News

A few bits from the Times the last few days that were of interest. First, those of you who say online diaries are for the dumb and self-indulgent, you’re about to feel really bad.
Business reporters: has it occurred to you that you could make a lot more money by actually doing the job that the dopes you interview do?
And, Gerald Marzorati, assistant managing editor at The Times and editor of The Times Magazine will be answering questions on the weekly magazine, the T Style magazines and other topics, during the week of July 24.

I found not one, not two but three potential articles of interest to you in the Times media section today–they peeked through the stories about how bad NBC is doing.
Laura Chang took reader questions last week about science and health journalism at The Times, like “scientific articles about other areas…such as acupuncture or the concept of “energy” as it relates to healing, etc., would be…fascinating to many readers. As Science Editor, do you tend to avoid subjects that may be on the “edge” of science?” Interesting discussions follow here.
News on book promotion: “With authors fiercely battling for attention in a media-saturated world, an increasing number of writers — from first-time novelists like [Debra] Dean to celebrities like Madeleine K. Albright, the former Secretary of State — are visiting people where they spend much of their time: at work.”
And how the Huffington Post built a brand with a blog (disclosure: I am one of the 700 bloggers you’ve never heard of.)

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As part of the ASJA conference festivities, president Jack El-Hai kicked off the annual awards ceremony. More than 40 books and 150 articles from the ASJA’s 1200 members were nominated for 13 different awards. Two of the winning articles were ones that I read last year and that moved me, “All the Wrong Men” by Janine Latus, which ran in O in October 2005, and “Will We Ever Arrive at a Good Death” by Robin Marantz Henig, which ran in the New York Times Magazine on August 7, 2005.
It’s always great to see talented people being recognized, but it’s more fun for folks in the audience if they have read the article (or seen the movie, or downloaded the song). I loved those deep reporting and strong conclusions in those stories when I read them, and I was happy to see that their writers’ won.
The complete winners list isn’t on the ASJA site yet, but I’ll post it when it is up.

As you probably already know if you follow the media, ElleGirl, one of the few really good magazines for teenage girls, has folded. For the last year and a half, I worked with Senior Features Editor and sometimes mb contributor Melissa Walker on the “Class of 2008″ series. I caught up with her to bitch about the closing and also find out about what life is like for an editor at a magazine that goes under. She had some surprising input.
“I’ve been there three times,” she says, regarding other experiences at Rosie and a dot.com in London. “And it’s kind of nice! Because, when you leave, you don’t feel like you made any bad choices by quitting early or that led you to get fired. And, of course, it frees you up and you get severance.”
Of course, the downside can be the element of surprise. “We had absolutely no idea that it was coming,” says Melissa. “None of us.”
Being part of a magazine that closes, however, can also do good things for your career, namely, free-flowing freelance assignments. “The editors at other magazines definitely want to hear the gossip. But it also helps that they know you weren’t fired and that you didn’t leave, so there’s no black mark on you.”
For anybody who’s been unemployed, though, knows the other shoe does drop. “First, there’s a flurry of activity after a magazine folds,” says Melissa. “But then eventually, it settles in–you’re not going back.”
Speaking of defunct magazines, my co-blogger Annie Logue sent me the following email this morning:

Budget Living is paying freelancers 33.2% of what they are owed, rather than stiffing them entirely and saving them the hassle of filing a claim in bankruptcy court. Give them a shoutout for doing the right thing.

So, many thanks to recently defunct Budget Living for looking out for its erstwhile freelancers.

Dylan Stableford speaks with the “Would-Be Queen of Wall Street Blogging” Miss Elizabeth Spiers about the launch of her new blog Dealbreaker:

mb: When you’re prepping a blog launch, do you do editorial test posts? Do you launch with archives of posts? Or do you have evergreen stuff ready to go?
Spiers: It depends. If I’m writing it myself, I do less editorial testing simply because I already know what’s going to be on the page and it’s not a matter of working with a writer to shape the content. There are a few archived posts in Dealbreaker right now, but not many. And we’ve got some evergreen stuff as well.
mb: Are you concerned about a backlash from the Street, in terms of potential audience and/or sources?
Spiers: Not really. Those are the people who are most interested in the site. The only backlash I’ve gotten has been from bloggers who don’t care about Wall Street and maybe a small handful of financial reporters who think we’re stepping on their territory.

More here.

Wave bye-bye to Celebrity Living, and shed a tear for the soon to be extremely dearly departed ElleGirl.

Have you ever wished that you wrote for the AP? Or were an embedded journalist? Now’s your chance.

Poetry has always had an aura of passion and romance; lonely writers sitting in a garret, pouring out their hearts and souls. But the truth is working Canadian poets come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, have different jobs, experiences, attitudes and influences, and write about everything from love to politics to their daily lives. This is what is revealed in HEART OF A POET, a documentary television series in “13 verses” that airs on Bravo! every Thursday at 8pm ET, beginning April 13th.

(Freelancewriting.com)
Also, here is an interesting way to make sure people read your book. Just make sure you can go on Oprah and back up your claims. (Guardian.)

Hey all you self-publishers out there in Europe: Lulu is going global! (Hamilton Spectator.)

Hey bloggers: are you running low on material? Why not talk to your local Wal-Mart PR flack? I’m sure he’ll have something for you to say. Is there a lapse in the ethics of bloggers who post pro-Wal-Mart postings at the behest of the store? Why are we even assuming that there are blogger ethics, anyway? Personally, I think it’s sad that Wal-Mart is reaching out to the blogosphere to repair its image. It’s like convincing all the nerds in your high school that you’re not such a bad guy…while nobody else pays attention. (NYT)