On May 14, LA Times reporter Rosanna Xia profiled Melissa Chan, the first accredited foreign correspondent to be expelled from China in more than a decade. On May 23, as a result of that article, Chan spoke to Grade 6 students at Suzanne Middle School in Walnut, CA.

It just goes to show what can happen when a newspaper article connects with an enterprising teacher. From a report on Walnut Patch:

Social Studies teacher Steve Cusson contacted Chan and asked her to share her story with his classes after reading the May 14 article… “The students were amazed that they got to meet her,” Cusson said.

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In the form of a pair of November 24 posted articles by reporters Rosanna Xia and Jessica Guynn, the LA Times essentially sent the greeting card industry the equivalent of a prank item. Watch out for the carving knife and don’t trip over the bone-chewing dog on your way out, the paper might as well have written.

Turkey doomsday Exhibit A was titled “Internet to Greeting Cards: Sorry for Your Sales Loss”, while Exhibit B came with the equally concerning headline, “New Smartphone Apps Let Users Create and Send Greeting Cards.” However, despite a steep decline in annual U.S. Christmas season greeting cards, there are still a few glimmers of hope. Per Xia’s piece:

“The biggest change we’ve noticed is that more people are now willing to buy a $3 to $5 paper product online,” said Susan January, president of the Greeting Card Assn. “For a long time, greeting cards were considered a personal tangible experience–people felt like it was a product you had to hold and choose in person. You actually had to feel the card.”

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