Monday, December 31, 2012
Tribune to Leave Bankruptcy After Four Years
2:09a.m. EST December 31, 2012
CHICAGO (AP) — Tribune Co. announced it is emerging after more four years of bankruptcy.
Tribune said late Sunday the reorganized media company begins Monday with new ownership — the senior creditors — and a new board of directors: Bruce Karsh, Ken Liang, Peter Murphy, Ross Levinsohn, Craig A. Jacobson, Peter Liguori, and Eddy Hartenstein.
"Tribune will emerge from the bankruptcy process as a multimedia company with a great mix of profitable assets, strong brands in major markets and a much-improved capital structure," said Hartenstein, Tribune's chief executive officer.
Senior creditors Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo, Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will control of the new company. The Chicago Tribune reported late Sunday that Liguori, a former TV executive at Discovery and Fox, is expected to be named chief executive the reorganized Tribune Co.
Tribune, which was founded in 1847, publishes some of the best-known newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and the Chicago Tribune. It also owns WGN in Chicago and 22 other television stations, as well as the WGN radio station. The Tribune's report Sunday said that the new owners expect to sell all of the company's assets.
Tribune Co. sought bankruptcy protection in 2008, less than a year after billionaire developer Sam Zell led an $8 billion leveraged buyout that left the company with $13 billion in debt.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Taylor Students Publish Devotionals
Taylor U. students’ work in book of devotions
Daily devotions written by Taylor University students and their professor are included in a one-year devotional book, “The Spirit Calling: Awaken to the Sound of His Voice,” which was released recently by Worthy Publishers of Nashville, Tenn.
The 23 contributing authors of the book include professor Dennis E. Hensley of Taylor and 11 students from his professional writing program: Ashlee Amann, Kyle Carruthers, Sarah Cespedes, Ryan Dennison, Kacey Heinlein, Katelyn Irons, Lexie Owen, Jeremy Paul, Demelza Ramirez, Joshua Spotts and Tom Vick.
None of the students are from Fort Wayne.
“We were given the theme of writing devotions from the perspective of the Holy Spirit,” Hensley said in a Taylor news release. “Each of the students and I had to write 10 devotions last May.”
The students have written articles, reviews and interviews that have been published in a variety of newspapers and magazines, but was the first book project for all, the news release said. The book sells for $14.99, and is available in Christian bookstores or through the Worthy Publishing website, www.worthypublishing.com.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Washington Times Celebrates 30 Years
The Washington Times
Monday, October 1, 2012
Friends of The Washington Times will gather Tuesday to celebrate 30 years of faith, family and freedom in the nation’s capital. A glance through the paper’s headlines over the decades is a testament to how The Washington Times has remained true to its mission.
It’s no secret that early on, The Washington Times became a daily read for President Ronald Reagan. The Gipper’s fondness was so legendary that he couldn’t help but slip in a mention of his favored paper while speaking at an anniversary celebration for USA Today. Reagan described an airliner that cruised low along the Potomac, buzzing past that company’s high-rise Rosslyn headquarters when it first opened for business. USA Today’s editorial staff was understandably alarmed. “And what was really frightening,” added Reagan, “was that those in the meeting were able to see through the windows of the plane as it went by and the passengers were reading The Washington Times.”
What Reagan admired was the commitment to journalism encapsulated on the front page of the May 17, 1982 inaugural issue. “The Washington Times will be above all a striving newspaper,” read the statement of principles. “By that, we mean that it will strive to tell the truth, to the best of our lights and abilities. It will strive to be fair, and it will strive, in the measure that will and nerve sustain us, to be a fearless newspaper.” These ideas continue to guide the effort today.
A fearless paper reports the facts, regardless of whether the powerful become upset. In the early 1990s, that meant investigative reporting that uncovered the House banking scandal, implicating 303 members of Congress who made interest-free loans to themselves through an abuse of the congressional bank’s policies. The scandal weakened heavy-hitters, including then-Speaker Thomas S. Foley, Washington Democrat, who later fell to an upstart challenger in the 1994 elections.
Mr. Foley handed the gavel to a Georgia Republican named Newt Gingrich, breaking the Democrats’ four-decade lock on the lower chamber. The Washington Times was there for the Contract with America, the partial government shutdowns and Congress’ many other battles with President Bill Clinton. Of course, throughout the many scandals that culminated in Mr. Clinton’s impeachment, The Washington Times was the go-to paper for coverage.
America may have changed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, but the need for telling the truth has only grown stronger. The Washington Times’ Opinion pages have served as a refuge for those thirsting for a clear, concise conservative alternative to the current administration’s policy pronouncements. As the 1982 statement of principles put it, this is a timeless “conservatism we believe as relevant and vital to the solution of man’s problems today as it was in the mind and struggles of Edmund Burke two centuries ago.”
In the years to come, America’s newspaper will continue striving to live by its founding principles.
The Washington Times
Read more: EDITORIAL: Thirty years of striving - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/1/thirty-years-of-striving/#.UGsx-sP_kNY.facebook#ixzz28B2RTPem
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
NYT Forbids Quote Approval
The New York Times forbids quotation approval
The New York Times is putting an end to the practice of allowing sources to approve their quotations, Public Editor Margaret Sullivan has announced in the Public Editor’s Journal, citing a memorandum that was sent through the newspaper’s glass-fronted headquarters on Thursday.
“Despite our reporters’ best efforts, we fear that demands for after-the-fact ‘quote approval’ by sources and their press aides have gone too far,” begins the memo, which Sullivan includes in full in her post. “Starting now, we want to draw a clear line on this. Citing Times policy, reporters should say no if a source demands, as a condition of an interview, that quotes be submitted afterward to the source or a press aide to review, approve or edit.”
For the Times’ new ombudswoman, whose tenure began on September 1, this can be seen as an early triumph. On Monday, Sullivan argued on the Public Editor’s Journal (which has received a greater-than-average amount of attention over the last three weeks) that “The Times Needs a Policy on Quotation Approval, and Soon.”
On the same day, the Times ran a column by media reporter David Carr in which he referred to quotation approval as "puppetry," and warned: "The first draft of history should not be rewritten by the people who make it.”
The debate over whether journalists should let politicians and their advisors double-check the way words sound in print after they are spoken heated up in July, after Times journalist Jeremy Peters revealed in a story that it was “standard practice for the Obama campaign” and “commonplace throughout Washington and on the campaign trail.” The newspaper’s editors have been working to draft a firm directive ever since, writes Sullivan.
Peters describes it as a power struggle between news sources and news reporters, in which the latter are often forced to declare defeat. “Maybe we have to push back harder,” Peters quotes Managing Editor Dean Baquet as saying.
Journalists greeted the news of the ban joyfully on Twitter. "Times will make it a lot easier for the rest of us to push back too. Thanks nytimes!" tweeted Buzzfeed editor Ben Smith.
Quote approval “puts so much control over the content of journalism in the wrong place,” The Times’ Executive Editor Jill Abramson told Sullivan, shedding light on the new rule. Having spent many years at the Washington bureau, Abramson understands the power struggle involved. She expects that the newspaper will “lose interviews” thanks to the new policy, because for certain sources, the idea of not being able to vet one’s words will seem “too risky.” “The practice is so ingrained,” Sullivan quotes her as saying.
While, as Andrew Beaujon points out on Poynter, the origins of this grey-zone method of reporting are disputed, it is clear that quote approval has become widespread in the American press: the Huffington Post admitted to submitting to the practice on a case-by-case basis; Vanity Fair condoned it in the case of Michael Lewis’ profile on Barack Obama (for which the President was given full veto power over all quotations), and Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Reuters, and The New York Times “have all consented to interviews” in which terms for on-the-record quotes were negotiated according to Peters’ article.
By instituting an explicit policy on the practice, the Times joins the ranks of National Journal and student newspaper the Harvard Crimson. News organizations that condemn the practice but have stopped short of banning it altogether include Reuters and Politico.
The Gray Lady may be putting her foot down, but even her ban is not black and white: “Any potential exceptions to this approach should be discussed with a department head or a masthead editor,” reads the last line of the memo.
Monday, March 12, 2012
The Perfect Christian Woman (according to publishers)
This lady…
Lives a Purpose Driven Life and
Knows the Power of a Praying Wife.
She practices Five Love Languages and
Will not be Left Behind.
She spent 90 Minutes in Heaven
And is convinced that Heaven is for Real.
She is both Captivating and Radical
Because she Kissed Dating Goodbye and
Has developed a Mary Heart in a Martha World.
She wears Blue Like Jazz and keeps The Shack spotless
While making a Case for Christ.
She secured Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and
Appreciates a man who is Wild at Heart and More Than a Carpenter.
But ultimately the Christian Publisher is most attracted to and admires the perfect Christian woman because she is…
Amish.
Lives a Purpose Driven Life and
Knows the Power of a Praying Wife.
She practices Five Love Languages and
Will not be Left Behind.
She spent 90 Minutes in Heaven
And is convinced that Heaven is for Real.
She is both Captivating and Radical
Because she Kissed Dating Goodbye and
Has developed a Mary Heart in a Martha World.
She wears Blue Like Jazz and keeps The Shack spotless
While making a Case for Christ.
She secured Dinner with a Perfect Stranger and
Appreciates a man who is Wild at Heart and More Than a Carpenter.
But ultimately the Christian Publisher is most attracted to and admires the perfect Christian woman because she is…
Amish.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Wisdom for Writers
We should not write so that it is possible for the reader to understand us,
but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.
--Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), rhetorician (c. 35-100)
but so that it is impossible for him to misunderstand us.
--Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintilianus), rhetorician (c. 35-100)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Jeff Zaslow's Last Lesson
Jeff Zaslow's last lesson
By Bob Greene, CNN Contributor
updated 9:46 AM EST, Sun March 4, 2012
Journalist and author Jeff Zaslow, who died in a car crash last month, brought admirable integrity to his work, says Bob Greene.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Bob Greene says he heard from friend, Jeff Zaslow, 2 weeks before his death in a car crash
He says writer Zaslow's integrity, both personal and professional, was inspiring
He once drove hundreds of miles for a story that he easily could have "phoned in"
Greene: Over and over in his life, he took extra steps to get it right -- a lesson for us all
Editor's note: Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose books include "Late Edition: A Love Story" and "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen."
(CNN) -- "What # are you at?"
The brief e-mail arrived late on the morning of January 24. I keep looking at it.
It was from Jeff Zaslow. We first became friends more than 25 years ago. We got together as often as we could when we found ourselves in the same town, usually for long, laughter-filled dinners; Jeff, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, in recent years became the author of multiple big bestselling books, most of them on inspirational themes.
"What # are you at?"
He was going to be making appearances for his latest book, "The Magic Room," and he had looked at his schedule and saw that he had a few days between speeches in the South. He knew that I'd been holed up in a hotel on the west coast of Florida, trying to get some writing done. He was going to take those two days between speeches to join me and just hang out.
So we talked on the phone, and arranged the days. Today -- Sunday, March 4 -- is the day he was to arrive.
On February 10, on his way back to his home in suburban Detroit from a book signing in Petoskey, Michigan, the night before, Jeff was killed instantly when, according to police, his car skidded on a snowy road and was hit head-on by an oncoming semitrailer truck. He was 53.
Jeff's wife, Sherry, his three daughters, Jordan, Alex and Eden, and his parents, Harry and Naomi, have suffered an unfathomable loss. The obituaries and tributes written by his friends and colleagues have all centered on Jeff's never-ending thoughtfulness and compassion. The tributes have been entirely accurate; the constancy of Jeff's kindness was one of life's rarities.
Today, when Jeff should have been arriving for our time together, I'd like to pass on a lesson from him that I believe can be used to great effect by anyone, regardless of his or her line of work.
It has to do with the book that first made him a bestselling author, "The Last Lecture," written with Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University. The book was a publishing phenomenon: 5 million copies sold in the English language alone, translations into 48 languages around the world.
Some people thought that Jeff got lucky with that book.
But luck had nothing to do with it.
In early September 2007, Jeff was working on a Wall Street Journal column about a trend he was hearing about at U.S. universities. Professors were thinking what they might say if they had to deliver one last lecture, and were in fact giving those lectures, summing up what had been meaningful in their lives.
As he was reporting the piece, Jeff learned that a professor at Carnegie Mellon -- Pausch -- was going to give what might literally be his last lecture. Pausch was dying from pancreatic cancer.
It was going to be inconvenient for Jeff to go from Detroit to Pittsburgh for the speech; there was a problem with the price of the flight, and the schedule, and he also had obligations to attend to in Michigan that day. It would have been much easier just to call the professor and get a quote, or have the university send him an audio or video recording of the lecture. Remember: Jeff didn't even know, at that point, whether Pausch's lecture would warrant a whole column.
But he got up that morning in Detroit and -- Jeff being Jeff -- decided that he really ought to see for himself.
He was an established and respected Wall Street Journal staff member; no one at the paper would have faulted him for doing a quick interview with Pausch on the phone.
Jeff got in his car and drove more than 300 miles from Detroit to Pittsburgh to sit in the audience and listen to the speech. A five-hour drive there, and then a five-hour, 300-mile drive back.
It paid off spectacularly, of course. The column -- moving, tender, insightful -- was a sensation, and the book that he ended up writing with Pausch gave Jeff a new career in the top echelon of American authors, and provided financial security for his family.
But -- and this is what is important -- it was nothing he didn't do all the time. In his work, he always went the extra step -- the extra hundred steps. He never took the easy way.
I remember, seven or eight years ago, well before "The Last Lecture," Jeff had come to Chicago to interview an old-time vaudeville performer. To the best of my recollection, the newspaper story was going to have something to do with audiences, or audience reactions. The old performer was going to be one sliver of a longer piece. An easy phone-call interview.
But Jeff didn't do things that way. He flew to Chicago and, suitcase in hand (he hadn't checked into his hotel yet), met me at the restaurant where we had arranged to have dinner. At one point we talked about why, at this stage in his career, he still pushed himself so hard. He said he just wanted to look into the man's eyes when he interviewed him the next day. He felt the story would be a little better that way.
At the end of the meal we went to the coat-check window; they had taken Jeff's suitcase down a long flight of stairs to store it on a basement level. Jeff didn't want the young woman to have to carry it up the stairs, so he went down to get it. I stood there and watched as he came up the steep flight of stairs, visibly weary, huffing, sweating, lugging the heavy bag; we looked at each other and both of us burst out laughing.
"Look at you," I said. "You look like 'Death of a [cuss-word-adjective] Salesman.'"
"I know," he said. "Why do I do this?"
We both knew the answer. He did it because it was the right way to do a job. And it doesn't matter what a person does for a living. It can be the lawyer who stays late to look up a few more citations of case law, to give his client the best possible chance. It can be the teacher who goes over the lesson plan one more time, adding something vital to it at midnight, even though the students or the school administrators will never be aware of the effort she has put in. It can be the factory worker who takes it upon himself to check the specifications a third and fourth time, wanting to be absolutely certain that the product will be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
Does it always pay off, as Jeff's 10 hours on the road paid off with "The Last Lecture"? Of course not. It hardly ever pays off that big. Most times, your boss, your colleagues, your own family will never know that you put in the extra effort when you didn't have to.
But you'll know. That's what counts. And when the day finally comes when you have your big success, when you get your big break, it won't be because you made the extra effort once. It will be because you made the extra effort every time.
Jeff did. And that's the lesson I'd like to pass on for him. Especially today. The silence at the dinner hour tonight is going to be awfully loud.
By Bob Greene, CNN Contributor
updated 9:46 AM EST, Sun March 4, 2012
Journalist and author Jeff Zaslow, who died in a car crash last month, brought admirable integrity to his work, says Bob Greene.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Bob Greene says he heard from friend, Jeff Zaslow, 2 weeks before his death in a car crash
He says writer Zaslow's integrity, both personal and professional, was inspiring
He once drove hundreds of miles for a story that he easily could have "phoned in"
Greene: Over and over in his life, he took extra steps to get it right -- a lesson for us all
Editor's note: Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose books include "Late Edition: A Love Story" and "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen."
(CNN) -- "What # are you at?"
The brief e-mail arrived late on the morning of January 24. I keep looking at it.
It was from Jeff Zaslow. We first became friends more than 25 years ago. We got together as often as we could when we found ourselves in the same town, usually for long, laughter-filled dinners; Jeff, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, in recent years became the author of multiple big bestselling books, most of them on inspirational themes.
"What # are you at?"
He was going to be making appearances for his latest book, "The Magic Room," and he had looked at his schedule and saw that he had a few days between speeches in the South. He knew that I'd been holed up in a hotel on the west coast of Florida, trying to get some writing done. He was going to take those two days between speeches to join me and just hang out.
So we talked on the phone, and arranged the days. Today -- Sunday, March 4 -- is the day he was to arrive.
On February 10, on his way back to his home in suburban Detroit from a book signing in Petoskey, Michigan, the night before, Jeff was killed instantly when, according to police, his car skidded on a snowy road and was hit head-on by an oncoming semitrailer truck. He was 53.
Jeff's wife, Sherry, his three daughters, Jordan, Alex and Eden, and his parents, Harry and Naomi, have suffered an unfathomable loss. The obituaries and tributes written by his friends and colleagues have all centered on Jeff's never-ending thoughtfulness and compassion. The tributes have been entirely accurate; the constancy of Jeff's kindness was one of life's rarities.
Today, when Jeff should have been arriving for our time together, I'd like to pass on a lesson from him that I believe can be used to great effect by anyone, regardless of his or her line of work.
It has to do with the book that first made him a bestselling author, "The Last Lecture," written with Professor Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University. The book was a publishing phenomenon: 5 million copies sold in the English language alone, translations into 48 languages around the world.
Some people thought that Jeff got lucky with that book.
But luck had nothing to do with it.
In early September 2007, Jeff was working on a Wall Street Journal column about a trend he was hearing about at U.S. universities. Professors were thinking what they might say if they had to deliver one last lecture, and were in fact giving those lectures, summing up what had been meaningful in their lives.
As he was reporting the piece, Jeff learned that a professor at Carnegie Mellon -- Pausch -- was going to give what might literally be his last lecture. Pausch was dying from pancreatic cancer.
It was going to be inconvenient for Jeff to go from Detroit to Pittsburgh for the speech; there was a problem with the price of the flight, and the schedule, and he also had obligations to attend to in Michigan that day. It would have been much easier just to call the professor and get a quote, or have the university send him an audio or video recording of the lecture. Remember: Jeff didn't even know, at that point, whether Pausch's lecture would warrant a whole column.
But he got up that morning in Detroit and -- Jeff being Jeff -- decided that he really ought to see for himself.
He was an established and respected Wall Street Journal staff member; no one at the paper would have faulted him for doing a quick interview with Pausch on the phone.
Jeff got in his car and drove more than 300 miles from Detroit to Pittsburgh to sit in the audience and listen to the speech. A five-hour drive there, and then a five-hour, 300-mile drive back.
It paid off spectacularly, of course. The column -- moving, tender, insightful -- was a sensation, and the book that he ended up writing with Pausch gave Jeff a new career in the top echelon of American authors, and provided financial security for his family.
But -- and this is what is important -- it was nothing he didn't do all the time. In his work, he always went the extra step -- the extra hundred steps. He never took the easy way.
I remember, seven or eight years ago, well before "The Last Lecture," Jeff had come to Chicago to interview an old-time vaudeville performer. To the best of my recollection, the newspaper story was going to have something to do with audiences, or audience reactions. The old performer was going to be one sliver of a longer piece. An easy phone-call interview.
But Jeff didn't do things that way. He flew to Chicago and, suitcase in hand (he hadn't checked into his hotel yet), met me at the restaurant where we had arranged to have dinner. At one point we talked about why, at this stage in his career, he still pushed himself so hard. He said he just wanted to look into the man's eyes when he interviewed him the next day. He felt the story would be a little better that way.
At the end of the meal we went to the coat-check window; they had taken Jeff's suitcase down a long flight of stairs to store it on a basement level. Jeff didn't want the young woman to have to carry it up the stairs, so he went down to get it. I stood there and watched as he came up the steep flight of stairs, visibly weary, huffing, sweating, lugging the heavy bag; we looked at each other and both of us burst out laughing.
"Look at you," I said. "You look like 'Death of a [cuss-word-adjective] Salesman.'"
"I know," he said. "Why do I do this?"
We both knew the answer. He did it because it was the right way to do a job. And it doesn't matter what a person does for a living. It can be the lawyer who stays late to look up a few more citations of case law, to give his client the best possible chance. It can be the teacher who goes over the lesson plan one more time, adding something vital to it at midnight, even though the students or the school administrators will never be aware of the effort she has put in. It can be the factory worker who takes it upon himself to check the specifications a third and fourth time, wanting to be absolutely certain that the product will be as close to perfect as humanly possible.
Does it always pay off, as Jeff's 10 hours on the road paid off with "The Last Lecture"? Of course not. It hardly ever pays off that big. Most times, your boss, your colleagues, your own family will never know that you put in the extra effort when you didn't have to.
But you'll know. That's what counts. And when the day finally comes when you have your big success, when you get your big break, it won't be because you made the extra effort once. It will be because you made the extra effort every time.
Jeff did. And that's the lesson I'd like to pass on for him. Especially today. The silence at the dinner hour tonight is going to be awfully loud.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
What NOT to Say to an Editor
What NOT to say to an editor at a writer's conference:
What Not to Say to an Editor…
By Jevon Bolden
1. This is my first draft. I just wanted to see what you thought.
This could be your one shot. Consider asking about the industry, maybe share your idea, but please do not ask me to read a first draft. I am not attending the conference to conceptualize or develop. I’m looking for ideas to publish.
2. Before I tell you about my manuscript, I just want you to read the first few pages. No, no, just read.
Yes, this has happened. A writer practically put an index finger to my lips as I began to talk and said, “Shhh… Just read this. I know it’s going to blow you away.” Do I need to say what’s wrong with that?
3. I know this isn’t the kind of book you are looking for, but I wanted to talk to you anyway.
I need to use my time away from the office maximizing some kind of return on investment (ROI) for me and the company. Avoid scheduling meetings that have no chance of being win-win.
4. I have never heard of a book like mine.
This seems like a good thing, but it’s not. If there are no other books in the market like yours, there may be reasons for that. Instead, show how your book is similar to others, and then show how it’s different. Saying you know of no other book like yours says you don’t read much, you don’t understand the market, you don’t know what editors have to do to sell books, or you did not do your research.
5. I don’t have a written proposal. I just want to see what you think about my idea.
Great, but let’s do this at a meal. During one-on-ones I expect to meet with authors who are ready to be published.
6. You guys publish the weird stuff, right?
Try not to say anything that could be taken negatively. We publish verifiable genres, so it is off-putting to hear you think our stuff is weird. Instead, show me you understand what we publish and how that sets us apart from other publishers in our market. That would be nicer.
You demonstrate thoughtfulness and seriousness when you use these one-on-one meetings for what they are intended—to get a publishing deal. And if I do request your manuscript, please, please send it to me. You’d be surprised how many don’t.
Jevon Bolden has been in book publishing for eight years and has a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in sociology from the University of Alabama. She is a developmental book editor for Charisma House and will take appointments at the Guild’s Writing for the Soul conference, February 16-19.
What Not to Say to an Editor…
By Jevon Bolden
1. This is my first draft. I just wanted to see what you thought.
This could be your one shot. Consider asking about the industry, maybe share your idea, but please do not ask me to read a first draft. I am not attending the conference to conceptualize or develop. I’m looking for ideas to publish.
2. Before I tell you about my manuscript, I just want you to read the first few pages. No, no, just read.
Yes, this has happened. A writer practically put an index finger to my lips as I began to talk and said, “Shhh… Just read this. I know it’s going to blow you away.” Do I need to say what’s wrong with that?
3. I know this isn’t the kind of book you are looking for, but I wanted to talk to you anyway.
I need to use my time away from the office maximizing some kind of return on investment (ROI) for me and the company. Avoid scheduling meetings that have no chance of being win-win.
4. I have never heard of a book like mine.
This seems like a good thing, but it’s not. If there are no other books in the market like yours, there may be reasons for that. Instead, show how your book is similar to others, and then show how it’s different. Saying you know of no other book like yours says you don’t read much, you don’t understand the market, you don’t know what editors have to do to sell books, or you did not do your research.
5. I don’t have a written proposal. I just want to see what you think about my idea.
Great, but let’s do this at a meal. During one-on-ones I expect to meet with authors who are ready to be published.
6. You guys publish the weird stuff, right?
Try not to say anything that could be taken negatively. We publish verifiable genres, so it is off-putting to hear you think our stuff is weird. Instead, show me you understand what we publish and how that sets us apart from other publishers in our market. That would be nicer.
You demonstrate thoughtfulness and seriousness when you use these one-on-one meetings for what they are intended—to get a publishing deal. And if I do request your manuscript, please, please send it to me. You’d be surprised how many don’t.
Jevon Bolden has been in book publishing for eight years and has a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in sociology from the University of Alabama. She is a developmental book editor for Charisma House and will take appointments at the Guild’s Writing for the Soul conference, February 16-19.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Magazine Sales Down in 2011
From Publishing Executive:
Newsstand sales show a sharp decline in 2011 compared to the year before, according to preliminary data released Friday by magazine retail sales information provider MagNet.
Numbers derived from MagNet's retailer point-of-sale (POS) analysis show fourth quarter 2011 U.S. sales of non-weekly product at $517.8 million, down 9.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Sales for weekly product were down 11.9 percent, to $226.5 million. Overall sales declined 10.1 percent, to $744.3 million.
Looking at 2011 vs. 2010 as a whole, non-weekly product in the U.S. saw an 8.7 percent decline, to $2.19 billion. Weekly product declined 11.9 percent, to $987 million, while overall sales declined 9.7 percent, to $3.179 billion from $3.52 billion the year before.
In a statement released with the numbers, MagNet reports evidence of non-weekly sales leveling off in the late fourth quarter of 2011 and first few weeks of 2012, compared to the same period a year earlier.
MagNet also said print media performed well last year in the wake of significant events such as the royal wedding and death of Osama Bin Laden. "Producing quality product, wholesalers and distributors ensured that copies were distributed to the retail locations in a timely manner, and sales responded," the statement read.
Final 2011 numbers will be released later this month.
Newsstand sales show a sharp decline in 2011 compared to the year before, according to preliminary data released Friday by magazine retail sales information provider MagNet.
Numbers derived from MagNet's retailer point-of-sale (POS) analysis show fourth quarter 2011 U.S. sales of non-weekly product at $517.8 million, down 9.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Sales for weekly product were down 11.9 percent, to $226.5 million. Overall sales declined 10.1 percent, to $744.3 million.
Looking at 2011 vs. 2010 as a whole, non-weekly product in the U.S. saw an 8.7 percent decline, to $2.19 billion. Weekly product declined 11.9 percent, to $987 million, while overall sales declined 9.7 percent, to $3.179 billion from $3.52 billion the year before.
In a statement released with the numbers, MagNet reports evidence of non-weekly sales leveling off in the late fourth quarter of 2011 and first few weeks of 2012, compared to the same period a year earlier.
MagNet also said print media performed well last year in the wake of significant events such as the royal wedding and death of Osama Bin Laden. "Producing quality product, wholesalers and distributors ensured that copies were distributed to the retail locations in a timely manner, and sales responded," the statement read.
Final 2011 numbers will be released later this month.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Magazine Readership Growing
Some stimulating thoughts on magazines from Magazine Mavin Sharon Mumper of MTI:
Are print magazines lumbering dinosaurs about to be overwhelmed by the Internet tsunami before they can reach the safety of the ark? Not according to leaders of some of the largest magazine groups in America, who joined forces to organize an advertising campaign titled “Magazines: the Power of Print.”
Here are a few of the facts they presented:
* Magazine readership has grown over the last five years, with paid subscriptions reaching nearly 300 million in 2009.
* Four out of five adults read magazines and the average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue.
* Since Facebook was founded, magazines gained more than one million young adult readers and magazine readership in the 18-34 year group is growing.
It appears that print magazines are not only not on the endangered species list, but are actually flourishing. Will the Internet eventually kill magazines? Probably not. Magazine experts point out that people find room in their lives for new experiences alongside the ones they already love.
But in order to continue to thrive magazines must provide value to the subscriber. It’s no longer possible to take the subscriber for granted. And, many magazine publishers have found they can harness the opportunities offered by the Internet to add value to the print publication.
In fact, some large publishers are now putting people with primarily digital experience in key positions in the company.
Those of us who have been involved in the print medium for many years may be tempted to see the Internet as competition, while those who grew up with the Internet may be tempted to see print as a dying medium. Yet, magazines that harness the best opportunities offered by both will enjoy more success and be able to offer more value to their constituency.
For a very interesting short video about the “Magazines: The Power of Print” campaign, check this link: http://powerofmagazines.com/
Are print magazines lumbering dinosaurs about to be overwhelmed by the Internet tsunami before they can reach the safety of the ark? Not according to leaders of some of the largest magazine groups in America, who joined forces to organize an advertising campaign titled “Magazines: the Power of Print.”
Here are a few of the facts they presented:
* Magazine readership has grown over the last five years, with paid subscriptions reaching nearly 300 million in 2009.
* Four out of five adults read magazines and the average reader spends 43 minutes reading each issue.
* Since Facebook was founded, magazines gained more than one million young adult readers and magazine readership in the 18-34 year group is growing.
It appears that print magazines are not only not on the endangered species list, but are actually flourishing. Will the Internet eventually kill magazines? Probably not. Magazine experts point out that people find room in their lives for new experiences alongside the ones they already love.
But in order to continue to thrive magazines must provide value to the subscriber. It’s no longer possible to take the subscriber for granted. And, many magazine publishers have found they can harness the opportunities offered by the Internet to add value to the print publication.
In fact, some large publishers are now putting people with primarily digital experience in key positions in the company.
Those of us who have been involved in the print medium for many years may be tempted to see the Internet as competition, while those who grew up with the Internet may be tempted to see print as a dying medium. Yet, magazines that harness the best opportunities offered by both will enjoy more success and be able to offer more value to their constituency.
For a very interesting short video about the “Magazines: The Power of Print” campaign, check this link: http://powerofmagazines.com/
Read Up on Scott Noble, Next Week's Guest
Next week our class guest editor (by Skype) will be Scott Noble, freelance writer, editor, and editor of the Minnesota Christian Examiner newspaper. Here is a recent blogpost from Scott, to give you a flavor of his writing. You can read more of his blog at http://beyondtheborderland.blogspot.com/. In the February 6 class period I will give you a copy of Scott's periodical so you can be prepared for his presentation and Q&A session on February 15.
Writing and emotional upheaval
I had one of those days recently. A day when hope was quickly snuffed out by disappointment. A really neat book project got the green light but soon after I received word that an article I wrote--something I had invested a lot of emotional energy in--was rejected by a magazine.
After doing this thing called writing for so many years, you would think I would be used to these days. And to some extent I am. Writers trudge to their writing desks or laptops each day, hoping maybe this is the day (or week or month) when the news will only be good, when the acceptances will far outweigh the rejections.
That's never the case, however. And maybe it shouldn't be.
At times it seems as if our highs can only rightly be defined by--or informed by--the lows that we have experienced. If we only experienced one or the other, they both would eventually become meaningless. That certainly doesn't make it easier when rejections--be they articles, books or relationships--far outweigh the opposite. Yet how many of us can point to times in our lives when the "lows" played a huge role in who we are today?
That's what I've been wrestling with these last few weeks--how pain, disappointment and loss inform and shape us. I'm still working through this but am realizing the powerful impact they have on our lives.
Writing and emotional upheaval
I had one of those days recently. A day when hope was quickly snuffed out by disappointment. A really neat book project got the green light but soon after I received word that an article I wrote--something I had invested a lot of emotional energy in--was rejected by a magazine.
After doing this thing called writing for so many years, you would think I would be used to these days. And to some extent I am. Writers trudge to their writing desks or laptops each day, hoping maybe this is the day (or week or month) when the news will only be good, when the acceptances will far outweigh the rejections.
That's never the case, however. And maybe it shouldn't be.
At times it seems as if our highs can only rightly be defined by--or informed by--the lows that we have experienced. If we only experienced one or the other, they both would eventually become meaningless. That certainly doesn't make it easier when rejections--be they articles, books or relationships--far outweigh the opposite. Yet how many of us can point to times in our lives when the "lows" played a huge role in who we are today?
That's what I've been wrestling with these last few weeks--how pain, disappointment and loss inform and shape us. I'm still working through this but am realizing the powerful impact they have on our lives.
The Best Super Bowl Analysis Piece
If you're interested in high-quality writing in a SuperBowl game analysis, you'll probably not do better than this piece for Sports Illustrated by Joe Posnanski. This is truly artful writing--perceptively and cleverly written.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/joe_posnanski/02/06/super.bowl.xlvi/index.html?xid=cnnbin
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/joe_posnanski/02/06/super.bowl.xlvi/index.html?xid=cnnbin
Typos the Spell-Check Won't Catch
From Washington Post columnist John Kelly:
Sometimes spell check just doesn’t cut it
By John Kelly, Published: February 5
It’s amazing the difference a single letter can make. For example, years ago, Bethesda’s Ellen Smith and her husband subscribed to the weekly newspaper from Pilot Rock, Ore., her husband’s home town. In a story about a local wedding reception, the following was printed: “The bridal couple ate graduates of Pilot Rock High School.”
Wrote Ellen: “I can think of nothing to add to that, but I’m sure you can.”
Hmm, I wonder what goes well with Pilot Rock graduates. Potatoes au gratin?
It’s time for more typos, misspellings and poor word choices. Alexandria’s Frances Killpatrick said she’s collected a lifetime’s worth of mistakes. One of her favorites was in a help-wanted ad. A restaurant was looking for a “Sioux Chef.”
Ken Chaletzky started his career as a typesetter in the late 1960s when he worked on the GW Hatchet. One of his favorite mistakes was from a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. According to the menu, one of the dessert specialties was “Baked Alaskan.”
“Yummy!” wrote Ken. “Too bad Sarah Palin didn’t visit their town.”
Dan Michels of Silver Spring said that when the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare became the Department of Health and Human Services, his office received a large roll of franked mailing labels with the organization’s new name. The print was small, but a sharp-eyed co-worker noticed that the name on the labels was “Defartment of Health and Human Services.”
Wrote Dan: “The labels were used for purposes other than mailing.”
When David Kleeman was visiting the District from Chicago last fall during the repair work on the Washington Monument, he noticed that MSNBC’s on-screen headline read “Repelling From Top.”
Wondered David: “An attack on American workers or on the design of the monument?”
Washington’s Mary McCue says, “It’s not just us modern folks who commit typos. The Wicked Bible, published in 1631 by royal printer Robert Barker, left out ‘not’ in the Seventh Commandment — a distinctly un-Biblical message.”
In case you can’t keep your commandments straight, that’s the one about adultery.
When Nick Johnson first got a Maryland driver’s license in 1955, one of the state’s brochures warned against “wreckless drivers.” Wrote Nick: “The same thing happened when I moved back to Maryland from Virginia around 1990. I should have saved both and maybe MVA would have ‘wreckonized’ their error.”
Rockville’s Joyce Lipman used to teach workshops on written communication skills. “To keep our proofreading course lively, we amassed a blooper file,” she wrote. “My favorite will always be from the restaurant that sold ‘food and mixed drunks.’ ”
Mark Smith went to work on Capitol Hill in 1989, where he served as health policy adviser to Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla). Spell check must have been in its infancy then, Mark wrote. “I used the word ‘Medicare’ frequently in memoranda, correspondence, talking points, legislative text, etc.,” he wrote. “I had to re-check the word every time because the spell-check would want to change the word ‘Medicare’ to ‘Mediocre.’ Somewhat prophetic, wouldn’t you say?”
Church newsletters are especially fertile ground for typos. Michael R. Heintz of Alexandria was a professional church musician for 50 years and has come across some doozies, such as Handel’s hymn “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs” turned into “Surely He Has Borne Our Briefs” and “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” into “He Is Born, the Diving Christ Child.”
Cannonball!
Back in the 1950s, Roger Hartman’s father was the choir director of his hometown Methodist church. Each week, he would phone in to the church secretary the name of the choir’s anthem for the following Sunday. One week, he phoned in “There Is a Balm in Gilead.”
Wrote Roger: “In that Sunday’s bulletin, there appeared — just as the secretary heard it over the phone — the choir’s anthem: ‘There Is a Bomb in Gilead.’ ”
Frederick’s W.H. Luzier said his favorite typo appeared many years ago in the society section of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. A headline read: “Miss Jones to Give Organ Rectal.”
“To my knowledge neither a correction nor an apology ensued,” he wrote. “Apparently neither side wanted to revisit that disaster.”
Yes, best not to touch that.
Sometimes spell check just doesn’t cut it
By John Kelly, Published: February 5
It’s amazing the difference a single letter can make. For example, years ago, Bethesda’s Ellen Smith and her husband subscribed to the weekly newspaper from Pilot Rock, Ore., her husband’s home town. In a story about a local wedding reception, the following was printed: “The bridal couple ate graduates of Pilot Rock High School.”
Wrote Ellen: “I can think of nothing to add to that, but I’m sure you can.”
Hmm, I wonder what goes well with Pilot Rock graduates. Potatoes au gratin?
It’s time for more typos, misspellings and poor word choices. Alexandria’s Frances Killpatrick said she’s collected a lifetime’s worth of mistakes. One of her favorites was in a help-wanted ad. A restaurant was looking for a “Sioux Chef.”
Ken Chaletzky started his career as a typesetter in the late 1960s when he worked on the GW Hatchet. One of his favorite mistakes was from a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. According to the menu, one of the dessert specialties was “Baked Alaskan.”
“Yummy!” wrote Ken. “Too bad Sarah Palin didn’t visit their town.”
Dan Michels of Silver Spring said that when the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare became the Department of Health and Human Services, his office received a large roll of franked mailing labels with the organization’s new name. The print was small, but a sharp-eyed co-worker noticed that the name on the labels was “Defartment of Health and Human Services.”
Wrote Dan: “The labels were used for purposes other than mailing.”
When David Kleeman was visiting the District from Chicago last fall during the repair work on the Washington Monument, he noticed that MSNBC’s on-screen headline read “Repelling From Top.”
Wondered David: “An attack on American workers or on the design of the monument?”
Washington’s Mary McCue says, “It’s not just us modern folks who commit typos. The Wicked Bible, published in 1631 by royal printer Robert Barker, left out ‘not’ in the Seventh Commandment — a distinctly un-Biblical message.”
In case you can’t keep your commandments straight, that’s the one about adultery.
When Nick Johnson first got a Maryland driver’s license in 1955, one of the state’s brochures warned against “wreckless drivers.” Wrote Nick: “The same thing happened when I moved back to Maryland from Virginia around 1990. I should have saved both and maybe MVA would have ‘wreckonized’ their error.”
Rockville’s Joyce Lipman used to teach workshops on written communication skills. “To keep our proofreading course lively, we amassed a blooper file,” she wrote. “My favorite will always be from the restaurant that sold ‘food and mixed drunks.’ ”
Mark Smith went to work on Capitol Hill in 1989, where he served as health policy adviser to Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla). Spell check must have been in its infancy then, Mark wrote. “I used the word ‘Medicare’ frequently in memoranda, correspondence, talking points, legislative text, etc.,” he wrote. “I had to re-check the word every time because the spell-check would want to change the word ‘Medicare’ to ‘Mediocre.’ Somewhat prophetic, wouldn’t you say?”
Church newsletters are especially fertile ground for typos. Michael R. Heintz of Alexandria was a professional church musician for 50 years and has come across some doozies, such as Handel’s hymn “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs” turned into “Surely He Has Borne Our Briefs” and “He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child” into “He Is Born, the Diving Christ Child.”
Cannonball!
Back in the 1950s, Roger Hartman’s father was the choir director of his hometown Methodist church. Each week, he would phone in to the church secretary the name of the choir’s anthem for the following Sunday. One week, he phoned in “There Is a Balm in Gilead.”
Wrote Roger: “In that Sunday’s bulletin, there appeared — just as the secretary heard it over the phone — the choir’s anthem: ‘There Is a Bomb in Gilead.’ ”
Frederick’s W.H. Luzier said his favorite typo appeared many years ago in the society section of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. A headline read: “Miss Jones to Give Organ Rectal.”
“To my knowledge neither a correction nor an apology ensued,” he wrote. “Apparently neither side wanted to revisit that disaster.”
Yes, best not to touch that.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Eric Metaxes, the National Prayer Breakfast
Eric Metaxas, a brilliant young writer who worked for me briefly when I was in Washington, D.C., was the keynote speaker for the National Prayer Breakfast this past week.
In his talk, he describes his life as a writer, including how he came to be the premier biographer of both William Wilberforce and of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I strongly urge you to take the time to listen to his remarks and to understand his world view as he explained it before President Obama and the 4,000 assembled guests for the prayer breakfast.
You can see his address on Denny Burk's blog -- it is cued up to start where Eric is introduced.
http://www.dennyburk.com/eric-metaxas-in-rare-form-at-national-prayer-breakfast-2/
In his talk, he describes his life as a writer, including how he came to be the premier biographer of both William Wilberforce and of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I strongly urge you to take the time to listen to his remarks and to understand his world view as he explained it before President Obama and the 4,000 assembled guests for the prayer breakfast.
You can see his address on Denny Burk's blog -- it is cued up to start where Eric is introduced.
http://www.dennyburk.com/eric-metaxas-in-rare-form-at-national-prayer-breakfast-2/
Friday, February 3, 2012
Get Started by Writing Devotionals
Writing devotionals is an excellent way to get started in being published. Often only about 250 words, they follow a formula and there are many places looking for good devotionals.
A ten-part blog series on writing devotionals has just concluded on Susan Titus Osborn's blog. Check the series out at http://www.christiancommunicator.com/blog
A ten-part blog series on writing devotionals has just concluded on Susan Titus Osborn's blog. Check the series out at http://www.christiancommunicator.com/blog
Monday, January 30, 2012
Should we Label Christian Fiction?
Thought-provoking comments from the blog of literary agent Rachelle Gardner:
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
There has been a controversy brewing underground for awhile now, ever since publishers started promoting books by offering a limited-time free download. Many of the Christian publishers have done these promotions, but whenever Christian novels are promoted on Amazon as free downloads, many people download them without realizing they’re Christian.
They start reading and when they realize it’s “Christian” they become enraged. They feel like they were hoodwinked somehow. And then they leave 1-star, angry reviews on Amazon. Here are some Amazon comments on a recent Christian novel that was free for a limited time:
“When you read the review for this book, no mention is made of the Christian nature of the book. This is misleading.”
“I resent the absence of the Christian fiction label. ”
“This book is not a [genre]. It is a Christian morality tale.”
“Why is it that authors of Christian fiction often hide that fact in the descriptions? I am simply irritated when I buy a book based on a secular description only to find that the predominant thread throughout the book is Christian proselytizing.”
“It is an excuse to promote a Christian agenda. When a book is Christian Fiction it should be promoted as such.”
These responses are leading people to ask whether Christian fiction needs to be clearly labeled as such, maybe in the “Book Description” on the Amazon page.
I know a lot of Christians think it’s a real shame that people are responding this way. But I have to say, I’m not surprised. To understand what I mean, just imagine if the tables were turned. You are a Christian and you download a free book (or worse, pay good money for a book), which you then discover contains a storyline that strongly promotes the Muslim faith, clearly saying Islam is the one true faith and without it, you’re doomed. I imagine you’d be upset. You’d feel disrespected as a reader. You’d feel tricked into buying something that goes against what you believe; you may even worry that simply reading it was dangerous for you.
I think this is a classic “Do unto others…” moment. I see no reason to disrespect people of other faiths (or no faith) by refusing to label Christian fiction as “Christian.”
In fact, I’d go so far as to recommend that if you write Christian fiction and your publisher is about to do an Amazon “free” promotion, you make sure somebody contacts Amazon to edit the book description so that it makes clear it’s Christian. If you do this, you can probably avoid most of those angry 1-star reviews.
What do you think? Should Christian fiction be clearly described as such in the book description? Why or why not?
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
There has been a controversy brewing underground for awhile now, ever since publishers started promoting books by offering a limited-time free download. Many of the Christian publishers have done these promotions, but whenever Christian novels are promoted on Amazon as free downloads, many people download them without realizing they’re Christian.
They start reading and when they realize it’s “Christian” they become enraged. They feel like they were hoodwinked somehow. And then they leave 1-star, angry reviews on Amazon. Here are some Amazon comments on a recent Christian novel that was free for a limited time:
“When you read the review for this book, no mention is made of the Christian nature of the book. This is misleading.”
“I resent the absence of the Christian fiction label. ”
“This book is not a [genre]. It is a Christian morality tale.”
“Why is it that authors of Christian fiction often hide that fact in the descriptions? I am simply irritated when I buy a book based on a secular description only to find that the predominant thread throughout the book is Christian proselytizing.”
“It is an excuse to promote a Christian agenda. When a book is Christian Fiction it should be promoted as such.”
These responses are leading people to ask whether Christian fiction needs to be clearly labeled as such, maybe in the “Book Description” on the Amazon page.
I know a lot of Christians think it’s a real shame that people are responding this way. But I have to say, I’m not surprised. To understand what I mean, just imagine if the tables were turned. You are a Christian and you download a free book (or worse, pay good money for a book), which you then discover contains a storyline that strongly promotes the Muslim faith, clearly saying Islam is the one true faith and without it, you’re doomed. I imagine you’d be upset. You’d feel disrespected as a reader. You’d feel tricked into buying something that goes against what you believe; you may even worry that simply reading it was dangerous for you.
I think this is a classic “Do unto others…” moment. I see no reason to disrespect people of other faiths (or no faith) by refusing to label Christian fiction as “Christian.”
In fact, I’d go so far as to recommend that if you write Christian fiction and your publisher is about to do an Amazon “free” promotion, you make sure somebody contacts Amazon to edit the book description so that it makes clear it’s Christian. If you do this, you can probably avoid most of those angry 1-star reviews.
What do you think? Should Christian fiction be clearly described as such in the book description? Why or why not?
WJI Features Conference at Bryan
CALLING ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH A PASSION FOR WRITING!
Dayton, Tenn.--If you are a Christian student journalist in Eastern Tennessee or Northern Georgia with a passion for writing, circle March 27, on your calendar.
World Journalism Institute, in conjunction with WORLD on Campus, will be conducting a series of free journalism seminars at Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn., for Christian college journalists in the area who want to develop their skills as journalists.
The half day conference, entitled "The Skills and Worldview of the Christian Journalist,"is designed to help students improve the skills necessary to integrate a passion for Christ with a passion for great journalism.
The seminar leaders will be Warren Cole Smith, associate publisher of WORLD magazine; Leigh Jones, editor of WORLDonCampus.com; and Rob Patete, WORLD magazine's associate art director.
Seminar sessions will cover topics such as the basics of news writing, including story structure; common mistakes made by beginning journalists, and how to avoid them; basic interviewing skills, including a few tricks of the trade; how to integrate a Christian worldview into the practice of journalism; and how to write for WORLDonCampus.com
Between the seminar sessions there will be a free pizza lunch for all participants.
The World Journalism Institute (www.worldji.com) is a division of the World New Group with the mission to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in the newsrooms of America and the world. WORLD on Campus is a news website for college students looking for news from a perspective that will help them develop a Christian worldview. The World News Group also includes WORLD magazine and World Radio.
To register for the Bryan journalism conference, go to worldji.com and select "Programs." Scroll down to "Bryan College Conference."
Dayton, Tenn.--If you are a Christian student journalist in Eastern Tennessee or Northern Georgia with a passion for writing, circle March 27, on your calendar.
World Journalism Institute, in conjunction with WORLD on Campus, will be conducting a series of free journalism seminars at Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn., for Christian college journalists in the area who want to develop their skills as journalists.
The half day conference, entitled "The Skills and Worldview of the Christian Journalist,"is designed to help students improve the skills necessary to integrate a passion for Christ with a passion for great journalism.
The seminar leaders will be Warren Cole Smith, associate publisher of WORLD magazine; Leigh Jones, editor of WORLDonCampus.com; and Rob Patete, WORLD magazine's associate art director.
Seminar sessions will cover topics such as the basics of news writing, including story structure; common mistakes made by beginning journalists, and how to avoid them; basic interviewing skills, including a few tricks of the trade; how to integrate a Christian worldview into the practice of journalism; and how to write for WORLDonCampus.com
Between the seminar sessions there will be a free pizza lunch for all participants.
The World Journalism Institute (www.worldji.com) is a division of the World New Group with the mission to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in the newsrooms of America and the world. WORLD on Campus is a news website for college students looking for news from a perspective that will help them develop a Christian worldview. The World News Group also includes WORLD magazine and World Radio.
To register for the Bryan journalism conference, go to worldji.com and select "Programs." Scroll down to "Bryan College Conference."
Friday, January 27, 2012
Building a Body of Work
Some inspirational words from an old pro in the freelance writing business:
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Build A Body of Work
I want to return to a basic of writing—any type of writing. Whatever you write, are you writing consistently? Are you continuing to work at building relationships with the gatekeepers (magazine editors, online editors, book editors, literary agents and other professional writers). I know it is basic but consistent writing and working at this business is critical. It rarely comes easy or quickly to any of us. In fact, we often fight the discipline and consistency of writing.
Occasionally someone will look at the volume of my own writing and exclaim, “How do you do it?” It’s just like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. As writers, we write one sentence then one page at a time. Over seven years ago, we moved to Arizona and I sorted through a lot of materials in this process and threw away unnecessary papers. I kept my magazine clips—and there are literally boxes of them. Some days I’m amazed that I’ve written over 60 books and the first one. When I Grow Up was published in 1992. In these years, I’ve been able to build a body of work. The concept of consistency and building a body of work may be new to you.
Years ago on the way to a writer’s conference, I chatted with a literary agent. I was just beginning my writing work and he encouraged me to continue building a body of work. It’s not a single book or a single magazine article but the sum of your work in publishing that eventually makes an impact. What are you doing to build a body of work? Are you writing consistently? Are you growing in your understanding of the publishing business? I confess that I learn new terms and new aspects constantly.
Some days I don’t feel like cranking out some words but I do it. As I’ve traveled the country and worked with different writers. I know some writers are inspirational writers. They only write when they feel the story in their fingers and put it on paper. Others are journeymen and professional writers. They pound the keys day in and day out—whether they feel like it or not. I fall into that latter category (most of the time). It’s helped my consistent writing.
As a young journalist training in news editorial, one summer, I interned on the Peru Tribune, a small town newspaper in Peru, Indiana. I’m fairly certain anyone I knew isn’t at the newspaper any longer. We had no computers and the typesetting was done with a Linotype machine in the back of the building. We had our story meetings at 7:30 a.m where the managing editor talked with the reporters about the stories to be written that day. In that short meeting we received our particular assigned stories, then hit it with the full knowledge of our 11 a.m. copy deadline. Our stories went quickly through the editor and appeared in the printed afternoon paper at 3 p.m. We had no time to sharpen our pencils or hem and haw about writer’s block. We had a deadline to meet—which we met day after day.
I’m committed to writing consistently. I want to keep my fingers on the keyboard and keep them moving to write articles, chapters for books and book proposals. I’m committed to building a body of work. It might not pay off immediately but in the long run, I know consistency counts.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Build A Body of Work
I want to return to a basic of writing—any type of writing. Whatever you write, are you writing consistently? Are you continuing to work at building relationships with the gatekeepers (magazine editors, online editors, book editors, literary agents and other professional writers). I know it is basic but consistent writing and working at this business is critical. It rarely comes easy or quickly to any of us. In fact, we often fight the discipline and consistency of writing.
Occasionally someone will look at the volume of my own writing and exclaim, “How do you do it?” It’s just like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. As writers, we write one sentence then one page at a time. Over seven years ago, we moved to Arizona and I sorted through a lot of materials in this process and threw away unnecessary papers. I kept my magazine clips—and there are literally boxes of them. Some days I’m amazed that I’ve written over 60 books and the first one. When I Grow Up was published in 1992. In these years, I’ve been able to build a body of work. The concept of consistency and building a body of work may be new to you.
Years ago on the way to a writer’s conference, I chatted with a literary agent. I was just beginning my writing work and he encouraged me to continue building a body of work. It’s not a single book or a single magazine article but the sum of your work in publishing that eventually makes an impact. What are you doing to build a body of work? Are you writing consistently? Are you growing in your understanding of the publishing business? I confess that I learn new terms and new aspects constantly.
Some days I don’t feel like cranking out some words but I do it. As I’ve traveled the country and worked with different writers. I know some writers are inspirational writers. They only write when they feel the story in their fingers and put it on paper. Others are journeymen and professional writers. They pound the keys day in and day out—whether they feel like it or not. I fall into that latter category (most of the time). It’s helped my consistent writing.
As a young journalist training in news editorial, one summer, I interned on the Peru Tribune, a small town newspaper in Peru, Indiana. I’m fairly certain anyone I knew isn’t at the newspaper any longer. We had no computers and the typesetting was done with a Linotype machine in the back of the building. We had our story meetings at 7:30 a.m where the managing editor talked with the reporters about the stories to be written that day. In that short meeting we received our particular assigned stories, then hit it with the full knowledge of our 11 a.m. copy deadline. Our stories went quickly through the editor and appeared in the printed afternoon paper at 3 p.m. We had no time to sharpen our pencils or hem and haw about writer’s block. We had a deadline to meet—which we met day after day.
I’m committed to writing consistently. I want to keep my fingers on the keyboard and keep them moving to write articles, chapters for books and book proposals. I’m committed to building a body of work. It might not pay off immediately but in the long run, I know consistency counts.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Espresso Book Machine Going Into Powell's
Powell's Books to Install Espresso Book Machine
January 19, 2012
(Press Release) January 18, 2012 (Portland, OR and NEW YORK, NY) – In the early Spring 2012, Powell’s Books, one of the country’s largest and most successful retailers of new and used books, will launch its Espresso Book Machine (EBM) at its legendary City of Books flagship store location.
The EBM brings a revolutionary book-publishing technology to one of the most respected independent booksellers in the world.
The EBM is the only digital-to-print at retail solution on the market. Within minutes, the EBM produces a bookstore quality paperback with color cover, in any standard trim size, at point of sale. The content is fed to the machine via EspressNet, On Demand Books’ growing digital network of over seven million titles.
Much like an iTunes for books, EspressNet retrieves, encrypts, transmits, and catalogues books from a multitude of English and foreign language sources (including public domain sources, traditional publishers, and self-published authors). Through the SelfEspress software, writers can format, design, edit, and upload their book for printing into a physical book and inclusion on the EBM catalog; it also can convert the print file to epub format suitable for e-readers.
The EBM provides a new sales channel for publishers and vastly increases the availability of titles for physical bookstores, thus significantly reducing loss of sales due to books being out-of-stock. Also, the EBM technology offers libraries and bricks-and-mortar retailers the opportunity to become community self-publishing centers, providing a new distribution platform for self-published authors. EBM improves efficiency and sustainability by eliminating shipping, returns, and pulping of unwanted books.
"We are excited to offer this service to our customers, expanding our vast inventory at the City of Books location from one million volumes to nearly limitless volumes," says Miriam Sontz , Chief Operating Officer for Powell's Books. "It is yet another way we can be valuable and relevant to readers and authors as the distribution channels for books continue to evolve. We are thrilled by this opportunity to work with On Demand Books as our business partner in this venture."
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be partnering with one of the truly greatbookstores in the country,” said Dane Neller , CEO of On Demand Books. “To have our Espresso Book Machine in Powell’s is a dream come true. We look forward to working with the folks there to drive actively sales of publisher content.”
January 19, 2012
(Press Release) January 18, 2012 (Portland, OR and NEW YORK, NY) – In the early Spring 2012, Powell’s Books, one of the country’s largest and most successful retailers of new and used books, will launch its Espresso Book Machine (EBM) at its legendary City of Books flagship store location.
The EBM brings a revolutionary book-publishing technology to one of the most respected independent booksellers in the world.
The EBM is the only digital-to-print at retail solution on the market. Within minutes, the EBM produces a bookstore quality paperback with color cover, in any standard trim size, at point of sale. The content is fed to the machine via EspressNet, On Demand Books’ growing digital network of over seven million titles.
Much like an iTunes for books, EspressNet retrieves, encrypts, transmits, and catalogues books from a multitude of English and foreign language sources (including public domain sources, traditional publishers, and self-published authors). Through the SelfEspress software, writers can format, design, edit, and upload their book for printing into a physical book and inclusion on the EBM catalog; it also can convert the print file to epub format suitable for e-readers.
The EBM provides a new sales channel for publishers and vastly increases the availability of titles for physical bookstores, thus significantly reducing loss of sales due to books being out-of-stock. Also, the EBM technology offers libraries and bricks-and-mortar retailers the opportunity to become community self-publishing centers, providing a new distribution platform for self-published authors. EBM improves efficiency and sustainability by eliminating shipping, returns, and pulping of unwanted books.
"We are excited to offer this service to our customers, expanding our vast inventory at the City of Books location from one million volumes to nearly limitless volumes," says Miriam Sontz , Chief Operating Officer for Powell's Books. "It is yet another way we can be valuable and relevant to readers and authors as the distribution channels for books continue to evolve. We are thrilled by this opportunity to work with On Demand Books as our business partner in this venture."
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be partnering with one of the truly greatbookstores in the country,” said Dane Neller , CEO of On Demand Books. “To have our Espresso Book Machine in Powell’s is a dream come true. We look forward to working with the folks there to drive actively sales of publisher content.”
Monday, January 9, 2012
Readers, Not Editors, to Help Choose Content
Here is a fascinating paradigm shift by a major periodical. This is an excerpt--to read the entire article, click here.
Ladies' Home Journal Lets Readers Write the Magazine
Venerable Publication's Bid to Attract Younger Audience May Cause Ripple Effect Among Mass Titles
By: Nat Ives Published: January 09, 2012
Crowdsourcing has been common in advertising for some time, but in a highly unusual move, it's now vaulting the wall at the venerable Ladies' Home Journal, which is planning to turn over many of the pages in its 128-year-old publication to work written by readers.
Starting with the March issue, LHJ editors will cull much of the magazine's material from posts on DivineCaroline.com, a sibling at Meredith Corp. that lets consumers upload their own stories, as well as from the magazine's website, its Facebook page and other digital channels.
The magazine will still use fact-checkers and include experts in fields such as medicine and beauty, but it will start with consumers where it can. "We really flipped this model," said Editor-in-Chief Sally Lee. "Usually content creation begins with an editor. We have content creation that begins with a reader."
While other publishers have dabbled in the practice, its adoption by Ladies' Home Journal, a title that guarantees advertisers an average paid circulation of 3.2 million, is significant since it is the largest traditional media brand to commit to so much user-generated content on an ongoing basis. If it's successful, other mass-circulation titles may follow. "I've been asked a lot about whether we foresee this becoming a model that other magazines will start to implement," said Diane Malloy, publisher of Ladies' Home Journal. "My answer is, 'Gosh, yes, I think everyone is going to sit up and take notice.'"
The magazine says the changes were driven by research revealing that readers wanted a greater role in filling its pages. But the move could also help LHJ, which competes in the very mature category of women's service, improve its traction with advertisers.
An accompanying revamp by design firm Pentagram will signal the shift and include a new Ladies' Home Journal logo that shrinks "Home" to small type and overwhelmingly emphasizes "Journal."
Unlike the Huffington Post, where many bloggers post without pay, Ladies' Home Journal won't tell its amateur writers to settle for the exposure. "We are going to pay them our professional rates," Ms. Lee said.
The magazine wants to build a community of readers engaging with one another and with editors, but the idea predates the current notions of user-generated content and constant conversations with consumers.
Friday, January 6, 2012
If a Taylor Student Can Win . . . !!!
BP journalism competition winners named
Posted on Jan 6, 2012 | by Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Nick Dean and Daniel Cernero have been named first-place winners in the 2011 Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism Competition for collegiate communications students.
Dean, a senior at Baylor University and last year's editor-in-chief of The Baylor Lariat student newspaper, won the competition's print/web category.
Cernero, a December 2010 Baylor graduate who was photo editor of the university's Round Up yearbook, won the visual/multimedia category.
Second-place winners are Julia Berger, a senior at Taylor University and co-editor of The Echo student newspaper, in print-web and Makenzie Mason, a Baylor senior and photo editor of the Round Up, in visual/multimedia.
Judging for the competition was provided by members of the Baptist Communicators Association (www.baptistcommunicators.org), a professional organization for individuals who serve in editorial, public relations, electronic media, photography, management, marketing and graphic design positions principally within Baptist entities and institutions. Among its ongoing initiatives, BCA awards annual scholarships to graduate, undergraduate and minority/ethnic/international students planning to pursue a career in Baptist communications.
Each entrant in the BP-sponsored journalism competition submitted a 500-word essay about their journalism career goals and how faith plays a role in those goals. Entrants in the print/web side of the competition could submit up to six news or feature stories; photography, up to 24 images; video, up to 20 minutes of video.
Dean and Cernero will receive $1,000 awards for first place in their respective categories; Berger and Mason will receive $500 awards for second place.
Dean, in his 500-word essay, wrote, "My academic career has been an attempt to define journalism and to discover if I could mix my passion for helping people -- a passion developed through my faith in Christ -- with my love of writing. Fortunately, I've found that to be possible and plan to become a political reporter in Austin covering state politics after graduation."
Cernero, in his essay, wrote that his faith should show through "all aspects of my work in journalism. Especially when it comes to photography, I feel that the photographs are a reflection of the photographer -- it's the world as I see it. Also, even when not actively taking photos, I believe my faith is on display to all I come across in the professional field, be it the person of interest for a particular story or my coworkers."
Cernero currently works at the Fort Hood Sentinel as sports editor and a photographer.
Among the judges' comments of Dean's entries, one judge took note of an article Dean had written on an Iraqi student newspaper at the University of Iraq-Sulaimani. "I found it interesting that a Baylor newspaper would do an article on another college newspaper that didn't have a direct connection with Baylor," the judge wrote. "That was unexpected. But, wow! What a good article for people to read. It is good for them to see a side of Iraq/Kurdistan that relates to their peers."
Among comments on Cernero's entries, one judge wrote, "Daniel seems to include a piece of himself in his work and this is a critical ingredient for making good photographers into great ones. His style, while still in the early stages, shows a strength and determination to capture the essence of the moment. His images evoke a reaction."
Baptist Press editor Art Toalston noted, "Baptists have a long heritage of Christian journalism, dating back more than 175 years. We hope that the Excellence in Journalism Competition serves as both a reminder of our heritage and a point of encouragement to Baptist journalism students. They, too, can strive to be first-rate journalists in our 21st-century context, whether in the Southern Baptist Convention or in the nation's news media."
BCA's president, Julie McGowan, news & media relations director at Oklahoma Baptist University, said in a statement to Baptist Press, "Baptist Communicators Association congratulates the winners of the Excellence in Journalism Competition. We were thrilled to participate in judging the best work of the next generation of Baptist communicators. We hope to see the entrants involved for many years in telling the stories -- through all kinds of media -- of how God is at work around the world."
Posted on Jan 6, 2012 | by Staff
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Nick Dean and Daniel Cernero have been named first-place winners in the 2011 Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism Competition for collegiate communications students.
Dean, a senior at Baylor University and last year's editor-in-chief of The Baylor Lariat student newspaper, won the competition's print/web category.
Cernero, a December 2010 Baylor graduate who was photo editor of the university's Round Up yearbook, won the visual/multimedia category.
Second-place winners are Julia Berger, a senior at Taylor University and co-editor of The Echo student newspaper, in print-web and Makenzie Mason, a Baylor senior and photo editor of the Round Up, in visual/multimedia.
Judging for the competition was provided by members of the Baptist Communicators Association (www.baptistcommunicators.org), a professional organization for individuals who serve in editorial, public relations, electronic media, photography, management, marketing and graphic design positions principally within Baptist entities and institutions. Among its ongoing initiatives, BCA awards annual scholarships to graduate, undergraduate and minority/ethnic/international students planning to pursue a career in Baptist communications.
Each entrant in the BP-sponsored journalism competition submitted a 500-word essay about their journalism career goals and how faith plays a role in those goals. Entrants in the print/web side of the competition could submit up to six news or feature stories; photography, up to 24 images; video, up to 20 minutes of video.
Dean and Cernero will receive $1,000 awards for first place in their respective categories; Berger and Mason will receive $500 awards for second place.
Dean, in his 500-word essay, wrote, "My academic career has been an attempt to define journalism and to discover if I could mix my passion for helping people -- a passion developed through my faith in Christ -- with my love of writing. Fortunately, I've found that to be possible and plan to become a political reporter in Austin covering state politics after graduation."
Cernero, in his essay, wrote that his faith should show through "all aspects of my work in journalism. Especially when it comes to photography, I feel that the photographs are a reflection of the photographer -- it's the world as I see it. Also, even when not actively taking photos, I believe my faith is on display to all I come across in the professional field, be it the person of interest for a particular story or my coworkers."
Cernero currently works at the Fort Hood Sentinel as sports editor and a photographer.
Among the judges' comments of Dean's entries, one judge took note of an article Dean had written on an Iraqi student newspaper at the University of Iraq-Sulaimani. "I found it interesting that a Baylor newspaper would do an article on another college newspaper that didn't have a direct connection with Baylor," the judge wrote. "That was unexpected. But, wow! What a good article for people to read. It is good for them to see a side of Iraq/Kurdistan that relates to their peers."
Among comments on Cernero's entries, one judge wrote, "Daniel seems to include a piece of himself in his work and this is a critical ingredient for making good photographers into great ones. His style, while still in the early stages, shows a strength and determination to capture the essence of the moment. His images evoke a reaction."
Baptist Press editor Art Toalston noted, "Baptists have a long heritage of Christian journalism, dating back more than 175 years. We hope that the Excellence in Journalism Competition serves as both a reminder of our heritage and a point of encouragement to Baptist journalism students. They, too, can strive to be first-rate journalists in our 21st-century context, whether in the Southern Baptist Convention or in the nation's news media."
BCA's president, Julie McGowan, news & media relations director at Oklahoma Baptist University, said in a statement to Baptist Press, "Baptist Communicators Association congratulates the winners of the Excellence in Journalism Competition. We were thrilled to participate in judging the best work of the next generation of Baptist communicators. We hope to see the entrants involved for many years in telling the stories -- through all kinds of media -- of how God is at work around the world."
A Great Opportunity . . . .
Olasky to Head Teaching Staff for New York Journalism Boot Camp
New York, N.Y., January 9, 2012-Marvin Olasky, journalist, author and educator will lead the World Journalism Institute's team of instructors for its 2012 New York City journalism course.
Dr. Olasky has degrees from Yale University and University of Michigan. He is the editor-in-chief of WORLD magazine. In 1992 he wrote The Tragedy of American Compassion which Speaker Newt Gingrich famously gave to every Republican in the House of Representatives. President George W. Bush called Olasky "compassionate conservatism's leading thinker" as a result of The Tragedy.
The eight-week New York course in May and June of 2012, is comprised of a three-week residency in New York City followed by a summer reporting component in students' hometowns. The course will help students gain or hone the skills needed to be reporters with newspapers, websites, radio, or the World News Group.
The course will have a strong emphasis on reporting and writing, along with training in radio, photography, and video. The most promising students will receive an internship stipend for use in the World News Group or with other media organizations.
The instructors for 2012 will include Russell Pulliam (Indianapolis Star), Clayton Sizemore (CNN), Les Sillars (Patrick Henry College), Alicia Hansen (NYC Salt), and Mindy Belz and Lee Pitts from WORLD. The course costs $500, with scholarships available for those with demonstrated needs. The residency component will be on the campus of The King's College, located in the Empire State Building.
The World Journalism Institute is a division of the World New Group with the mission to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in the newsrooms of America and the world. The World News Group also includes WORLD magazine, World Radio, five news websites, and six news magazines for children from pre-K to high school.
To apply for the course, go to www.worldji.com, and complete the online application.
New York, N.Y., January 9, 2012-Marvin Olasky, journalist, author and educator will lead the World Journalism Institute's team of instructors for its 2012 New York City journalism course.
Dr. Olasky has degrees from Yale University and University of Michigan. He is the editor-in-chief of WORLD magazine. In 1992 he wrote The Tragedy of American Compassion which Speaker Newt Gingrich famously gave to every Republican in the House of Representatives. President George W. Bush called Olasky "compassionate conservatism's leading thinker" as a result of The Tragedy.
The eight-week New York course in May and June of 2012, is comprised of a three-week residency in New York City followed by a summer reporting component in students' hometowns. The course will help students gain or hone the skills needed to be reporters with newspapers, websites, radio, or the World News Group.
The course will have a strong emphasis on reporting and writing, along with training in radio, photography, and video. The most promising students will receive an internship stipend for use in the World News Group or with other media organizations.
The instructors for 2012 will include Russell Pulliam (Indianapolis Star), Clayton Sizemore (CNN), Les Sillars (Patrick Henry College), Alicia Hansen (NYC Salt), and Mindy Belz and Lee Pitts from WORLD. The course costs $500, with scholarships available for those with demonstrated needs. The residency component will be on the campus of The King's College, located in the Empire State Building.
The World Journalism Institute is a division of the World New Group with the mission to recruit, equip, place and encourage Christian journalists in the newsrooms of America and the world. The World News Group also includes WORLD magazine, World Radio, five news websites, and six news magazines for children from pre-K to high school.
To apply for the course, go to www.worldji.com, and complete the online application.
Don't Use These Words!
Read the Lake Superior State University 2012 List of Banished Words here
(CNN) -- If you're thinking of setting up an amazing man cave or showing off a ginormous baby bump next year, think again.
A northern Michigan school on Friday released its 37th annual list of words and phrases that it believes should be "banished" from the English language, and it suggests that some classic -- and perhaps hackneyed -- should get the ax.
Lake Superior State University once again solicited people online to nominate terms they consider tired, overused or simply annoying. Based on those submissions, the arbiters at the school decided to put the following on this year's chopping block: "amazing," "baby bump," "shared sacrifice," "occupy," "blowback," "man cave," "ginormous" and "the new normal."
"Pet parent," "win the future," "trickeration" and "thank you in advance" also have been unofficially sentenced to linguistic exile for the crimes of excessive and inappropriate usage, according to the university in Sault Sainte Marie on the Canadian border.
"Worn-out words and phrases are the new normal this year, but with some shared sacrifice, we can clean up the language and win the future," a school representative said in a written statement. "With the addition of this year's nominations, the list of words and phrases banished over the years has become ginormous."
"Amazing" -- arguably one of the most overused adjectives in the English language -- topped this year's list of submissions, according to the university.
"Banish it for blatant overuse and incorrect use ... to stop my head from exploding," begged Paul Crutchfield from Great Britain, according to the press release.
"Anderson Cooper used it three times recently in the opening 45 seconds of his program," said Sarah Howley, a resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan, referring to the CNN anchor. "My teeth grate, my hackles rise, and even my dog is getting annoyed at this senseless overuse.
"I don't even like 'Amazing Grace' anymore," she complained.
David Hollis from Hubbardsville, New York, insisted that not all men are enamored with the concept of the traditional man cave.
"It is not just overused, it is offensive to we males who do not wish to hunker (another awful word, often misused) down in a room filled with stuffed animal heads, an unnecessarily large flat-screen TV and Hooters memorabilia," he said. "Not every man wants a recliner the size of a 1941 Packard that has a cooler in each arm and a holster for the remote. So please, assign 'man cave' to the lexicographic scrap heap where it so rightly belongs."
Jim Eisenmann from Madison, Wisconsin, had some free advice for politicians hitting the campaign trail in 2012: dump "win the future" or you may not win the race.
"On its very face, it's an empty, meaningless phrase," he explained. "It basically says that anyone who opposes anything meant to 'win the future' must want to 'lose the future,' which is highly unlikely."
"Ginormous" seemed particularly irritating this time around, with contributors complaining that its usage shows a lack of proper education.
"This combination of gigantic and enormous makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I hear it," said Gina Bua of Vancouver, Washington. "Each utterance reminds me of the high school drop-out that first used this offensive word in my presence."
"This word is just a made-up combination of two words," adds an Andover, Maine, resident named Jason, who refused to offer his last name. "Either word is sufficient, but the combination just sounds ridiculous."
As for "baby bump" -- a term used to describe a pregnant woman's rounded belly -- this "is a phrase we finally need to give birth to, then send on its way," declared Mary Sturgeon from Vancouver, British Columbia.
"I'm tired of a pregnancy being reduced to a celebrity accessory. Or worse, when less-than-six-pack abs are suspected of being one," said Afton, a respondent from Portland, Oregon.
Lake Superior State University's annual "word banishment" list was first created at a New Year's Eve party in 1975. The school now claims to receive tens of thousands of nominations every year.
(CNN) -- If you're thinking of setting up an amazing man cave or showing off a ginormous baby bump next year, think again.
A northern Michigan school on Friday released its 37th annual list of words and phrases that it believes should be "banished" from the English language, and it suggests that some classic -- and perhaps hackneyed -- should get the ax.
Lake Superior State University once again solicited people online to nominate terms they consider tired, overused or simply annoying. Based on those submissions, the arbiters at the school decided to put the following on this year's chopping block: "amazing," "baby bump," "shared sacrifice," "occupy," "blowback," "man cave," "ginormous" and "the new normal."
"Pet parent," "win the future," "trickeration" and "thank you in advance" also have been unofficially sentenced to linguistic exile for the crimes of excessive and inappropriate usage, according to the university in Sault Sainte Marie on the Canadian border.
"Worn-out words and phrases are the new normal this year, but with some shared sacrifice, we can clean up the language and win the future," a school representative said in a written statement. "With the addition of this year's nominations, the list of words and phrases banished over the years has become ginormous."
"Amazing" -- arguably one of the most overused adjectives in the English language -- topped this year's list of submissions, according to the university.
"Banish it for blatant overuse and incorrect use ... to stop my head from exploding," begged Paul Crutchfield from Great Britain, according to the press release.
"Anderson Cooper used it three times recently in the opening 45 seconds of his program," said Sarah Howley, a resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan, referring to the CNN anchor. "My teeth grate, my hackles rise, and even my dog is getting annoyed at this senseless overuse.
"I don't even like 'Amazing Grace' anymore," she complained.
David Hollis from Hubbardsville, New York, insisted that not all men are enamored with the concept of the traditional man cave.
"It is not just overused, it is offensive to we males who do not wish to hunker (another awful word, often misused) down in a room filled with stuffed animal heads, an unnecessarily large flat-screen TV and Hooters memorabilia," he said. "Not every man wants a recliner the size of a 1941 Packard that has a cooler in each arm and a holster for the remote. So please, assign 'man cave' to the lexicographic scrap heap where it so rightly belongs."
Jim Eisenmann from Madison, Wisconsin, had some free advice for politicians hitting the campaign trail in 2012: dump "win the future" or you may not win the race.
"On its very face, it's an empty, meaningless phrase," he explained. "It basically says that anyone who opposes anything meant to 'win the future' must want to 'lose the future,' which is highly unlikely."
"Ginormous" seemed particularly irritating this time around, with contributors complaining that its usage shows a lack of proper education.
"This combination of gigantic and enormous makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I hear it," said Gina Bua of Vancouver, Washington. "Each utterance reminds me of the high school drop-out that first used this offensive word in my presence."
"This word is just a made-up combination of two words," adds an Andover, Maine, resident named Jason, who refused to offer his last name. "Either word is sufficient, but the combination just sounds ridiculous."
As for "baby bump" -- a term used to describe a pregnant woman's rounded belly -- this "is a phrase we finally need to give birth to, then send on its way," declared Mary Sturgeon from Vancouver, British Columbia.
"I'm tired of a pregnancy being reduced to a celebrity accessory. Or worse, when less-than-six-pack abs are suspected of being one," said Afton, a respondent from Portland, Oregon.
Lake Superior State University's annual "word banishment" list was first created at a New Year's Eve party in 1975. The school now claims to receive tens of thousands of nominations every year.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Definition of 'Book' is Changing
Apps take e-books beyond mere reading
Article by: LAURIE HERTZEL , Star Tribune
Updated: January 2, 2012 - 7:55 PM
For good and for bad, apps and enhanced e-books -- loaded with audio, video and games -- are changing the definition of what a book is.
You can buy the Kevin Kling-Chris Monroe picture book, "Big Little Brother," for $17.95 and read it to your child. Or you can buy the iPad app of "Big Little Brother" for $7.99 and hear Kling read it himself -- and also watch the characters move and hear the toys talk.
Book apps for tablets and smartphones and enhanced e-books for e-readers are going far beyond the transfer of book text to Kindle screen. By bringing audio, video, animation and games to what was once the simple printed page, apps are beginning to fundamentally change our understanding of what makes a book a book.
So far, the trend has been cautious, but publishers predict enhancements will be common within two years. "It's clearly a market waiting to be fed," said Corinne Helman, vice president of digital publishing and business development for Harper Collins children's books. "This is still very, very early days."
"I think this is going to be a huge deal," said Dan Leary, design and production manager for the Minnesota Historical Society Press. "It's really changing what a book is."
Book apps can be as modest as "Big Little Brother," with just a little animation and audio. Or they can be as elaborate as "Fancy Nancy Dress Up," which allows children to design outfits, dress Fancy Nancy and drop her into the story.
Enhanced e-books include all kinds of supplemental material: travel books are embedded with film clips, language books with audio, cookbooks with step-by-step videos.
There are even book apps that have never been printed books, such as David Sedaris' "David's Diary," six animated videos inspired by his diary entries.
Image-heavy books, such as picture books and photo books, lend themselves well to apps. "The iPad does images better than you can print them," Leary said. "The quality is like a transparency in a lightbox."
Made for images
Minnesota photographer Jim Brandenburg turned his award-winning 1998 book, "Chased by the Light," into an app. It contains the original images of northern Minnesota, additional photos from the revised softcover edition, "After the Storm," and 17 video clips from the documentary about the book.
"Each of the video clips are positioned right on that image," said Heidi Brandenburg, the photographer's daughter and manager. "So as you look at it, Jim is talking about why he chose that subject and what he was thinking."
You can also toggle from an original image to a photo of the same place, taken since the BWCA blowdown. "This is our very first app, but it won't be our last," Brandenburg said. "For photography, it's just unbelievable. It gives a whole new life to the images."
Move over, mom and dad
Apps of children's books are particularly attractive to busy parents, Helman said. "How often do you whip out a phone and say, 'I'll buy myself 20 minutes of silence?' I think parents feel good about book apps because it's still a book and the child is still learning."
If parents are too busy to read to the child -- or have already read the book aloud 50 times -- the app can take over. "It means, in some respect, that the kid is now spending more time with books because it doesn't require the parent to be there," Helman said.
This gives Phyllis Root pause. "If it gets children interested in books, it's good," said Root, the Minneapolis author of more than 40 books for children and an instructor in Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children. "But the most important thing about a picture book is that you sit down and read it with a kid."
A parent can point to a picture and say, "What sound does a frog make?" Root said. "And the child might make the sound. But if every time you come to that page you can push the frog and it makes a noise, you've handed over some of the interactiveness of the picture book to this prepackaged shape."
Lori Helman, associate professor of literacy education at the University of Minnesota and co-director of the Minnesota Center for Reading Research (and no relation to Harper Collins' Corinne Helman), said human relations are crucial to child development.
"We need a lot of opportunities for face-to-face interaction so children can learn what it means to be human," she said. "A developing person, whether they're 2 or 7, needs to be able to ask questions and check out their understanding. And no app can be responsive to all the questions and thoughts and wonderings that a young person needs. You need people."
That said, Helman added, apps and e-books can give kids more access to books and put libraries at their fingertips.
"If we're using these things as little babysitters, I think kids will get tired of them," she said. "But if we use them to enhance our interaction, imagine the great conversation that could spark."
Slow growing for now
While technology is fueling this trend, it is also slowng it down.
Apps must be written one way for Apple products, another way for Droids. App stores don't have a separate category for book apps, making them hard to find. And devices are changing so fast that no one dares invest too heavily in any one direction.
"It's been a sort of three steps forward, three steps back," said Terry Adams, who heads e-book and digital publishing for the Hachette Book Group, which includes Little, Brown. "It is the wild, wild West in this marketplace."
All that additional content requires negotiation and money. "If our agreement with an author is a basic book agreement, there are rights related to images and sound and whatever that are not part of that," Adams said. "So that material has to be provided and paid for. It's very expensive."
Still, Harper Collins' Helman said she thinks these are temporary obstacles. "The publishing industry is trying to get together to figure this out," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind that the standard will be achieved. This is just momentary noise."
The biggest concern, Leary says, is permanence.
"The best long-term storage of anything is the book," he said. "It's still the most future-proof thing in this office. The book version of the Kling-Monroe project will still be functional in 50 years. The iPad version of the book -- I will be surprised if anyone has a device that will still be functional in 10 years.
"These things will have a two-year life span, and then you develop for the next piece of technology."
Article by: LAURIE HERTZEL , Star Tribune
Updated: January 2, 2012 - 7:55 PM
For good and for bad, apps and enhanced e-books -- loaded with audio, video and games -- are changing the definition of what a book is.
You can buy the Kevin Kling-Chris Monroe picture book, "Big Little Brother," for $17.95 and read it to your child. Or you can buy the iPad app of "Big Little Brother" for $7.99 and hear Kling read it himself -- and also watch the characters move and hear the toys talk.
Book apps for tablets and smartphones and enhanced e-books for e-readers are going far beyond the transfer of book text to Kindle screen. By bringing audio, video, animation and games to what was once the simple printed page, apps are beginning to fundamentally change our understanding of what makes a book a book.
So far, the trend has been cautious, but publishers predict enhancements will be common within two years. "It's clearly a market waiting to be fed," said Corinne Helman, vice president of digital publishing and business development for Harper Collins children's books. "This is still very, very early days."
"I think this is going to be a huge deal," said Dan Leary, design and production manager for the Minnesota Historical Society Press. "It's really changing what a book is."
Book apps can be as modest as "Big Little Brother," with just a little animation and audio. Or they can be as elaborate as "Fancy Nancy Dress Up," which allows children to design outfits, dress Fancy Nancy and drop her into the story.
Enhanced e-books include all kinds of supplemental material: travel books are embedded with film clips, language books with audio, cookbooks with step-by-step videos.
There are even book apps that have never been printed books, such as David Sedaris' "David's Diary," six animated videos inspired by his diary entries.
Image-heavy books, such as picture books and photo books, lend themselves well to apps. "The iPad does images better than you can print them," Leary said. "The quality is like a transparency in a lightbox."
Made for images
Minnesota photographer Jim Brandenburg turned his award-winning 1998 book, "Chased by the Light," into an app. It contains the original images of northern Minnesota, additional photos from the revised softcover edition, "After the Storm," and 17 video clips from the documentary about the book.
"Each of the video clips are positioned right on that image," said Heidi Brandenburg, the photographer's daughter and manager. "So as you look at it, Jim is talking about why he chose that subject and what he was thinking."
You can also toggle from an original image to a photo of the same place, taken since the BWCA blowdown. "This is our very first app, but it won't be our last," Brandenburg said. "For photography, it's just unbelievable. It gives a whole new life to the images."
Move over, mom and dad
Apps of children's books are particularly attractive to busy parents, Helman said. "How often do you whip out a phone and say, 'I'll buy myself 20 minutes of silence?' I think parents feel good about book apps because it's still a book and the child is still learning."
If parents are too busy to read to the child -- or have already read the book aloud 50 times -- the app can take over. "It means, in some respect, that the kid is now spending more time with books because it doesn't require the parent to be there," Helman said.
This gives Phyllis Root pause. "If it gets children interested in books, it's good," said Root, the Minneapolis author of more than 40 books for children and an instructor in Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children. "But the most important thing about a picture book is that you sit down and read it with a kid."
A parent can point to a picture and say, "What sound does a frog make?" Root said. "And the child might make the sound. But if every time you come to that page you can push the frog and it makes a noise, you've handed over some of the interactiveness of the picture book to this prepackaged shape."
Lori Helman, associate professor of literacy education at the University of Minnesota and co-director of the Minnesota Center for Reading Research (and no relation to Harper Collins' Corinne Helman), said human relations are crucial to child development.
"We need a lot of opportunities for face-to-face interaction so children can learn what it means to be human," she said. "A developing person, whether they're 2 or 7, needs to be able to ask questions and check out their understanding. And no app can be responsive to all the questions and thoughts and wonderings that a young person needs. You need people."
That said, Helman added, apps and e-books can give kids more access to books and put libraries at their fingertips.
"If we're using these things as little babysitters, I think kids will get tired of them," she said. "But if we use them to enhance our interaction, imagine the great conversation that could spark."
Slow growing for now
While technology is fueling this trend, it is also slowng it down.
Apps must be written one way for Apple products, another way for Droids. App stores don't have a separate category for book apps, making them hard to find. And devices are changing so fast that no one dares invest too heavily in any one direction.
"It's been a sort of three steps forward, three steps back," said Terry Adams, who heads e-book and digital publishing for the Hachette Book Group, which includes Little, Brown. "It is the wild, wild West in this marketplace."
All that additional content requires negotiation and money. "If our agreement with an author is a basic book agreement, there are rights related to images and sound and whatever that are not part of that," Adams said. "So that material has to be provided and paid for. It's very expensive."
Still, Harper Collins' Helman said she thinks these are temporary obstacles. "The publishing industry is trying to get together to figure this out," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind that the standard will be achieved. This is just momentary noise."
The biggest concern, Leary says, is permanence.
"The best long-term storage of anything is the book," he said. "It's still the most future-proof thing in this office. The book version of the Kling-Monroe project will still be functional in 50 years. The iPad version of the book -- I will be surprised if anyone has a device that will still be functional in 10 years.
"These things will have a two-year life span, and then you develop for the next piece of technology."
New York Times Has 'Big Oops'
Does Anyone in the Media Ever Read the Bible?
By Eric Metaxas
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/23/does-anyone-in-media-ever-read-bible/?cmpid=cmty_email_Gigya_Does_Anyone_in_the_Media_Ever_Read_the_Bible?
Published December 26, 2011
It happened again just the other day. I was reading the New York Times and I came across something so hilarious that for a moment it seemed to be some kind of joke. But this was in an obituary.
The obit was about one George Whitman, the proprietor of the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, who had just died at the hoary old age of 98. Before I mention the joke, I should say that I first got a mild chuckle when I read how George nurtured aspiring writers:
"For decades Mr. Whitman provided food and makeshift beds to young aspiring novelists or writing nomads, often letting them spend a night, a week, or even months living among the crowded shelves and alcoves." It made me wonder: was George the true founder of OWS?
But this was nothing compared with the hilarity to follow. What hilarity, you ask? It would come in the next two sentences. Here they are:
"[George] welcomed visitors with large-print messages on the walls. 'Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise,' was one, quoting Yeats."
Yeats!? Did you catch that? I choked on my toast. Did the Times actually just say that "Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise" was from Yeats? Unless I had fallen down a rabbit hole, that quote was from the Bible. It's from Hebrews 13:2 and it's quite famous. If you didn't catch it, don't feel too badly, because you are probably not The New York Times. You are probably not America's "paper of record", proud owner of 106 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism -- more than any other newspaper. You probably don't have squadrons of fact-checkers on your payroll.
I still couldn't believe what I'd just read, so I kept reading, looking for some explanation. There was none. I then shook the paper to make sure I was reading an actual newspaper, and not, say, an email forward from an aged friend. Nope. This really was the New York Times, the Old Grey Lady, whose motto was "All the News that's Fit to Print." And let's face it, if W.B. Yeats was the real author of the Bible's "Book of Hebrews," that really would be big news!
To be absolutely sure I wasn't dreaming, I read the passage to my wife. She screamed. I wasn't dreaming. The New York Times really had said that the poet W.B. Yeats was the author of a very famous Bible passage.
To be fair, the New York Times eventually issued a correction about the Yeats' quote. Here's what they said:
Correction: December 21, 2011
An obituary on Thursday about George Whitman, the longtime owner of the Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris, referred incorrectly to a quotation written on a wall of his store. The words "Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise" are a variation on a passage from the Bible; although Mr. Whitman himself attributed them to the poet W.B. Yeats, they were not written by Yeats.
But believe it or not it wasn't just the Times (and the late Mr. Whitman) who got it wrong. It was also the Associated Press. NPR put up the AP version of their obituary right way. The BBC reported erroneously on the quote, too. Which leads me to two observations. First, have you ever heard the old adage, "a lie goes around the world, before the truth can get its boots on." Here's yet another example of the truth in that statement, especially in this hyper-electronic age.
Second, it's no secret that Manhattan and Hollywood cultural elites are deeply secular. There's a reason many of them consider the middle of America "fly-over country". Since at least H.L. Mencken, many secular elites think those who actually read the Bible need to be educated away from such nonsense. So the ignorance they often show about religion can be staggering. I remember two prominent instances.
The first was when I heard that patting-ourselves-on-the-back anthem "We Are the World" on FM radio 25 years ago. In his solo, Willie Nelson warbled: "As God has shown us, by turning stone to bread..." Did Willie really sing that Jesus had turned stone into bread? Yikes. Um, that's not quite what happened, Willie. What actually happened was that Jesus refused to turn stone to bread. And do you remember who tried to get him to turn stone to bread? That's right, Willie: it was um, Satan, as in Lucifer. As in it was a bad idea...
Keep in mind that this wasn't something he blurted out over the reefer-smoke at a concert. That knee-slapping lyric was written down and gone over and over. Who knows how many of those celebrities heard it and never batted an eye. That's how out of touch the vast majority of Hollywood celebrities are with basic Sunday School knowledge.
The second was when a secular Manhattan friend revealed that he didn't know who had come up with the Golden Rule. When told it was Jesus (Matthew 7:12) he didn't believe it. And this is a brilliant man, who knows just about everything there is to know. But in the world of Manhattan cultural elites, the Bible is mostly thought of as a quaint and useless artifact, like that old colonial butterchurn near the fireplace in your country home. Did it really ever make butter?
In part to remedy this inequality, I've started something called Socrates in the City [www.socratesinthecity.com] where the "big questions" are considered from a generally biblical point of view. But that's another story.
To get back to the faux-Yeats quote, remember that we are not talking about Willie Nelson or about a friend of mine. We are talking about the New York Times. Yes, they have a generally secular and liberal bias, but this was a factual error and the Times has fact-checkers. So if by some fluke the writer of the obit had been raised in Soviet Russia where no one was permitted to read or speak about the Bible, then surely one of the Times notoriously fastidious fact-checkers would have caught this tremendous goof. Besides, this obit must have been written years before, as such obits usually are, waiting quietly in the files for their elderly subjects to pass on. It would have been dusted off every few years and updated and -- presumably -- rechecked.
So when I read the Yeats supergoof, I wondered: where were the fact-checkers? Is the secular bias at the Times so pervasive that it has affected not just the writers but the fact-checkers too? Or has being out of touch with middle America so hurt the Times' subscription base that they cannot afford fact-checkers anymore?
When I first wrote about this on my Facebook page I was excoriated by an acquaintance who writes for the Times. He thought I was simply being too harsh. Perhaps I was. After all, as Sammy Davis, Jr. once remarked, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
But to get serious, if I had one wish for American in 2012, I wish that we would get to know the Bible better. Even if you aren't a believer there are incredible stories in the "good book" that I guarantee you will keep you glued to the page. The Bible is no less a part of our cultural heritage than Shakespeare is -- and by the way, Shakespeare's plays are absolutely loaded with Biblical references.
In the meantime, the biblical author of Hebrews was on to something when he wrote about angels in disguise. So take his advice: be hospitable to all you meet. And keep your eyes open for disguised angels.
Eric Metaxas is the author of "Socrates in the City: Conversations of "Life, God, and Other Small Topics" and a New York Times bestseller, "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy."
By Eric Metaxas
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/12/23/does-anyone-in-media-ever-read-bible/?cmpid=cmty_email_Gigya_Does_Anyone_in_the_Media_Ever_Read_the_Bible?
Published December 26, 2011
It happened again just the other day. I was reading the New York Times and I came across something so hilarious that for a moment it seemed to be some kind of joke. But this was in an obituary.
The obit was about one George Whitman, the proprietor of the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, who had just died at the hoary old age of 98. Before I mention the joke, I should say that I first got a mild chuckle when I read how George nurtured aspiring writers:
"For decades Mr. Whitman provided food and makeshift beds to young aspiring novelists or writing nomads, often letting them spend a night, a week, or even months living among the crowded shelves and alcoves." It made me wonder: was George the true founder of OWS?
But this was nothing compared with the hilarity to follow. What hilarity, you ask? It would come in the next two sentences. Here they are:
"[George] welcomed visitors with large-print messages on the walls. 'Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise,' was one, quoting Yeats."
Yeats!? Did you catch that? I choked on my toast. Did the Times actually just say that "Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise" was from Yeats? Unless I had fallen down a rabbit hole, that quote was from the Bible. It's from Hebrews 13:2 and it's quite famous. If you didn't catch it, don't feel too badly, because you are probably not The New York Times. You are probably not America's "paper of record", proud owner of 106 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism -- more than any other newspaper. You probably don't have squadrons of fact-checkers on your payroll.
I still couldn't believe what I'd just read, so I kept reading, looking for some explanation. There was none. I then shook the paper to make sure I was reading an actual newspaper, and not, say, an email forward from an aged friend. Nope. This really was the New York Times, the Old Grey Lady, whose motto was "All the News that's Fit to Print." And let's face it, if W.B. Yeats was the real author of the Bible's "Book of Hebrews," that really would be big news!
To be absolutely sure I wasn't dreaming, I read the passage to my wife. She screamed. I wasn't dreaming. The New York Times really had said that the poet W.B. Yeats was the author of a very famous Bible passage.
To be fair, the New York Times eventually issued a correction about the Yeats' quote. Here's what they said:
Correction: December 21, 2011
An obituary on Thursday about George Whitman, the longtime owner of the Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris, referred incorrectly to a quotation written on a wall of his store. The words "Be not inhospitable to strangers, lest they be angels in disguise" are a variation on a passage from the Bible; although Mr. Whitman himself attributed them to the poet W.B. Yeats, they were not written by Yeats.
But believe it or not it wasn't just the Times (and the late Mr. Whitman) who got it wrong. It was also the Associated Press. NPR put up the AP version of their obituary right way. The BBC reported erroneously on the quote, too. Which leads me to two observations. First, have you ever heard the old adage, "a lie goes around the world, before the truth can get its boots on." Here's yet another example of the truth in that statement, especially in this hyper-electronic age.
Second, it's no secret that Manhattan and Hollywood cultural elites are deeply secular. There's a reason many of them consider the middle of America "fly-over country". Since at least H.L. Mencken, many secular elites think those who actually read the Bible need to be educated away from such nonsense. So the ignorance they often show about religion can be staggering. I remember two prominent instances.
The first was when I heard that patting-ourselves-on-the-back anthem "We Are the World" on FM radio 25 years ago. In his solo, Willie Nelson warbled: "As God has shown us, by turning stone to bread..." Did Willie really sing that Jesus had turned stone into bread? Yikes. Um, that's not quite what happened, Willie. What actually happened was that Jesus refused to turn stone to bread. And do you remember who tried to get him to turn stone to bread? That's right, Willie: it was um, Satan, as in Lucifer. As in it was a bad idea...
Keep in mind that this wasn't something he blurted out over the reefer-smoke at a concert. That knee-slapping lyric was written down and gone over and over. Who knows how many of those celebrities heard it and never batted an eye. That's how out of touch the vast majority of Hollywood celebrities are with basic Sunday School knowledge.
The second was when a secular Manhattan friend revealed that he didn't know who had come up with the Golden Rule. When told it was Jesus (Matthew 7:12) he didn't believe it. And this is a brilliant man, who knows just about everything there is to know. But in the world of Manhattan cultural elites, the Bible is mostly thought of as a quaint and useless artifact, like that old colonial butterchurn near the fireplace in your country home. Did it really ever make butter?
In part to remedy this inequality, I've started something called Socrates in the City [www.socratesinthecity.com] where the "big questions" are considered from a generally biblical point of view. But that's another story.
To get back to the faux-Yeats quote, remember that we are not talking about Willie Nelson or about a friend of mine. We are talking about the New York Times. Yes, they have a generally secular and liberal bias, but this was a factual error and the Times has fact-checkers. So if by some fluke the writer of the obit had been raised in Soviet Russia where no one was permitted to read or speak about the Bible, then surely one of the Times notoriously fastidious fact-checkers would have caught this tremendous goof. Besides, this obit must have been written years before, as such obits usually are, waiting quietly in the files for their elderly subjects to pass on. It would have been dusted off every few years and updated and -- presumably -- rechecked.
So when I read the Yeats supergoof, I wondered: where were the fact-checkers? Is the secular bias at the Times so pervasive that it has affected not just the writers but the fact-checkers too? Or has being out of touch with middle America so hurt the Times' subscription base that they cannot afford fact-checkers anymore?
When I first wrote about this on my Facebook page I was excoriated by an acquaintance who writes for the Times. He thought I was simply being too harsh. Perhaps I was. After all, as Sammy Davis, Jr. once remarked, "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
But to get serious, if I had one wish for American in 2012, I wish that we would get to know the Bible better. Even if you aren't a believer there are incredible stories in the "good book" that I guarantee you will keep you glued to the page. The Bible is no less a part of our cultural heritage than Shakespeare is -- and by the way, Shakespeare's plays are absolutely loaded with Biblical references.
In the meantime, the biblical author of Hebrews was on to something when he wrote about angels in disguise. So take his advice: be hospitable to all you meet. And keep your eyes open for disguised angels.
Eric Metaxas is the author of "Socrates in the City: Conversations of "Life, God, and Other Small Topics" and a New York Times bestseller, "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy."
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