The Future of the Book Industry

Here's a very thoughtful article from Time/CNN on the future of books and literature. This is an excerpt--to read the entire article click here.

Books Unbound

Here's a literary parable for the 21st century. Lisa Genova, 38, was a health-care-industry consultant in Belmont, Mass., who wanted to be a novelist, but she couldn't get her book published for love or money. She had a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard, but she couldn't get an agent. "I did what you're supposed to do," she says. "I queried literary agents. I went to writers' conferences and tried to network. I e-mailed editors. Nobody wanted it." So Genova paid $450 to a company called iUniverse and published her book, Still Alice, herself.

That was in 2007. By 2008 people were reading Still Alice. Not a lot of people, but a few, and those few were liking it. Genova wound up getting an agent after all--and an offer from Simon & Schuster of just over half a million dollars. Borders and Target chose it for their book clubs. Barnes & Noble made it a Discover pick. On Jan. 25, Still Alice will make its debut on the New York Times best-seller list at No. 5. "So this is extreme to extreme, right?" Genova says. "This time last year, I was selling the book out of the trunk of my car."

Something has changed, and it's not just the contents of Lisa Genova's trunk. We think of the novel as a transcendent, timeless thing, but it was shaped by the forces of money and technology just as much as by creative genius.

City Council and Shadow-a-Reporter

22 January, 2009

To: Advanced Newspaper Journalism Students

From: Terry White


I had several meetings today about our class. First I met with the mayor of Warsaw, and we agreed it might be good idea to have our entire class attend the Warsaw Town Council meeting on Monday night, February 2. That particular night should be especially interesting as they are talking about creating a merged fire district between Wayne Township and Warsaw—there will probably be a very good attendance.

The council meeting is at 7 p.m., and so we’ll need to talk this Monday night about transportation.

Then I met with Gary Gerard, managing editor of the Warsaw Times-Union. He indicated that the best way to arrange to shadow a reporter for a day is just to contact him by e-mail at ggerard@timesuniononline.com and identify yourself and he will arrange it.

Further, if any of you are interested in writing a story for him (personality feature, investigative, or trend) he is open to that, and he may have suggested topics or would love to hear your ideas from around the community as well.

Contact him at any time about spend-a-day and about story assignments. I’ll try to get an agenda for the Warsaw Council meeting. In the meantime, please get to know the council members and structure and history by browsing past meeting minutes at www.warsawcity.net.

President to Get $3,350 'BarackBerry' Phone

Obama 'to get spy-proof smartphone'Story Highlights
Report: Security officials approve $3,350 smartphone for Barack Obama

(CNN) -- Self-confessed BlackBerry addict Barack Obama may not have to kick the thumbing habit after all, despite the concerns of a notoriously technophobic White House.

Obama was a self-confessed BlackBerry addict during his White House campaign.

The new U.S. president was often seen hunched over the mobile e-mail device during his election campaign and even featured at No. 2 on one celebrity Web site's list of obsessive BlackBerry users.

But, like previous Oval Office incumbents, Obama had been expected to take a vow of technological celibacy following his inaugural oath on Tuesday, despite telling CNBC in an interview that security officials would have to "pry it out of my hands." He protests that a mobile device would help him stay in touch with the real world. Should President Obama be allowed to keep his BlackBerry? Tell us what you think

E-mail has long been treated with suspicion by the Secret Service because of fears it could be hacked into by foreign espionage agencies, or that sensitive information could reach the public domain via a single mis-stroke of the "send" key.

President George W. Bush was forced to give up using e-mail when he took charge, while President Bill Clinton sent just two e-mails during his administration -- one to test that the system worked and the second to veteran astronaut John Glenn before his trip into space in 1998.

There are also concerns that mobile devices such as BlackBerries, which contain built in GPS technology, could be hacked into, revealing the president's location within a few feet.

But according to reports Thursday, Obama could now be in line to receive a spy-proof alternative to his favorite toy.

Writing on his blog for the Atlantic magazine, Marc Ambinder reports that the National Security Agency has approved a $3,350 smartphone -- inevitably dubbed the "BarackBerry" -- for Obama's use.

The exclusive Sectera Edge, made by General Dynamics, is reportedly capable of encrypting top secret voice conversations and handling classified documents.

But Obama may have pushed his Secret Service handlers' technological patience far enough. Ambinder also reports that instant messaging in the White House will still be a definite no-no :(

USA Today Says Inaugural Speech 'Stinging Rebuke'

There is quite an interesting analysis of the inaugural speech in USA Today. Here is an excerpt--to read the entire article, click here.

Speech mixes promises with rebuke of Bush

WASHINGTON — In the opening lines of his inaugural address, President Obama turned toward predecessor George W. Bush and thanked him "for his service to our nation" and his "generosity and cooperation" during the transition period since November's election.

In the 18-minute speech that followed, however, Obama delivered what amounted to a searing indictment of the Bush presidency. From the economy to national security, the use of science to the distribution of wealth, he promised that a new day with sharply different policies and priorities was about to begin.

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well-understood," Obama said as Bush sat a few feet away from him on the Capitol platform. "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."

Not since Franklin Roosevelt rebuked Herbert Hoover in 1933 — "The money-changers have fled," Roosevelt told Americans struggling through the Depression — has the incoming president offered such a stinging critique of the outgoing one in his inaugural address.

'Civility Project' Launched by Evangelical and Jew

Here's a noble effort--it will be interesting to see if it gains any traction. This is an excerpt from a ChristianPost article. To read the entire article click here. It is also instructive to read the Civility website by clicking here.

New Effort Launched to Promote Civility in America

By Eric Young, Christian Post Reporter

An effort to promote a more civil society amid increasingly uncivil clashes has been launched by the head of a prominent faith-based PR firm.

The Civility Project, launched on the eve of the inauguration of President Barack Obama, is a call to people from all races, walks of life, and religious and political persuasions to civility, explained DeMoss Group founder Mark DeMoss in a joint column with Washington lawyer Lanny Davis.

“In addition to our desire to promote a more civil society, we also share disgust for the incivility we see every day in this country, on the radio and TV, and around the world,” the two stated.

DeMoss, an evangelical conservative, and Davis, a Jewish liberal, developed the idea behind The Civility Project during a meeting in Washington six months after Sen. Hillary Clinton ended her campaign for the presidency.

“As dissimilar as our religious and political beliefs and opinions are, we found ourselves drawn to each other's love for this country,” recalled the two, “and a conviction about the importance to its future of trying to change the polarizing, attack-oriented political culture that has become all too common in recent years and, instead, to bring civility back as the staple of American politics and life.”

As an example, DeMoss and Davis referred to the uncivil events that erupted amid and after the campaigns for and against California’s Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

After California voters passed the measure, effectively banning gay marriage, demonstrators targeted faiths that supported the ban, particularly Mormons, leading protests that were sometimes angry and even violent. Churches were spray painted, cars were vandalized, and at least two Christians were assaulted. Protesters even hurled racial epithets at African-Americans because African-Americans voted overwhelmingly in favor of Prop. 8.

“[W]e both condemn the vandalism by some who opposed the proposition directed at those such as Mormon Church members who supported the measure,” DeMoss and Davis stated despite their different stances on Prop. 8.

Staff Finds White House in Technological Dark Ages

Here's an interesting followup article to our class discussion about the Obama administration's use of modern technology. This is an excerpt -- to read the entire article click here (registration may be required).

Staff Finds White House in the Technological Dark Ages

If the Obama campaign represented a sleek, new iPhone kind of future, the first day of the Obama administration looked more like the rotary-dial past.

Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.

What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.

"It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.

In many ways, the move into the White House resembled a first day at school: Advisers wandered the halls, looking for their offices. Aides spent hours in orientation, learning such things as government ethics rules as well as how their paychecks will be delivered. And everyone filled out a seemingly endless pile of paperwork.

There were plenty of first-day glitches, too, as calls to many lines in the West Wing were met with a busy signal all morning and those to the main White House switchboard were greeted by a recording, redirecting callers to the presidential Web site. A number of reporters were also shut out of the White House because of lost security clearance lists.

Russian Billionaire to Buy London Paper

To read the entire article, click here.

London newspaper to be sold to Russian tycoon

By Jill LawlessAssociated Press

The owner of London's Evening Standard said Wednesday it has agreed to sell a majority stake in the newspaper to Russian tycoon and former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev for what it described as "a nominal sum."

Daily Mail & General Trust PLC said Evening Press Ltd., a company formed by Lebedev and his son Evgeny Lebedev, would acquire about 75 percent of the Standard.

Daily Mail & General Trust will retain 24.9 percent in the Standard, London's afternoon newspaper.

Lebedev, 49, is part owner of the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, one of the few Russian media outlets critical of the Kremlin, and is part owner of Russia's Aeroflot airline. He was ranked by Forbes magazine last year as the world's 358th richest man, worth more than $3 billion, although his fortune has been hit hard by the global economic downturn.

Lebedev said last year that he has seen about two-thirds of his stock portfolio wiped out by the crisis and joked that he has fallen off the Forbes list.

His takeover of a British newspaper is bound to be contentious because Lebedev is a former Russian intelligence agent who worked for the KGB while posted to Moscow's embassy in London.

Lebedev will become chairman of the Standard's new owner, to be called Evening Standard Ltd. His adviser Justin Byam Shaw will become deputy chairman, and his son senior executive director.

Lebedev has said he was seeking to buy a British newspaper to support independent media, rather than to make money. The Evening Standard is believed to lose millions of pounds (dollars) a year.

He has said he does not intend to interfere with the Standard's editorial direction.

The Evening Standard - Britain's only paid-for daily aimed solely at the London market - currently takes a right-of-center editorial line similar to its national sister paper, The Daily Mail.

In a statement, Lebedev said he and his family "are strong supporters of a free and independent press and we greatly admire the Evening Standard as an iconic publication with its pedigree of fine journalism and commentary."

"We are committed to strengthening the newspaper's competitiveness and look forward to working with Associated, which will continue to be involved as a minority shareholder."

Daily Mail & General Trust said the Evening Standard would establish a new editorial committee to "safeguard the principle of editorial independence."