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Eyebrows Are Raised Over Passages in a Bestseller by Ian McEwan (NYT)
Ian McEwan, one of Britain's most lauded authors, has been accused of copying phrases and sentences for his best-selling novel Atonement from a memoir published in 1977 by a former nurse and an acclaimed writer of romantic novels. The dispute's timing is almost as tantalizing, since it coincides with the filming of a movie version of Atonement, starring Keira Knightley.

Is Hometown Newspaper Ownership Really the Next Big Thing? (E&P)
Reversing four decades of consolidation, local ownership is on the rise, and among industry experts, opinion is growing that this phenomenon might just have legs. Yet moving from chain ownership to local ownership remains rare — because if a property were hot, potential local buyers wouldn't have a fighting chance. Here's a look-see, from Philly to Santa Barbara.

Bebe Moore Campbell Dies (GalleyCat)
Bebe Moore Campbell, a best-selling novelist known for her empathetic treatment of the difficult, intertwined and occasionally surprising relationship between the races, died yesterday at her home in Los Angeles.

Bashed by Bushies for Years on Iraq Coverage, Press Now Vindicated (TimesSelect via Donkey O.D.)
Nicholas Kristof: For several years, the White House and its Dobermans helpfully pointed out the real enemy in Iraq: those lazy, wimpish foreign correspondents who were so foolish and unpatriotic that they reported that we faced grave difficulties in Iraq. ... As we try to extricate ourselves from Iraq, a basic lesson for the administration is that it should deal with bad news in ways more creative than clobbering the messenger.

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