A Free E-Newsletter for Writers

W. Terry Whalin has just issued another edition of his right-writing newsletter. Here is the table of contents. If you wish to subscribe:

http://www.right-writing.com/newsletter.html

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Table Of Contents
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1) Get Answers For Your Publishing Questions
By W. Terry Whalin

2) Top 10 Ways to Market Your Business in 09
By Nancy Michaels

3) An Exciting New Organization to Join

4) Move Past The Name Twitter
By W. Terry Whalin

5) A Most Lucrative Niche for Books
By Rick Frishman

6) Be A Light in the Darkness
By W. Terry Whalin

7) Boost Your Writing Productivity
By W. Terry Whalin

8) A Crash Course in Submitting a Manuscript
By Laura Backes

Modesto Reporter Chronicles Bush Shoe-Toss

A reporter for the Modesto (CA) Bee was there when the Iraqi journalist threw the shoes at President Bush. Here is an excerpt from his blog--to read the rest, click here.

Iraq Connection: Close up to the shoe toss seen round the world

First I saw President Bush duck to avoid a fast-moving black object – a shoe.

Then I realized one of the reporters behind me was shouting and, in a way, reloading, with a second shoe. Off it went, just as fast as the first.

I couldn't believe he had time to get a second one off.

A dog pile emerged on my left with Iraqis in blue suits wrestling with the shoe-hurler, Iraqi journalist Muntathar al Zaidi. Zaidi was moaning and moaning. He kept fighting and moaning while the Iraqis in the suits hauled him out of the room, and even then we could still hear him.

Bush laughed – or tried to laugh it off.

"That's what happens in free societies when people try to draw attention to themselves," Bush said.

Maybe. I'm sure there are some Americans who'd love to toss a shoe at Bush. Of course you wouldn't expect to see that in a closed press conference with professional journalists in the capital.

That's the snapshot. Let me walk you through what brought me there.

I woke up today on another embed, a little dusty and a little sunburned. My interview with a lieutenant colonel kept getting delayed, so far delayed that I couldn't go out with the soldiers again.

But it turns out that was a good thing.

Ideas Mattered in Great Books Movement

From WorldMagBlog. This is an excerpt--to read the entire article, click here.

Reading minds

Ideas mattered to the Great Books movement

by Janie B. Cheaney; Illustration by Krieg Barrie

Admit it: you always wanted to know what Aristotle said about the body politic, or the gist of Plato's Republic, or Kant's general idea about idealism. OK, enough with the projection—I've wanted to know these things since dropping out of college. My reasons were both base and noble: a desire to appear smart, and a hankering for wisdom.

"Getting wisdom" is a suitable ambition (see Proverbs 4:5), and not just for Christians. It was the stated goal of the "Great Books movement" of the early '50s, begun by a couple of academics who saw the trend to research and specialization in the American university as a thing to be decried. Robert Hutchins, president of the University of Chicago, and Mortimer Adler, educational gadfly and public intellectual, believed that "the aim of higher education is wisdom"—and the surest route to wisdom was studying the classic works of Western literature. Together they established a Great Books curriculum for the University of Chicago, then branched out to the community with a businessman's seminar.

The seminars were so popular that satellite programs popped up across the nation, about 2,500 Great Books discussion groups by 1951. Capitalizing on the hunger (for knowledge, if not wisdom), Hutchins approached his millionaire friend William Benton, who had recently acquired the Encyclopedia Britannica publishing company. The plan was to codify the seminal works of civilization, publish them in a set of volumes (54 was the final count), and offer them to the public at large. Great Books of the Western World (GBWW) was thus conceived, and made its appearance in 1952.

It was "A Great Idea at the Time," according to Alex Beam, author of a book by that title. The time was auspicious for several reasons: The postwar GI bill had produced a crop of college graduates, postwar industry had generated disposable income, and advertising had entered a golden age. A widely reproduced chart that divided American tastes into "highbrow, lowbrow, and middlebrow," though meant as nothing more than social humor, created anxiety in the burgeoning middle class about whether it was classy enough.

Two American traits merged to make the Great Books a hit: a desire for self-improvement plus a weakness for high-pressure salesmanship. "The ability to Discuss and Clarify Basic Ideas is vital to success," ad campaigns not-too-subtly promised. The price was a little steep—$250 for the whole set—but what was that, measured against lifelong success?

Detroit Papers May Cut Back Home Delivery

Here is an excerpt. Read the entire article by clicking here.

UPDATED: More Signs That Detroit Papers (as Rumored) Likely to Cut Back Home Delivery -- 'Anxiety' Grows

By E&P Staff and The Associated Press

Published: December 12, 2008 3:30 PM ET updated 8:00 PM

NEW YORK E&P reported earlier this week that one or both of the Detroit dailies might well announce next Tuesday a halt to home delivery on one or more days of the week. This afternoon, Russell Adams at the Wall Street Journal online wrote that the publisher of the Detroit Free Press, "is expected to announce next week that it will cease home delivery of the print edition of the newspaper on most days of the week, according to a person familiar with the company's thinking (see AP update below).

"The publisher hasn't made a final decision, said this person, but the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday would call for the Free Press and its partner paper, the Detroit News, to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days—Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the publisher would sell single copies of an abbreviated print edition at newsstands and direct readers to the papers' expanded digital editions."

The Free Press, owned by Gannett Co., and the News, owned by MediaNews Group, form the JOA known as the Detroit Media Partnership LP. They have been hard hit by the plunging Michigan economy, and now an auto bailout seems doubtful.

Newspaper Bankruptcies--More to Come?

From Worldmagblog:

A sign of more to come?

by Kristin Chapman

On Monday, the Tribune Co. (which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Sun of Baltimore, as well as the Chicago Cubs) filed for bankruptcy protection, listing $13 billion in debt and $7.6 billion in assets. Tribune Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Zell has called the move a “pre-emptive” act to preserve the company’s assets and allow for reorganization. It marks the first time, however, that a major newspaper publisher has had to take such a step in our downturn economy–and it may not be the last.

For a sense of who might be next, consider publishers that have put individual papers up for sale or have had trouble meeting their debt contracts.

Analysts said Tuesday that most publishers fall into that category. The exceptions often cited: Gannett Co., whose $4 billion in debt is reasonable for its size even though its revenue has shrunk, and McClatchy Co., which in September bought about two years of flexibility on $2 billion in debt by agreeing to higher interest rates.

According to Rick Edmonds, media analyst with the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., the Tribune case is considered “extreme.” But even still, some experts warn that the Tribune’s bankruptcy could have a ripple effect in the industry by making it more difficult or expensive for other publishers to get new financing. “A large-scale bankruptcy like this is evidence,” said Mike Simonton, a bond analyst at Fitch Ratings, “that the default risk across the space could be very high.”

What I Missed Getting News Only Online

From Editor and Publisher:

What I Missed Only Getting News Online

To save money, I recently stopped buying newspapers and got all of my news online. I was satisfied. At least until I took a writing test for a job recently and found I was all too 'news poor.' Now I'm back into print.

By Ted Knutson

(December 05, 2008) -- The rest of the world seems to be gravitating from print newspapers to their online incarnations. Recently, I have found myself going in exactly the opposite direction.

When I lost my last staff position some months ago (I've been writing for various publications for over 30 years), one of the first things I did to save money was to stop buying newspapers and begin getting my news totally online. I was satisfied. At least until I took a writing test for a job recently and found I was all too “news poor.”

Since then, I have dipped into my freelance resources and have begun buying newspapers again. Contrary to the above mentioned “rest of the world,” I found I was missing a lot.

Now that I am devouring print newspapers again, I can honestly say I am much better informed because I am reading more stories and longer stories.

I also am realizing the joy again of running across news I didn’t realize was there by leafing through all the pages of a newspaper instead of just looking at a handful of headlines on the home page of a newspaper’s Web site.

Still another advantage is the techno-phobe in me rests easier because I don’t have to worry about my computer printer jamming any more when I (used to) print out long stories because they were easier to read on paper than on a monitor.

Also, I am happily discovering sales and coupons from my favorite advertisers again, many of whom don’t advertise in the online versions of the newspapers I read.

Speaking about ads, as much as I may have shunned much advertising before with my newsie bias, I am enjoying print advertising more because there are more items listed by the stores, more prices and none of the obnoxious drop-down ads which obliterate the stories I am trying to read.

In addition, when I clicked on an online ad, I often left the newspaper’s Web site I was on, not to return that day. With print, by contrast, it is much easier to go from an ad to a story to another ad to another story.

I became a lover of newspapers when I was a child. When my father came home each day, I always rushed to see him not because I loved him (which I didn’t) but because there would always be one or two newspapers in his briefcase.

Dad is long since gone. But with my return to buying newspapers, I have found I am happily having many reunions with dear old friends.

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Ted Knutson (dcreporter1@yahoo.com) is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. with over 30 years of experience covering business and government for a wide range of consumer and business publications. He remains available for hire.

Video: Bad News for Newspapers

Here's a very interesting piece of video on how online news is affecting newspapers. To see the video, click here.

Bad news for newspapers 1:33

Fortune's Andy Serwer says that the print media is struggling with increasing Internet competition.