illustrated by Mark Elliott, the artist who worked with DeStefano on This Little Prayer of Mine, was just published by WaterBrook Press in anticipation of the Christmas season. The author hopes audiences of all ages will respond to the story of sacrificial love and its message that everyone -- even the tiniest and poorest and least significant among us -- matters.
"My goal was to try to encapsulate the whole gospel message of love in a simple Christmas story," said DeStefano.
And his grade in that long-ago creative writing class?
Frank McCourt gave him an A.
NEW YORK, Oct. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- Best-selling author Anthony DeStefano wrote his best book at age 15, as a student in a creative writing class taught by Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt.
"I peaked at 15," said DeStefano, whose new children's book, Little Star, has finally been published almost 30 years later, and just in time for Christmas. "I honestly think this is the best thing I've ever done."
Not everyone would agree with the self-effacing writer. DeStefano is the author of the adult best-sellers A Travel Guide to Heaven, and Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. This Little Prayer of Mine, a children's book, was published earlier this year.
But Little Star was his first book, written as an assignment for Angela's Ashes author McCourt when DeStefano was a student at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. "Frank McCourt was a very unorthodox teacher," said DeStefano. "He knew that the best way to get young writers to write simply was to make them write children's books. And we had to send them out to publishers."
Little Star is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the Nativity story that focuses on the star of Bethlehem -- the smallest star in the heavens and until then all but unnoticed in the night sky -- who burns himself out to keep the newborn baby Jesus warm in his cold stable.
DeStefano's book was initially turned down by publishers, but many of them tempered their rejections with letters of encouragement. In 1981, famed actress Helen Hayes did a public reading of the book during an Easter Seals event in Manhattan.
DeStefano still has the original manuscript in his office in New York City. The new version, illustrated by Mark Elliott, the artist who worked with DeStefano on This Little Prayer of Mine, was just published by WaterBrook Press in anticipation of the Christmas season. The author hopes audiences of all ages will respond to the story of sacrificial love and its message that everyone -- even the tiniest and poorest and least significant among us -- matters.
"My goal was to try to encapsulate the whole gospel message of love in a simple Christmas story," said DeStefano.
And his grade in that long-ago creative writing class?
Frank McCourt gave him an A.
StarTrib Bucks Circulation Trend
Sunday circulation up 5.7%, to 504,616, at Star Tribune
Circulation at both the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press bucked national trends and increased during the past six months, or declined less than the rest of the industry, according to the semi-annual report of the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
The Star Tribune's Sunday circulation was up 5.7 percent to 504,616 for the six-month period through September. It was the first Sunday growth since 2004. Publisher Mike Klingensmith attributed the strong Sunday showing to a strategy that makes parts of the Sunday paper available on Saturday. Klingensmith said the newspaper also experienced gains in customer retention and paid e-edition circulation. The Star Tribune is now is the nation's eighth-largest Sunday paper, up from 10th a year ago.
Star Tribune daily circulation declined 2.3 percent to 297,478 year over year but was more than 2,000 copies greater than the March audit report.
Sunday circulation at the Pioneer Press rose 0.21 percent to 247,188 year over year and 0.28 percent on a daily basis to 185,736.
Nationally, daily newspaper circulation declined by 5 percent from a year earlier and Sunday circulation was down 4.5 percent. Both numbers represented smaller declines than those experienced in the first six months of the audit year.
Circulation at both the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press bucked national trends and increased during the past six months, or declined less than the rest of the industry, according to the semi-annual report of the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
The Star Tribune's Sunday circulation was up 5.7 percent to 504,616 for the six-month period through September. It was the first Sunday growth since 2004. Publisher Mike Klingensmith attributed the strong Sunday showing to a strategy that makes parts of the Sunday paper available on Saturday. Klingensmith said the newspaper also experienced gains in customer retention and paid e-edition circulation. The Star Tribune is now is the nation's eighth-largest Sunday paper, up from 10th a year ago.
Star Tribune daily circulation declined 2.3 percent to 297,478 year over year but was more than 2,000 copies greater than the March audit report.
Sunday circulation at the Pioneer Press rose 0.21 percent to 247,188 year over year and 0.28 percent on a daily basis to 185,736.
Nationally, daily newspaper circulation declined by 5 percent from a year earlier and Sunday circulation was down 4.5 percent. Both numbers represented smaller declines than those experienced in the first six months of the audit year.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Poll: America's Favorite Author Is . . .
Poll: America's Favorite Author Is...
Stephen King, the "king" of horror and suspense with such classics as "The Shining," "Carrie," "The Tommyknockers" and well over 100 others.
That's the word from a Harris Poll, which asked 2,775 U.S. adults to name their favorite writers. Following close on King's heels is mystery writer James Patterson, author of "I, Alex Cross" and "The Postcard Killers," among many others.
The top 10 favorite authors:
1. Stephen King
2. James Patterson
3. John Grisham
4. Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
5. Tom Clancy
6. Dean Koontz
7. Danielle Steele
8. Dan Brown
9. J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien (tie)
What fiction do we most enjoy?
Among those who read, 79 percent said they have read at least one fiction book in the past year. The favorites:
* Mystery, thriller and crime: 48 percent
* Science fiction: 26 percent
* Literature: 24 percent
* Romance: 21 percent
* Graphic novels: 11 percent
* Chick-lit: 8 percent
* Westerns: 5 percent
* Other fiction: 36 percent
What non-fiction do we most enjoy?
Among those who read, 78 percent said they have read at least one non-fiction book in the past year. The favorites:
* History: 31 percent
* Biographies: 29 percent
* Religion/spirituality: 26 percent
* Politics: 17 percent
* Self-help: 16 percent
* Current affairs: 14 percent
* True crime: 12 percent
* Business: 10 percent
* Other non-fiction: 29 percent
Stephen King, the "king" of horror and suspense with such classics as "The Shining," "Carrie," "The Tommyknockers" and well over 100 others.
That's the word from a Harris Poll, which asked 2,775 U.S. adults to name their favorite writers. Following close on King's heels is mystery writer James Patterson, author of "I, Alex Cross" and "The Postcard Killers," among many others.
The top 10 favorite authors:
1. Stephen King
2. James Patterson
3. John Grisham
4. Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb
5. Tom Clancy
6. Dean Koontz
7. Danielle Steele
8. Dan Brown
9. J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien (tie)
What fiction do we most enjoy?
Among those who read, 79 percent said they have read at least one fiction book in the past year. The favorites:
* Mystery, thriller and crime: 48 percent
* Science fiction: 26 percent
* Literature: 24 percent
* Romance: 21 percent
* Graphic novels: 11 percent
* Chick-lit: 8 percent
* Westerns: 5 percent
* Other fiction: 36 percent
What non-fiction do we most enjoy?
Among those who read, 78 percent said they have read at least one non-fiction book in the past year. The favorites:
* History: 31 percent
* Biographies: 29 percent
* Religion/spirituality: 26 percent
* Politics: 17 percent
* Self-help: 16 percent
* Current affairs: 14 percent
* True crime: 12 percent
* Business: 10 percent
* Other non-fiction: 29 percent
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Not Going to City Council on November 1
Here is the message I got from the Mayor's office:
Mayor Wiggins said the City Council passed our 2011 budget at last night’s meeting (our #1 priority over the past couple months). If no pertinent or time-sensitive business arises by Nov. 1, he said that meeting may be cancelled, and suggested that the Nov. 15 meeting, 7:00 PM, might be a better one for the students to attend. Or if you want to plan on Nov. 1, I will make a special note to let you know ASAP if that meeting is cancelled.
Therefore, we will be visiting City Council on Monday, November 15 at 7 p.m. Your research papers on the city and council are still due November 1 -- this will give me a chance to look them over and comment on them before we actually go.
I'm working on another little "surprise" for November 1. We likely will still need our drivers for a different kind of field trip. Stay tuned.
Mayor Wiggins said the City Council passed our 2011 budget at last night’s meeting (our #1 priority over the past couple months). If no pertinent or time-sensitive business arises by Nov. 1, he said that meeting may be cancelled, and suggested that the Nov. 15 meeting, 7:00 PM, might be a better one for the students to attend. Or if you want to plan on Nov. 1, I will make a special note to let you know ASAP if that meeting is cancelled.
Therefore, we will be visiting City Council on Monday, November 15 at 7 p.m. Your research papers on the city and council are still due November 1 -- this will give me a chance to look them over and comment on them before we actually go.
I'm working on another little "surprise" for November 1. We likely will still need our drivers for a different kind of field trip. Stay tuned.
Want to Hear Jerry Jenkins?
If two or three of you would like to go to this, I'll offer free transportation and will buy you supper. Or...if you feel you need to get back for the evening...we could just stay for the afternoon session. Let me know by e-mail if interested.
Free Writing Lecture Featuring
Jerry B. Jenkins
author of the Left Behind series (63 million copies sold)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
1-3 p.m. Rupp Commmunications Center
Taylor University, Upland, Indiana
Presented by the Dept. of Professional Writing
Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, Chairman
Jerry B. Jenkins will be presenting a two-hour talk on aspects of professional writing from 1-3 p.m. in the Rupp Theatre. Later, from 7-8 p.m., Jerry will be back in the auditorium to show clips from movies made based on his novels and to talk about his life as an author. He will do a question and answer session with the audience at both the 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. presentations. Both events are open to the public at no cost. An autograph party will be held at 8 p.m.
Free Writing Lecture Featuring
Jerry B. Jenkins
author of the Left Behind series (63 million copies sold)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
1-3 p.m. Rupp Commmunications Center
Taylor University, Upland, Indiana
Presented by the Dept. of Professional Writing
Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, Chairman
Jerry B. Jenkins will be presenting a two-hour talk on aspects of professional writing from 1-3 p.m. in the Rupp Theatre. Later, from 7-8 p.m., Jerry will be back in the auditorium to show clips from movies made based on his novels and to talk about his life as an author. He will do a question and answer session with the audience at both the 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. presentations. Both events are open to the public at no cost. An autograph party will be held at 8 p.m.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Do ou Have an 'Angel Story?'
Do you have an "angel story" to tell? Here may be a publishing opportunity.
True Angel Encounters Sought for Angel Digest, Compilation of Extraordinary Stories by Ordinary People
CRANSTON, RI, Oct. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Sometimes ordinary people have the most extraordinary true stories about angel encounters. Angelnook Publishing is it seeking such stories for its planned Angel Digest publication.
The digest will give hope and inspiration to thousands of people who have experienced such miraculous encounters, as well as those seeking truth. These heartwarming and often moving stories cross nearly all religions and faiths, and have been reported by people around the world.
Submitting a story is simple; people need to simply fill out a form at AngelDigest.com. These true angel stories will be reviewed by the editorial team at Angelnook Publishing, publishers of spiritual and divinely-inspired books and art.
Contributors will be informed via e-mail if their story has been accepted for publication, and each contributor whose story is published will receive a free copy of the Angel Digest. Those who submit stories will not be compensated, but will be part of an inspirational and uplifting project.
Contributors can remain anonymous, and Angelnook Publishing reserves the right to reject submissions its believes is not appropriate for the digest. People with angel stories can also upload images, which may be included in the Angel Digest publication.
For more information, go to: www.AngelDigest.com.
Christian Newswire
True Angel Encounters Sought for Angel Digest, Compilation of Extraordinary Stories by Ordinary People
CRANSTON, RI, Oct. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Sometimes ordinary people have the most extraordinary true stories about angel encounters. Angelnook Publishing is it seeking such stories for its planned Angel Digest publication.
The digest will give hope and inspiration to thousands of people who have experienced such miraculous encounters, as well as those seeking truth. These heartwarming and often moving stories cross nearly all religions and faiths, and have been reported by people around the world.
Submitting a story is simple; people need to simply fill out a form at AngelDigest.com. These true angel stories will be reviewed by the editorial team at Angelnook Publishing, publishers of spiritual and divinely-inspired books and art.
Contributors will be informed via e-mail if their story has been accepted for publication, and each contributor whose story is published will receive a free copy of the Angel Digest. Those who submit stories will not be compensated, but will be part of an inspirational and uplifting project.
Contributors can remain anonymous, and Angelnook Publishing reserves the right to reject submissions its believes is not appropriate for the digest. People with angel stories can also upload images, which may be included in the Angel Digest publication.
For more information, go to: www.AngelDigest.com.
Christian Newswire
Friday, October 15, 2010
Huffington on the Future of Newspapers
Because of her success and prominence in the new mixed-media field, this interview of Arianna Huffington by Poppy Harlow is well worth listening to and thinking about. Please view it and come prepared Monday night to discuss it. What is your reaction to Huffington's portray of the future of media?
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/08/f_v_huffington.mov.fortune/
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/10/08/f_v_huffington.mov.fortune/
Monday, October 11, 2010
Poynter: Journalists Lacking Multimedia Skills
From Journalism.co.uk:
One in five journalists lacks 'essential' multimedia skills, suggests Poynter research
By: Rachel McAthy
One in five journalists still do not have "essential" multimedia skills and news organisations need to do more to motivate staff, the researchers behind a Poynter Institute News University study said today.
Discussing the results of the survey at the World Editors Forum, Howard Finberg, director of the Interactive Learning & News University, said while journalists assessed that their own proficiency had significantly increased, more than one in five still do not feel they have the "essential" skills to go forward.
A total of 62 per cent of respondents said that five years ago their multimedia skills were non-existent or poor, whereas now this has dropped to 22 per cent.
The research was based on the answers of more than 425 respondents who were asked to evaluate the training they had experienced. The majority of those surveyed were from North America.
A total of 84 per cent of respondents said they have received some multimedia training in the last five years, which Finberg said was "great progress".
But he added that he was concerned about the remaining 16 per cent."This should be 100 per cent. Are we going to leave them behind?"
In video production skills respondents also claimed to be better trained, with 55 per cent rating themselves in categories from proficient to expert, when only 22 per cent would have given themselves these ratings five years ago.
"This still means about half of the staff do not know how to put together an effective video story," Finberg said.
"The number one motivator for success is 'I need to learn'. You need to tell journalists that there is a reason why you're getting the training, it is because we need to move the organisation from here to here. Give them the reasons to learn, give them the background."
He added that in the fast-developing and constantly changing media world training cannot stop.
"We do not have the luxury of declaring victory and moving on, this is not mission accomplished."
"We have moved the needle from improving peoples' work to actually making them feel smarter about what their doing," he told Journalism.co.uk.
"Training is an ongoing process, it's not that you get trained and you stop."
One in five journalists lacks 'essential' multimedia skills, suggests Poynter research
By: Rachel McAthy
One in five journalists still do not have "essential" multimedia skills and news organisations need to do more to motivate staff, the researchers behind a Poynter Institute News University study said today.
Discussing the results of the survey at the World Editors Forum, Howard Finberg, director of the Interactive Learning & News University, said while journalists assessed that their own proficiency had significantly increased, more than one in five still do not feel they have the "essential" skills to go forward.
A total of 62 per cent of respondents said that five years ago their multimedia skills were non-existent or poor, whereas now this has dropped to 22 per cent.
The research was based on the answers of more than 425 respondents who were asked to evaluate the training they had experienced. The majority of those surveyed were from North America.
A total of 84 per cent of respondents said they have received some multimedia training in the last five years, which Finberg said was "great progress".
But he added that he was concerned about the remaining 16 per cent."This should be 100 per cent. Are we going to leave them behind?"
In video production skills respondents also claimed to be better trained, with 55 per cent rating themselves in categories from proficient to expert, when only 22 per cent would have given themselves these ratings five years ago.
"This still means about half of the staff do not know how to put together an effective video story," Finberg said.
"The number one motivator for success is 'I need to learn'. You need to tell journalists that there is a reason why you're getting the training, it is because we need to move the organisation from here to here. Give them the reasons to learn, give them the background."
He added that in the fast-developing and constantly changing media world training cannot stop.
"We do not have the luxury of declaring victory and moving on, this is not mission accomplished."
"We have moved the needle from improving peoples' work to actually making them feel smarter about what their doing," he told Journalism.co.uk.
"Training is an ongoing process, it's not that you get trained and you stop."
Friday, October 8, 2010
Speech Story Example
If you're looking for an example of a speech story for this coming week's assignment, here is one that came to my attention today.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_16280102?nclick_check=1
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_16280102?nclick_check=1
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Building the Future or Trying to Recreate the Past?
Here's an interesting (slightly edited) post from Mark Briggs at Journalism 2.0:
Are you building the future or trying to recreate the past?
I started my session at the SPJ conference in Las Vegas with a simple question: Are you optimistic about the future for journalism? Some two-thirds of the 120 or so people in attendance raised their hands. Pretty good, I thought.
The question was appropriate since my session’s title was based on the “bright future for journalism.” I did an updated version of the talk I gave at SXSWi in Austin the spring and, thankfully, several people who didn’t raise their hands in the beginning confessed to me later that I had changed their mind. Nice.
Journalists, for better or worse, or so good at romanticizing the past that many of them have spent years now trying recreate it. That energy would have been so much better spent building the future for journalism – business models or not – and thankfully it seems the tide is turning. Though this was my first SPJ national conference, I got the sense from talking to several people that the mood was much more upbeat than it had been in previous years.
Perfect. The first step toward innovation is optimism.
I met college students determined to launch their own startup journalism venture instead of looking for a job. I met some great people from CNN who are killing it with innovative journalism on a global scale. I heard from a professional storm chaser who sells his coverage, a farmer’s wife who launched a newspaper years ago that’s never been published online but is successful and a woman who works at a community news operation that is growing fast in Texas.
I also met a woman who recently resigned her stable newspaper job to pursue … something. She doesn’t know what it is yet, but she knew where she was working … wasn’t working. That’s optimism. That’s how the future gets built.
I also heard from students who thanked me for providing a positive outlook for journalism. Their professors apparently spend class time bemoaning the downfall of “the way it was.” What are professors teaching? Oddly, a John Mellancamp song was playing while I walked past the fountains at Bellagio and one of the lyrics should be posted in the teachers’ lounge at every J-school:
If you’re not part of the future then get out of the way.
In all, a good conference that will help spur the innovation needed to push evolution in journalism. I’d encourage anyone interested in playing a part to join a local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists or the Online News Association. Roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty. The future of journalism will be what you create.
Are you building the future or trying to recreate the past?
I started my session at the SPJ conference in Las Vegas with a simple question: Are you optimistic about the future for journalism? Some two-thirds of the 120 or so people in attendance raised their hands. Pretty good, I thought.
The question was appropriate since my session’s title was based on the “bright future for journalism.” I did an updated version of the talk I gave at SXSWi in Austin the spring and, thankfully, several people who didn’t raise their hands in the beginning confessed to me later that I had changed their mind. Nice.
Journalists, for better or worse, or so good at romanticizing the past that many of them have spent years now trying recreate it. That energy would have been so much better spent building the future for journalism – business models or not – and thankfully it seems the tide is turning. Though this was my first SPJ national conference, I got the sense from talking to several people that the mood was much more upbeat than it had been in previous years.
Perfect. The first step toward innovation is optimism.
I met college students determined to launch their own startup journalism venture instead of looking for a job. I met some great people from CNN who are killing it with innovative journalism on a global scale. I heard from a professional storm chaser who sells his coverage, a farmer’s wife who launched a newspaper years ago that’s never been published online but is successful and a woman who works at a community news operation that is growing fast in Texas.
I also met a woman who recently resigned her stable newspaper job to pursue … something. She doesn’t know what it is yet, but she knew where she was working … wasn’t working. That’s optimism. That’s how the future gets built.
I also heard from students who thanked me for providing a positive outlook for journalism. Their professors apparently spend class time bemoaning the downfall of “the way it was.” What are professors teaching? Oddly, a John Mellancamp song was playing while I walked past the fountains at Bellagio and one of the lyrics should be posted in the teachers’ lounge at every J-school:
If you’re not part of the future then get out of the way.
In all, a good conference that will help spur the innovation needed to push evolution in journalism. I’d encourage anyone interested in playing a part to join a local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists or the Online News Association. Roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty. The future of journalism will be what you create.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Dallas Publisher Reflects on Business at 125 Years
This is a long, but very thought-provoking, letter to employees by the publisher of the Dallas (TX) Morning News. Lots to think about here:
'Newspaper companies that will survive will not consider themselves newspaper companies'
Dallas Morning News publisher's letter to staff on the paper's 125th anniversary
Colleagues,
As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, I wanted to congratulate and thank each and every one of you for being a part of this organization and helping to fulfill its purpose. No one knows better than you the challenges we've encountered over the years. I'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as we've faced and overcame each of them. Through it all, the words etched on the front of our building still hold true. Our commitment to providing important, irreplaceable, integrity-driven journalism has never wavered.
I would like to share with you some remarks I made at a luncheon at SMU this week. They encapsulate my views of where we are as a business, where we need to go and what we need to do to get there. As importantly, they speak to why it is so critical that for-profit newspaper companies continue to operate and do so robustly.
Let's clear up one thing right off the top. For those of you who are over 50 and can't imagine your morning ritual without The Dallas Morning News, I have good tidings. Most of you will be dead before we quit publishing a printed edition of The Dallas Morning News. The only caveat to this declaration is this: if technology enables a reading experience that you, the die-hard print edition devotee enjoys more than the ink-on-paper experience, then the last rites for the newspaper -- emphasis on "paper" -- will come sooner than your last days above ground.
Short of that happening, research project after research project has identified a significant and plentiful cohort of consumers whose bumper sticker could read "you'll have to pry this newspaper out of my cold dead hand." By the way, this is a good thing for those of us in the newspaper business. We tend to think highly of such people.
Actually, The Dallas Morning News is really not in the newspaper business anymore. We use to be. We had one product. A newspaper. We had one publishing cycle. 24 hours. We had one size. And it fit all. We were like Henry Ford's admonition that the consumer could have a car in any color they wanted, just as long as it was black. We were willing to give you any newspaper you wanted, as long as it was the one we threw on your driveway.
How things have changed. We now publish multiple products like Briefing, Al Dia and Quick. We publish websites that have an always-on publishing cycle, so we can bring you important breaking news and information. We customize printed products by geographic zones. We enable you to customize your engagement with the content we distribute digitally. And we make the content we publish available in a newspaper, on your desktops, your mobile phones, and on the emerging category of mobile tablets.
We're no longer a newspaper company. We're a news media company. The newspaper is just one way we package and distribute the content we publish.
But what happened? How did the response to the statement "newspapers are dead" become "tell me something I don't already know?" Frankly, I don't know how the death of newspapers could have been any more exaggerated, especially in stories we in the newspaper business wrote about our own industry.
I'll say this: we gave it all we got. And we did a great job. Everyone bought into the imminent death of newspapers. We managed to convince consumers, sell the notion to advertisers and scare away investors. It's enough to make you wonder why we were writing that newspapers were no longer an effective way to communicate.
Yet, here's the story that got lost in the "death of newspapers" narrative: For the most part, newspaper company operations have remained profitable-though certainly less so than prior to 2001. It was debt inflated capital structures that were put in place just prior to breath taking declines in advertising revenues that diminished cash flows from operations so severely, no bank would refinance these newspaper companies’ newly acquired debt. This predicament meant Chapter 11 protection for the companies that owned newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Orange County Register.
Yet it is critical to distinguish these unsupportable corporate capital structures from the newspapers' operations that were still providing positive cash flow -- just not sufficient to support the level of debt taken on. These newspapers continue to be profitable with operating margins in the high single digits or low teens. Still pretty healthy margins by most industry standards.
Nevertheless, the past three years have been particularly punishing. Industry advertising revenues, which historically made up 80% of a newspaper's total revenue, declined by 8% in 2007, 17% in 2008 and 24% in 2009. Mid-way through this year, ad revenues were down another 9% or so. And yet, in spite of these precipitous declines, as I said previously, most newspapers are still profitable. They have cut their expenses by 30-40% or more to align their cost structure with their revenues.
The questions are: Why should you care whether newspaper companies continue to operate? And in order for them to continue to operate, what is the way forward?
Let me address each question in turn.
Why should you care?
You should care because for at least another decade, the profitability of newspaper companies will depend on the printed edition. And it is the newsrooms of the for-profit metropolitan newspaper companies that are doing the bulk of local, regional and state government watchdog reporting in our country, reporting that is so critical to a durable democracy.
Why is this watchdog reporting so critical? It's because throughout history, the power inherent in government has led to corruption. Always has. Always will. Dick Nixon to Don Hill. It's the way it is. Yet in a democracy, corrupt government will not long endure as a legitimate government. Those colonials who wrote our constitution understood this. They recognized that the press, if free from government restraint and interference, could be a powerful tool for holding elected officials and public institutions accountable for their actions.
This relationship between government accountability and the free press is critical to the durability of our democracy. Since those early years, the scale and complexity of our local government has reached proportions Thomas Jefferson could never have imagined. Yet, it is only the for-profit newspaper press that has invested in large scale local newsrooms. In other words, it is only the newspaper companies that have the scale of resources to match up to the scale of our local governments.
As a case in point: The Dallas Morning News employs more reporters than WFAA, KDFW, KXAS and KTVT combined. Other local media organizations, lacking the scale of newspaper newsrooms, cannot adequately do the watchdog work that is so vital to our democracy.
Let's review these other media players briefly:
Public television and public radio? They support quality journalism on a limited scale at mostly the national and international level. What they do locally is mostly excellent. Yet, they don't have the funding to engage in the breadth of local reporting that matches up to the scale of local government.
Local television news? It still shows flashes of brilliant and important local reporting. Yet over time, and while there are notable exceptions, most local newscasts are a diet of high story counts, breaking news reporting and stories that often blur the line between news and entertainment. They aren't doing much government watchdog reporting.
How about Google, AOL and Yahoo? Don't confuse aggregation and dissemination with original reporting. The same can be said of The Huffington Post and similar organizations -- only on a smaller scale. They are certainly not doing original local reporting.
And the newly fashionable not-for-profit news organizations? I'm all for them. They are doing some important journalism. Yet none of them employs more than twenty professionals who are engaged in original reporting. They utterly lack scale.
It is no coincidence that in every country anywhere in the world that has a functioning democracy in which its citizens enjoy meaningful personal liberties, three things are always present:
* A rule of law
* A genuinely free and open election
* A free press
And while our constitution guarantees the press the right to do its work free from undue government interference, it doesn't guarantee the press the inalienable right to do it for a profit. Yet that's what our democracy needs -- for these newspaper companies and the newsrooms they support to be profitable. No one will adequately replace the watchdog work they do if they go away.
So here is my prescription for how newspaper companies can sustain their profitability:
* The newspaper companies that will survive will not consider themselves to be newspaper companies. They recognize that they are local media companies. They will distribute content on paper, through the internet, via the mobile web, through applications and any other way technology lets consumers access news and information. They will make themselves an indispensable resource of local news and information for citizens of the communities they serve.
* To be indispensable, these local media companies must provide relevant local content that is differentiated by the consumer's inability to get it from any other source.
* This means that who, what, when and where are table stakes. They don't provide a winning hand. Everyone has them. They are commodities. The differentiation will come from using the scale of the newspaper's newsroom to give the consumer perspective, interpretation, context and analysis. It's the columnists, the beat reporters, the subject matter experts that will drive value. It's enterprise and investigative journalism that will be distinguishing.
• And what is newspapers' sustainable competitive advantage? Fortunately for our democracy, it's the scale of their newsrooms. It is important to recognize that digital technology has already leveled the technological playing field for local media. In the internet environment, the means of transmission and the devices used to access news and information are identical for all media. The sustainable competitive advantage newspaper companies have is the scale of their newsrooms and the quality and quantity of important and relevant local news and information it permits them to originate as compared to all other local media. If newspaper companies continue to reduce the scale of the reporting resources in their newsrooms, they will level the reporting playing field with local TV stations and give up their competitive advantage.
* In addition, the newspaper companies that make the transition will have a customer base that covers a greater proportion of its costs. The traditional newspaper business model in which advertising was responsible for 80% of the revenue and the consumer - by way of subscriptions or single copy sales - accounted for only 20% of revenues is a that model that is not sustainable. Direct payments from consumers will need to account for 50% or more of newspaper companies' total revenue. This means higher subscription and single copy prices for the printed newspaper. It means smartly calibrated pricing for its locally originated news when accessed via the desktop, smart phones and tablet devices. It means paid niche apps. It means enforcing copyright protection. And it means not making the most of content we originate available unless you pay for it.
* It means finding innovative ways to monetize the very large audiences that newspaper companies still attract and being as dependent on impression based advertising as we are today. Why? Because there is going to be a perpetual imbalance in the digital media environment between the supply of available digital ad impressions and the demand for them. This condition has already driven down digital advertising prices and it will keep them down. Local media do not have the scale of audiences to support their businesses at digital CPM rates.
* Finally, it means getting mobile right. Digital consumption of news and information is going mobile at an astounding pace. And it will continue. The growth in access of news and information has shifted permanently from the desktop to mobile devices. We didn't get it right with our wired internet based business model. We must get the mobile business model right.
It's not the newspaper I am fighting to save. It's the scale of the newsrooms of newspaper companies I want to preserve so that in turn we can preserve our democracy. And these newsrooms will be preserved only if newspaper companies find a sustainably profitable business model in the digital media environment in which they now compete.
There's plenty of hope and still sufficient time. But the sense of urgency is real.
Jim
'Newspaper companies that will survive will not consider themselves newspaper companies'
Dallas Morning News publisher's letter to staff on the paper's 125th anniversary
Colleagues,
As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, I wanted to congratulate and thank each and every one of you for being a part of this organization and helping to fulfill its purpose. No one knows better than you the challenges we've encountered over the years. I'm proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you as we've faced and overcame each of them. Through it all, the words etched on the front of our building still hold true. Our commitment to providing important, irreplaceable, integrity-driven journalism has never wavered.
I would like to share with you some remarks I made at a luncheon at SMU this week. They encapsulate my views of where we are as a business, where we need to go and what we need to do to get there. As importantly, they speak to why it is so critical that for-profit newspaper companies continue to operate and do so robustly.
Let's clear up one thing right off the top. For those of you who are over 50 and can't imagine your morning ritual without The Dallas Morning News, I have good tidings. Most of you will be dead before we quit publishing a printed edition of The Dallas Morning News. The only caveat to this declaration is this: if technology enables a reading experience that you, the die-hard print edition devotee enjoys more than the ink-on-paper experience, then the last rites for the newspaper -- emphasis on "paper" -- will come sooner than your last days above ground.
Short of that happening, research project after research project has identified a significant and plentiful cohort of consumers whose bumper sticker could read "you'll have to pry this newspaper out of my cold dead hand." By the way, this is a good thing for those of us in the newspaper business. We tend to think highly of such people.
Actually, The Dallas Morning News is really not in the newspaper business anymore. We use to be. We had one product. A newspaper. We had one publishing cycle. 24 hours. We had one size. And it fit all. We were like Henry Ford's admonition that the consumer could have a car in any color they wanted, just as long as it was black. We were willing to give you any newspaper you wanted, as long as it was the one we threw on your driveway.
How things have changed. We now publish multiple products like Briefing, Al Dia and Quick. We publish websites that have an always-on publishing cycle, so we can bring you important breaking news and information. We customize printed products by geographic zones. We enable you to customize your engagement with the content we distribute digitally. And we make the content we publish available in a newspaper, on your desktops, your mobile phones, and on the emerging category of mobile tablets.
We're no longer a newspaper company. We're a news media company. The newspaper is just one way we package and distribute the content we publish.
But what happened? How did the response to the statement "newspapers are dead" become "tell me something I don't already know?" Frankly, I don't know how the death of newspapers could have been any more exaggerated, especially in stories we in the newspaper business wrote about our own industry.
I'll say this: we gave it all we got. And we did a great job. Everyone bought into the imminent death of newspapers. We managed to convince consumers, sell the notion to advertisers and scare away investors. It's enough to make you wonder why we were writing that newspapers were no longer an effective way to communicate.
Yet, here's the story that got lost in the "death of newspapers" narrative: For the most part, newspaper company operations have remained profitable-though certainly less so than prior to 2001. It was debt inflated capital structures that were put in place just prior to breath taking declines in advertising revenues that diminished cash flows from operations so severely, no bank would refinance these newspaper companies’ newly acquired debt. This predicament meant Chapter 11 protection for the companies that owned newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Orange County Register.
Yet it is critical to distinguish these unsupportable corporate capital structures from the newspapers' operations that were still providing positive cash flow -- just not sufficient to support the level of debt taken on. These newspapers continue to be profitable with operating margins in the high single digits or low teens. Still pretty healthy margins by most industry standards.
Nevertheless, the past three years have been particularly punishing. Industry advertising revenues, which historically made up 80% of a newspaper's total revenue, declined by 8% in 2007, 17% in 2008 and 24% in 2009. Mid-way through this year, ad revenues were down another 9% or so. And yet, in spite of these precipitous declines, as I said previously, most newspapers are still profitable. They have cut their expenses by 30-40% or more to align their cost structure with their revenues.
The questions are: Why should you care whether newspaper companies continue to operate? And in order for them to continue to operate, what is the way forward?
Let me address each question in turn.
Why should you care?
You should care because for at least another decade, the profitability of newspaper companies will depend on the printed edition. And it is the newsrooms of the for-profit metropolitan newspaper companies that are doing the bulk of local, regional and state government watchdog reporting in our country, reporting that is so critical to a durable democracy.
Why is this watchdog reporting so critical? It's because throughout history, the power inherent in government has led to corruption. Always has. Always will. Dick Nixon to Don Hill. It's the way it is. Yet in a democracy, corrupt government will not long endure as a legitimate government. Those colonials who wrote our constitution understood this. They recognized that the press, if free from government restraint and interference, could be a powerful tool for holding elected officials and public institutions accountable for their actions.
This relationship between government accountability and the free press is critical to the durability of our democracy. Since those early years, the scale and complexity of our local government has reached proportions Thomas Jefferson could never have imagined. Yet, it is only the for-profit newspaper press that has invested in large scale local newsrooms. In other words, it is only the newspaper companies that have the scale of resources to match up to the scale of our local governments.
As a case in point: The Dallas Morning News employs more reporters than WFAA, KDFW, KXAS and KTVT combined. Other local media organizations, lacking the scale of newspaper newsrooms, cannot adequately do the watchdog work that is so vital to our democracy.
Let's review these other media players briefly:
Public television and public radio? They support quality journalism on a limited scale at mostly the national and international level. What they do locally is mostly excellent. Yet, they don't have the funding to engage in the breadth of local reporting that matches up to the scale of local government.
Local television news? It still shows flashes of brilliant and important local reporting. Yet over time, and while there are notable exceptions, most local newscasts are a diet of high story counts, breaking news reporting and stories that often blur the line between news and entertainment. They aren't doing much government watchdog reporting.
How about Google, AOL and Yahoo? Don't confuse aggregation and dissemination with original reporting. The same can be said of The Huffington Post and similar organizations -- only on a smaller scale. They are certainly not doing original local reporting.
And the newly fashionable not-for-profit news organizations? I'm all for them. They are doing some important journalism. Yet none of them employs more than twenty professionals who are engaged in original reporting. They utterly lack scale.
It is no coincidence that in every country anywhere in the world that has a functioning democracy in which its citizens enjoy meaningful personal liberties, three things are always present:
* A rule of law
* A genuinely free and open election
* A free press
And while our constitution guarantees the press the right to do its work free from undue government interference, it doesn't guarantee the press the inalienable right to do it for a profit. Yet that's what our democracy needs -- for these newspaper companies and the newsrooms they support to be profitable. No one will adequately replace the watchdog work they do if they go away.
So here is my prescription for how newspaper companies can sustain their profitability:
* The newspaper companies that will survive will not consider themselves to be newspaper companies. They recognize that they are local media companies. They will distribute content on paper, through the internet, via the mobile web, through applications and any other way technology lets consumers access news and information. They will make themselves an indispensable resource of local news and information for citizens of the communities they serve.
* To be indispensable, these local media companies must provide relevant local content that is differentiated by the consumer's inability to get it from any other source.
* This means that who, what, when and where are table stakes. They don't provide a winning hand. Everyone has them. They are commodities. The differentiation will come from using the scale of the newspaper's newsroom to give the consumer perspective, interpretation, context and analysis. It's the columnists, the beat reporters, the subject matter experts that will drive value. It's enterprise and investigative journalism that will be distinguishing.
• And what is newspapers' sustainable competitive advantage? Fortunately for our democracy, it's the scale of their newsrooms. It is important to recognize that digital technology has already leveled the technological playing field for local media. In the internet environment, the means of transmission and the devices used to access news and information are identical for all media. The sustainable competitive advantage newspaper companies have is the scale of their newsrooms and the quality and quantity of important and relevant local news and information it permits them to originate as compared to all other local media. If newspaper companies continue to reduce the scale of the reporting resources in their newsrooms, they will level the reporting playing field with local TV stations and give up their competitive advantage.
* In addition, the newspaper companies that make the transition will have a customer base that covers a greater proportion of its costs. The traditional newspaper business model in which advertising was responsible for 80% of the revenue and the consumer - by way of subscriptions or single copy sales - accounted for only 20% of revenues is a that model that is not sustainable. Direct payments from consumers will need to account for 50% or more of newspaper companies' total revenue. This means higher subscription and single copy prices for the printed newspaper. It means smartly calibrated pricing for its locally originated news when accessed via the desktop, smart phones and tablet devices. It means paid niche apps. It means enforcing copyright protection. And it means not making the most of content we originate available unless you pay for it.
* It means finding innovative ways to monetize the very large audiences that newspaper companies still attract and being as dependent on impression based advertising as we are today. Why? Because there is going to be a perpetual imbalance in the digital media environment between the supply of available digital ad impressions and the demand for them. This condition has already driven down digital advertising prices and it will keep them down. Local media do not have the scale of audiences to support their businesses at digital CPM rates.
* Finally, it means getting mobile right. Digital consumption of news and information is going mobile at an astounding pace. And it will continue. The growth in access of news and information has shifted permanently from the desktop to mobile devices. We didn't get it right with our wired internet based business model. We must get the mobile business model right.
It's not the newspaper I am fighting to save. It's the scale of the newsrooms of newspaper companies I want to preserve so that in turn we can preserve our democracy. And these newsrooms will be preserved only if newspaper companies find a sustainably profitable business model in the digital media environment in which they now compete.
There's plenty of hope and still sufficient time. But the sense of urgency is real.
Jim
Quote on Editing
Here's a really great quote I picked up from somebody's Facebook page:
"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." — Arthur Plotnik, editor/author
"You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke." — Arthur Plotnik, editor/author
Anne Rice Birthday Today
Today, October 4, is the birthday of Anne Rice, born Howard Allen O'Brien in New Orleans (1941). Her parents were Irish Catholics, and also free spirits, and they thought it would be great fun to name their daughter after her father, whose name was Howard. But she hated it so much that she changed her name to Anne when she was in first grade.
Anne was one of four girls, and she said that they were all a little weird, grew up isolated and strange like the Brontë sisters. They created fantasy worlds and made up horror stories together, and they liked to wander through cemeteries for fun. And while they walked through the streets of New Orleans, past falling-down mansions, their mom would tell them stories of horrible things that had happened inside.
Even though Anne was fascinated by ghosts and violence, she was also a devout Catholic, so devout that she wanted to be a nun for a while. But when she was 14, her mother died from alcoholism, and her dad moved the family to Texas. Here Anne became a normal teenager, had friends, and edited her school's paper.
She gave up Catholicism, inspired by the defiance of 1960s counterculture. She went to college and ended up marrying her high school sweetheart.
They moved to Berkeley, Anne got her MFA in Creative Writing, and they had a daughter. But her daughter died of leukemia at the age of five, and Anne's life fell apart. The only things she could do to cope were to drink and write. She worked on a story she had been reworking for years, a story about vampires in New Orleans. She had most of the plot in place, but she said that the vampires themselves were like cartoon characters, that they looked and talked and thought like the most stereotypical vampires.
She had already decided that her main character, Louis, was haunted by the death of his brother, and suddenly Anne Rice was able to identify with Louis, and she channeled all her grief and rage and confusion into his character. She turned her manuscript into Interview with the Vampire (1976). The entire novel is an interview between a young reporter and Louis, who is a very reflective vampire.
Interview With The Vampire started out slowly, but it ended up a huge best-seller. Rice wrote more books about the same vampires, a series called The Vampire Chronicles. She also wrote stories about witches, and she even tried her hand at erotica.
Then, after her conversion back to Catholicism in 1998, she wrote a series of books about the life of Christ. Her books have sold almost 100 million copies.
This year she's been getting a lot of attention because she announced on her Facebook page last summer that after 12 years, she was leaving the Catholic Church and organized religion in general. Her newest novel, Of Love and Evil, is due out at the beginning of November, a novel about angels.
Anne was one of four girls, and she said that they were all a little weird, grew up isolated and strange like the Brontë sisters. They created fantasy worlds and made up horror stories together, and they liked to wander through cemeteries for fun. And while they walked through the streets of New Orleans, past falling-down mansions, their mom would tell them stories of horrible things that had happened inside.
Even though Anne was fascinated by ghosts and violence, she was also a devout Catholic, so devout that she wanted to be a nun for a while. But when she was 14, her mother died from alcoholism, and her dad moved the family to Texas. Here Anne became a normal teenager, had friends, and edited her school's paper.
She gave up Catholicism, inspired by the defiance of 1960s counterculture. She went to college and ended up marrying her high school sweetheart.
They moved to Berkeley, Anne got her MFA in Creative Writing, and they had a daughter. But her daughter died of leukemia at the age of five, and Anne's life fell apart. The only things she could do to cope were to drink and write. She worked on a story she had been reworking for years, a story about vampires in New Orleans. She had most of the plot in place, but she said that the vampires themselves were like cartoon characters, that they looked and talked and thought like the most stereotypical vampires.
She had already decided that her main character, Louis, was haunted by the death of his brother, and suddenly Anne Rice was able to identify with Louis, and she channeled all her grief and rage and confusion into his character. She turned her manuscript into Interview with the Vampire (1976). The entire novel is an interview between a young reporter and Louis, who is a very reflective vampire.
Interview With The Vampire started out slowly, but it ended up a huge best-seller. Rice wrote more books about the same vampires, a series called The Vampire Chronicles. She also wrote stories about witches, and she even tried her hand at erotica.
Then, after her conversion back to Catholicism in 1998, she wrote a series of books about the life of Christ. Her books have sold almost 100 million copies.
This year she's been getting a lot of attention because she announced on her Facebook page last summer that after 12 years, she was leaving the Catholic Church and organized religion in general. Her newest novel, Of Love and Evil, is due out at the beginning of November, a novel about angels.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
RNA Meets in Denver: Hears From Book Authors
From Publisher's Weekly:
Religion Newswriters Meet in Denver; Books a Major Focus
By Marcia Nelson and Lynn Garrett
Publishers were prominent among the sponsors who courted the nation’s religion journalists, gathered in Denver September 23–25 to learn, network, and congratulate one another on still being employed.
Offering more proof that niche-focused shows and conferences make sense, attendance numbers were up at this year’s RNA conference; attendance of 190 (members, exhibitors, speakers, and spouses), including seven journalists from abroad, surpassed last year’s figure of 175.The association now has 573 members, down from a peak of 584 in 2008.
Many of the conference sessions were book based. Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam and his coauthor, University of Notre Dame political science professor David Campbell, introduced findings from their hefty American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (Simon & Schuster, Oct.; see PW’s review) characterizing America as religiously devout, diverse, and tolerant.
At a luncheon sponsored by Jossey-Bass, Donald Kraybill (Amish Grace), the country’s go-to expert on the Amish, spoke about his new book, The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World, coauthored by Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher (Jossey-Bass, Oct.; see PW’s review). Kraybill called the book the first ever focused on Amish religion and practice rather than their unique lifestyle. The book has been featured on CNN.com, and the authors will post a guest commentary on the Washington Post “On Faith” blog next month.
FaithWords hosted the Saturday night awards banquet, featuring Philip Yancey’s latest book, What Good Is God? Yancey spoke, centering his remarks on his own experience as a journalist. Other publishers bringing authors were Doubleday Religion, HarperOne, and Baylor University Press, who all also exhibited, as did Westminster John Knox and Jewish Lights/SkyLight Paths. B&H Publishing sponsored a session on Christian book sales phenoms, including its own 4.5-million seller, The Love Dare (2008).
Preceding the main conference was a full day of sessions on Bible translation to familiarize journalists with the process and history of translation, information that will be useful for reporting on the 400th anniversary of the King James translation and the update of the NIV translation that is due in 2011.
At a panel on how to drive online traffic, Alana B. Elias Kornfeld, senior editor at the Huffington Post, who recently launched the site’s religion area, said Google analytics demonstrated that people used Google to search for religion books.
Johanna Inwood, marketing manager and publicist for Random House’s WaterBrook Multnomah division based in Colorado Springs, Colo., told RBL that Doubleday Religion would “return to its Catholic roots,” and that body-mind-spirit and Buddhist titles that do not fit that emphasis—such as books by the Dalai Lama and Deepak Chopra—will be moved over to the Harmony imprint. Doubleday Religion editor-in-chief Trace Murphy will acquire for both imprints.
RNA meets next year in Durham, N.C., with pre-conference sessions at Duke University.
Religion Newswriters Meet in Denver; Books a Major Focus
By Marcia Nelson and Lynn Garrett
Publishers were prominent among the sponsors who courted the nation’s religion journalists, gathered in Denver September 23–25 to learn, network, and congratulate one another on still being employed.
Offering more proof that niche-focused shows and conferences make sense, attendance numbers were up at this year’s RNA conference; attendance of 190 (members, exhibitors, speakers, and spouses), including seven journalists from abroad, surpassed last year’s figure of 175.The association now has 573 members, down from a peak of 584 in 2008.
Many of the conference sessions were book based. Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam and his coauthor, University of Notre Dame political science professor David Campbell, introduced findings from their hefty American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (Simon & Schuster, Oct.; see PW’s review) characterizing America as religiously devout, diverse, and tolerant.
At a luncheon sponsored by Jossey-Bass, Donald Kraybill (Amish Grace), the country’s go-to expert on the Amish, spoke about his new book, The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World, coauthored by Steven Nolt and David Weaver-Zercher (Jossey-Bass, Oct.; see PW’s review). Kraybill called the book the first ever focused on Amish religion and practice rather than their unique lifestyle. The book has been featured on CNN.com, and the authors will post a guest commentary on the Washington Post “On Faith” blog next month.
FaithWords hosted the Saturday night awards banquet, featuring Philip Yancey’s latest book, What Good Is God? Yancey spoke, centering his remarks on his own experience as a journalist. Other publishers bringing authors were Doubleday Religion, HarperOne, and Baylor University Press, who all also exhibited, as did Westminster John Knox and Jewish Lights/SkyLight Paths. B&H Publishing sponsored a session on Christian book sales phenoms, including its own 4.5-million seller, The Love Dare (2008).
Preceding the main conference was a full day of sessions on Bible translation to familiarize journalists with the process and history of translation, information that will be useful for reporting on the 400th anniversary of the King James translation and the update of the NIV translation that is due in 2011.
At a panel on how to drive online traffic, Alana B. Elias Kornfeld, senior editor at the Huffington Post, who recently launched the site’s religion area, said Google analytics demonstrated that people used Google to search for religion books.
Johanna Inwood, marketing manager and publicist for Random House’s WaterBrook Multnomah division based in Colorado Springs, Colo., told RBL that Doubleday Religion would “return to its Catholic roots,” and that body-mind-spirit and Buddhist titles that do not fit that emphasis—such as books by the Dalai Lama and Deepak Chopra—will be moved over to the Harmony imprint. Doubleday Religion editor-in-chief Trace Murphy will acquire for both imprints.
RNA meets next year in Durham, N.C., with pre-conference sessions at Duke University.
Encouraging News from Religion Editor of Publisher's Weekly
Editor's Note
Our readers know that book publishing has been among the businesses hit hard by the recession and by the uncertainty caused by technological changes. Things have been even tougher for journalists, as staff and pages shrink at magazines and, especially, newspapers.
Just a few years ago the religion sections of dailies were thriving, but recently many of the editors and reporters who worked on them have seen their sections and jobs go away, though many now cover the beat as freelancers.
This year’s Religion Newswriters conference, covered in this issue, brought some hopeful signs. Aside from the veterans who were there, I saw many young faces, attendance was up, and the conversations were more upbeat.
The country struggles these days with the need for better understanding of Islam and for fresh insights across the faith spectrum, as the practice of religions in America changes rapidly. Journalists with deep and broad knowledge of this complex subject will be needed more than ever. Online or in print, religion will be a hot topic. —Lynn Garrett
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
MomSense Magazine Continues in Print
MomSense Magazine Continues in Print as MOPS International and Christianity Today International Complete Publishing Agreement
DENVER, Sept. 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- MomSense magazine continues to reach over 90,000 mothers of preschoolers as MOPS International resumes full responsibility for advertising sales, editorial and publishing following the completion of a five-year agreement with Christianity Today International (CTI). The last issue published and distributed by CTI will be the November/December 2010 issue.
MomSense magazine is the premier benefit of the MOPS International Membership. Interested advertisers can contact Sponsor Relations at Advertising@MOPS.org for more information and assistance. The current MOPS Media Kit with MomSense advertising rates and specifications, and all our media opportunities, can be viewed online at MOPS.org/sponsors, click Advertise in MomSense. Ad reservations can be made quickly and easily using our automated online system at MOPS.org/sponsorlogin if you have an established advertising relationship through MOPS International.
Christianity Today International offers a broad array of integrated advertising opportunities through their publications, websites, blogs, and newsletters, connecting you with key Christian audiences -- pastors, church leaders, influential decision makers, and active and involved men, women, parents and teens.
DENVER, Sept. 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- MomSense magazine continues to reach over 90,000 mothers of preschoolers as MOPS International resumes full responsibility for advertising sales, editorial and publishing following the completion of a five-year agreement with Christianity Today International (CTI). The last issue published and distributed by CTI will be the November/December 2010 issue.
MomSense magazine is the premier benefit of the MOPS International Membership. Interested advertisers can contact Sponsor Relations at Advertising@MOPS.org for more information and assistance. The current MOPS Media Kit with MomSense advertising rates and specifications, and all our media opportunities, can be viewed online at MOPS.org/sponsors, click Advertise in MomSense. Ad reservations can be made quickly and easily using our automated online system at MOPS.org/sponsorlogin if you have an established advertising relationship through MOPS International.
Christianity Today International offers a broad array of integrated advertising opportunities through their publications, websites, blogs, and newsletters, connecting you with key Christian audiences -- pastors, church leaders, influential decision makers, and active and involved men, women, parents and teens.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
A Billboard-Sized Oops!
South Bend ad for Walorski has grammatical error
Election season is in full swing around the country, but some are so excited about the all-important election that they're forgetting the small things.
A billboard on the south side of South Bend shows support for Republican Jackie Walorski's race for the second congressional district.
But there's a grammatical error. The sign reads “Joe your fired.” That’s the wrong use of the word "your."
It's unclear whether the billboard was put up by Walorski's campaign.
Election season is in full swing around the country, but some are so excited about the all-important election that they're forgetting the small things.
A billboard on the south side of South Bend shows support for Republican Jackie Walorski's race for the second congressional district.
But there's a grammatical error. The sign reads “Joe your fired.” That’s the wrong use of the word "your."
It's unclear whether the billboard was put up by Walorski's campaign.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday is National Punctuation Day
Friday is National Punctuation Day
The apostrophe is the most misused.
By COLETTE BANCROFT, St. Petersburg Times
Many of us are worried already. As a former English teacher and copy editor, I despair for humanity when I open an e-mail that bristles with so many exclamation points I can hardly make out the words between them. And those are just the news releases about library events.
Just last week, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten declared the English language dead, the coup de grace delivered by an unnecessary apostrophe.
But don't bury English yet. People are fighting to revive its proper use. National Punctuation Day was the brainchild of Jeff Rubin, a California newsletter writer who founded it in 2004 as "a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis."
Rubin and his wife, Norma, maintain a website, nationalpunctuationday.com.
Then there is Jeff Deck's mission to bring America back to perfect punctuation, at least in public. "It's a question of people building their apostrophic confidence," says Deck, co-author of "The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World One Correction at a Time."
Deck, 30, an editor who lives in New Hampshire, has a hands-on approach to raising awareness of poor punctuation. A couple of years ago, he and his friend Benjamin Herson, a bookseller, set off on a 2 ½-month road trip in search of errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar in public signs.
The most common punctuation error? "The poor apostrophe is the most misused and put-upon. People are always throwing it into words where it's not needed, especially plurals," Deck says, citing signs directing people to "Restroom's" and offering "Apple's for sale."
"Almost as common is the apostrophe being left out where it's needed.
Deck doesn't blame vanishing punctuation skills on e-mail and texting, saying those modes of communication "get a bad rap. It's very easy to blame them."
Roy Peter Clark loves punctuation so much that the cover of his new book, "The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English," features a giant golden semicolon. The senior scholar at the Poynter Institute devotes several chapters to punctuation, emphasizing what a valuable tool it can be.
In "Reclaim the exclamation point," he lays out the parameters of opinion on that exuberant but controversial mark. On the one hand, master thriller author Elmore Leonard tells him, "You are allowed only three in every one hundred thousand words of prose." On the other, a friend sends Clark an e-mail with a six-word sentence followed by 11 exclamation points.
I'm on Team Leonard, but Clark is somewhere between the two extremes, calling the exclamation point "the thinking writer's emoticon." Clearly it's a mark of punctuation he favors: "My next book is called 'Help! for Writers.' "
The apostrophe is the most misused.
By COLETTE BANCROFT, St. Petersburg Times
Many of us are worried already. As a former English teacher and copy editor, I despair for humanity when I open an e-mail that bristles with so many exclamation points I can hardly make out the words between them. And those are just the news releases about library events.
Just last week, Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten declared the English language dead, the coup de grace delivered by an unnecessary apostrophe.
But don't bury English yet. People are fighting to revive its proper use. National Punctuation Day was the brainchild of Jeff Rubin, a California newsletter writer who founded it in 2004 as "a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis."
Rubin and his wife, Norma, maintain a website, nationalpunctuationday.com.
Then there is Jeff Deck's mission to bring America back to perfect punctuation, at least in public. "It's a question of people building their apostrophic confidence," says Deck, co-author of "The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World One Correction at a Time."
Deck, 30, an editor who lives in New Hampshire, has a hands-on approach to raising awareness of poor punctuation. A couple of years ago, he and his friend Benjamin Herson, a bookseller, set off on a 2 ½-month road trip in search of errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar in public signs.
The most common punctuation error? "The poor apostrophe is the most misused and put-upon. People are always throwing it into words where it's not needed, especially plurals," Deck says, citing signs directing people to "Restroom's" and offering "Apple's for sale."
"Almost as common is the apostrophe being left out where it's needed.
Deck doesn't blame vanishing punctuation skills on e-mail and texting, saying those modes of communication "get a bad rap. It's very easy to blame them."
Roy Peter Clark loves punctuation so much that the cover of his new book, "The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English," features a giant golden semicolon. The senior scholar at the Poynter Institute devotes several chapters to punctuation, emphasizing what a valuable tool it can be.
In "Reclaim the exclamation point," he lays out the parameters of opinion on that exuberant but controversial mark. On the one hand, master thriller author Elmore Leonard tells him, "You are allowed only three in every one hundred thousand words of prose." On the other, a friend sends Clark an e-mail with a six-word sentence followed by 11 exclamation points.
I'm on Team Leonard, but Clark is somewhere between the two extremes, calling the exclamation point "the thinking writer's emoticon." Clearly it's a mark of punctuation he favors: "My next book is called 'Help! for Writers.' "
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Interesting New Degree!
From New York Times:
New Journalism Degree to Emphasize Start-Ups
By TANZINA VEGA
The Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York wants to capitalize on some of the shifts that have rocked traditional journalism — and traditional journalists — with the creation of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and a new master of arts degree in entrepreneurial journalism, which the school will announce on Monday.
Entrepreneurial journalism, broadly speaking, simply refers to pulling journalism, business and technology closer together. CUNY already offers a course in entrepreneurial journalism, and this new master’s program will extend the traditional degree program to two years from 18 months. The courses in the program will focus on the business of managing media, and the study and creation of new media business models, and it will offer students apprenticeships at New York City start-ups.
“We’re all very concerned about sustaining quality journalism, and we think the future of journalism is going to be entrepreneurial,” said Stephen B. Shepard, the founding dean of the school and a former editor in chief of BusinessWeek.
The school will also offer a certificate in entrepreneurial journalism for midcareer journalists “who have worked in traditional mainstream media, who understand they need new skills and will come back to get them,” Mr. Shepard said.
The journalism school offers a converged curriculum in which students are able to study media across all platforms, including digital, broadcast and print. Students also choose a subject of concentration in arts, business, urban or international reporting. The center will be led by Jeff Jarvis, an associate professor and the director of the school’s interactive journalism program, and will reside in the school’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.
The $10 million center will receive $3 million in funding from The Tow Foundation, $3 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and additional grants and contributions from the journalism school. The first degrees are expected to be awarded in the spring of 2012.
New Journalism Degree to Emphasize Start-Ups
By TANZINA VEGA
The Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York wants to capitalize on some of the shifts that have rocked traditional journalism — and traditional journalists — with the creation of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism and a new master of arts degree in entrepreneurial journalism, which the school will announce on Monday.
Entrepreneurial journalism, broadly speaking, simply refers to pulling journalism, business and technology closer together. CUNY already offers a course in entrepreneurial journalism, and this new master’s program will extend the traditional degree program to two years from 18 months. The courses in the program will focus on the business of managing media, and the study and creation of new media business models, and it will offer students apprenticeships at New York City start-ups.
“We’re all very concerned about sustaining quality journalism, and we think the future of journalism is going to be entrepreneurial,” said Stephen B. Shepard, the founding dean of the school and a former editor in chief of BusinessWeek.
The school will also offer a certificate in entrepreneurial journalism for midcareer journalists “who have worked in traditional mainstream media, who understand they need new skills and will come back to get them,” Mr. Shepard said.
The journalism school offers a converged curriculum in which students are able to study media across all platforms, including digital, broadcast and print. Students also choose a subject of concentration in arts, business, urban or international reporting. The center will be led by Jeff Jarvis, an associate professor and the director of the school’s interactive journalism program, and will reside in the school’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.
The $10 million center will receive $3 million in funding from The Tow Foundation, $3 million from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and additional grants and contributions from the journalism school. The first degrees are expected to be awarded in the spring of 2012.
Does the Name of This Author Sound Familiar?
Book depicts intense internal White House dissension, says aides doubt Obama's Afghan strategy
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's top advisers spent much of the past 20 months arguing about policy and turf, according to a new book, with some top members of his national security team doubting the president's strategy in Afghanistan will work.
The book, "Obama's Wars," by journalist Bob Woodward, says Obama aides were deeply divided over the war in Afghanistan even as the president agreed to triple troop levels there. Obama's top White House adviser on Afghanistan and his special envoy for the region are described as believing the strategy will not work.
According to the book, Obama said, "I have two years with the public on this" and pressed advisers for ways to avoid a big escalation in the Afghanistan war.
"I want an exit strategy," he said at one meeting. Privately, he told Vice President Joe Biden to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings.
While Obama ultimately rejected the alternative plan, the book says, he set a withdrawal timetable because, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party."
Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the president's Afghanistan adviser, is described as believing the president's review of the Afghanistan war did not "add up" to the decision he made. Richard Holbrooke, the president's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is quoted as saying of the strategy, "It can't work," according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the book before its scheduled publication date, scheduled for next week.
Obama was among administration officials that Woodward interviewed for the book. The Times, which posted its article on its website Tuesday night, said the White House had no comment on the book. The Washington Post also reported on the book on its website late Tuesday night.
Although the internal divisions described by Woodward have become public, the book suggests that they were even more intense than previously known and offers new details, the Times said.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's top advisers spent much of the past 20 months arguing about policy and turf, according to a new book, with some top members of his national security team doubting the president's strategy in Afghanistan will work.
The book, "Obama's Wars," by journalist Bob Woodward, says Obama aides were deeply divided over the war in Afghanistan even as the president agreed to triple troop levels there. Obama's top White House adviser on Afghanistan and his special envoy for the region are described as believing the strategy will not work.
According to the book, Obama said, "I have two years with the public on this" and pressed advisers for ways to avoid a big escalation in the Afghanistan war.
"I want an exit strategy," he said at one meeting. Privately, he told Vice President Joe Biden to push his alternative strategy opposing a big troop buildup in meetings.
While Obama ultimately rejected the alternative plan, the book says, he set a withdrawal timetable because, "I can't lose the whole Democratic Party."
Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the president's Afghanistan adviser, is described as believing the president's review of the Afghanistan war did not "add up" to the decision he made. Richard Holbrooke, the president's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is quoted as saying of the strategy, "It can't work," according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the book before its scheduled publication date, scheduled for next week.
Obama was among administration officials that Woodward interviewed for the book. The Times, which posted its article on its website Tuesday night, said the White House had no comment on the book. The Washington Post also reported on the book on its website late Tuesday night.
Although the internal divisions described by Woodward have become public, the book suggests that they were even more intense than previously known and offers new details, the Times said.
The National Geographic Story
It was on this day, September 22, in 1888 that the first issue of National Geographic was published. The National Geographic Society had been formed earlier that year by an enthusiastic group of 33 gentlemen who were excited about maps, about traveling, about facts and ideas associated with geography.
The first issue of National Geographic was a scholarly journal, it was very technical, had a plain cover, and it was sent to 200 charter members.
One of the founding members was young Alexander Graham Bell. When the National Geographic Society was losing money and membership hadn't increased, Bell thought that it should reach out to regular people. He didn't really have the time himself, but he hired the man who would eventually be hisson-in-law, Gilbert Grosvenor, to be the editor. Instead of academic writing, he used travel stories and simpler language.
Membership grew exponentially, especially after Grosvenor made the decision in 1905 to include photographs. He was short on material for an issue and needed to fill 11 more pages, so he stuck in photographs of Tibet. He thought everyone would be so angry that he would be fired, but instead everyone loved it.
When Grosvenor had first gotten hired, there were 1,400 members. By the time he took over as president of the society in 1920, the National Geographic Society had more than 700,000 members. These days, the magazine has a circulation of more than 8 million.
The first issue of National Geographic was a scholarly journal, it was very technical, had a plain cover, and it was sent to 200 charter members.
One of the founding members was young Alexander Graham Bell. When the National Geographic Society was losing money and membership hadn't increased, Bell thought that it should reach out to regular people. He didn't really have the time himself, but he hired the man who would eventually be hisson-in-law, Gilbert Grosvenor, to be the editor. Instead of academic writing, he used travel stories and simpler language.
Membership grew exponentially, especially after Grosvenor made the decision in 1905 to include photographs. He was short on material for an issue and needed to fill 11 more pages, so he stuck in photographs of Tibet. He thought everyone would be so angry that he would be fired, but instead everyone loved it.
When Grosvenor had first gotten hired, there were 1,400 members. By the time he took over as president of the society in 1920, the National Geographic Society had more than 700,000 members. These days, the magazine has a circulation of more than 8 million.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Apple to Sell Newspaper/Magazine Subscriptions?
From CNN.com:
(ArsTechnica) -- Buzz has been picking up lately about Apple opening an iBooks-like distribution medium for the iPad, but for magazine and newspaper subscriptions.
Now, the Wall Street Journal claims to have further inside information about Apple's digital newsstand, saying that Apple has stepped up its efforts to court publishers for a launch "as early as the next month or two."
According to "people familiar with the matter," Apple is pressing news and magazine conglomerates to get on board with Apple. Those in the industry believe the iPad could provide some much-needed revenue and distribution growth, but also fear giving Apple the kind of power the company had over the music industry for so long.
So far, Apple has allegedly participated in talks with News Corp., Hearts Corp., Time Inc., and Condé Nast. And, although no one seems to be sure which, if any, companies are already on board, Apple has been telling them that at least one company has already signed on the dotted line.
What are some of the sticking points? The WSJ's sources say that Apple's proposal doesn't include handing over personal information about subscribers, which is exactly what they want in order to be able to sell ads, among other things. Apple is allegedly open to discussing ways to share certain info, though, such as subscriber names, or letting publishers offer incentives to get people to voluntarily hand over that information, "such as free Sunday newspaper delivery."
Publishers are also not so keen on giving Apple its typical 30 percent cut of sales as part of the subscription process. Some companies currently sell magazine issues as apps through the App Store, though, meaning that they already fork over 30 percent of the app purchase price (as well as any in-app purchases) to Apple. Still, this detail lines up with reports from earlier this year, which said that newspaper and magazine companies were less keen on giving such a cut to Apple than book publishers have been through iBooks.
The timing for such an announcement remains up in the air. Even though the WSJ says it could happen in the next month or two, we think it's likely to come alongside the announcement of an updated iPad, which is expected to happen during the first quarter of 2011. The frequency of the rumors is speeding up, though, which is often a sign that something is actually going on behind the scenes. It's likely just a matter of time before Apple launches its newsstand, even if only a couple publishers are on board at launch.
(ArsTechnica) -- Buzz has been picking up lately about Apple opening an iBooks-like distribution medium for the iPad, but for magazine and newspaper subscriptions.
Now, the Wall Street Journal claims to have further inside information about Apple's digital newsstand, saying that Apple has stepped up its efforts to court publishers for a launch "as early as the next month or two."
According to "people familiar with the matter," Apple is pressing news and magazine conglomerates to get on board with Apple. Those in the industry believe the iPad could provide some much-needed revenue and distribution growth, but also fear giving Apple the kind of power the company had over the music industry for so long.
So far, Apple has allegedly participated in talks with News Corp., Hearts Corp., Time Inc., and Condé Nast. And, although no one seems to be sure which, if any, companies are already on board, Apple has been telling them that at least one company has already signed on the dotted line.
What are some of the sticking points? The WSJ's sources say that Apple's proposal doesn't include handing over personal information about subscribers, which is exactly what they want in order to be able to sell ads, among other things. Apple is allegedly open to discussing ways to share certain info, though, such as subscriber names, or letting publishers offer incentives to get people to voluntarily hand over that information, "such as free Sunday newspaper delivery."
Publishers are also not so keen on giving Apple its typical 30 percent cut of sales as part of the subscription process. Some companies currently sell magazine issues as apps through the App Store, though, meaning that they already fork over 30 percent of the app purchase price (as well as any in-app purchases) to Apple. Still, this detail lines up with reports from earlier this year, which said that newspaper and magazine companies were less keen on giving such a cut to Apple than book publishers have been through iBooks.
The timing for such an announcement remains up in the air. Even though the WSJ says it could happen in the next month or two, we think it's likely to come alongside the announcement of an updated iPad, which is expected to happen during the first quarter of 2011. The frequency of the rumors is speeding up, though, which is often a sign that something is actually going on behind the scenes. It's likely just a matter of time before Apple launches its newsstand, even if only a couple publishers are on board at launch.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
WaPo Conducts Two-Year Investigative Project
Since you are focusing on investigative reporting this week, I wanted to call to your attention a massive two-year investigation currently being aired by the Washington Post newspaper. We'll view a short video in class on Monday, but you may want to explore around the WaPo site (look for "Top Secret America" or "TSA") to learn some of the depth and reasoning behind this project.
A note on this project
"Top Secret America" is a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
When it comes to national security, all too often no expense is spared and few questions are asked - with the result an enterprise so massive that nobody in government has a full understanding of it. It is, as Dana Priest and William M. Arkin have found, ubiquitous, often inefficient and mostly invisible to the people it is meant to protect and who fund it.
The articles in this series and an online database at topsecretamerica.com depict the scope and complexity of the government's national security program through interactive maps and other graphics. Every data point on the Web site is substantiated by at least two public records.
Because of the nature of this project, we allowed government officials to see the Web site several months ago and asked them to tell us of any specific concerns. They offered none at that time. As the project evolved, we shared the Web site's revised capabilities. Again, we asked for specific concerns. One government body objected to certain data points on the site and explained why; we removed those items. Another agency objected that the entire Web site could pose a national security risk but declined to offer specific comments.
We made other public safety judgments about how much information to show on the Web site. For instance, we used the addresses of company headquarters buildings, information which, in most cases, is available on companies' own Web sites, but we limited the degree to which readers can use the zoom function on maps to pinpoint those or other locations.
Our maps show the headquarters buildings of the largest government agencies involved in top-secret work. A user can also see the cities and towns where the government conducts top-secret work in the United States, but not the specific locations, companies or agencies involved.
Within a responsible framework, our objective is to provide as much information as possible, so readers gain a real, granular understanding of the scale and breadth of the top-secret world we are describing.
We look forward to your feedback and can be reached at topsecretamerica@washpost.com.
- The Editors
A note on this project
"Top Secret America" is a project nearly two years in the making that describes the huge national security buildup in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
When it comes to national security, all too often no expense is spared and few questions are asked - with the result an enterprise so massive that nobody in government has a full understanding of it. It is, as Dana Priest and William M. Arkin have found, ubiquitous, often inefficient and mostly invisible to the people it is meant to protect and who fund it.
The articles in this series and an online database at topsecretamerica.com depict the scope and complexity of the government's national security program through interactive maps and other graphics. Every data point on the Web site is substantiated by at least two public records.
Because of the nature of this project, we allowed government officials to see the Web site several months ago and asked them to tell us of any specific concerns. They offered none at that time. As the project evolved, we shared the Web site's revised capabilities. Again, we asked for specific concerns. One government body objected to certain data points on the site and explained why; we removed those items. Another agency objected that the entire Web site could pose a national security risk but declined to offer specific comments.
We made other public safety judgments about how much information to show on the Web site. For instance, we used the addresses of company headquarters buildings, information which, in most cases, is available on companies' own Web sites, but we limited the degree to which readers can use the zoom function on maps to pinpoint those or other locations.
Our maps show the headquarters buildings of the largest government agencies involved in top-secret work. A user can also see the cities and towns where the government conducts top-secret work in the United States, but not the specific locations, companies or agencies involved.
Within a responsible framework, our objective is to provide as much information as possible, so readers gain a real, granular understanding of the scale and breadth of the top-secret world we are describing.
We look forward to your feedback and can be reached at topsecretamerica@washpost.com.
- The Editors
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