NATIONAL ENQUIRER OPENS A

PANDORA’S BOX AT THE PULITZER PRIZES 

You  may laugh when hearing that the National Enquirer, the scandal sheet found in grocery stores throughout the country, has submitted its application for a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most revered award. Word has it that their action has shaken some timbers at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, where the prize office is based. 

Yes, much of their coverage is an anathema to any self-respecting journalist. Doctored photos, biased and inaccurate stories, even blatant lies, almost too preposterous to believe. 

But this time they beat the national press at its own game, covering a top candidate for the Presidential nomination, John Edwards. And the only thing trashy about that exclusive newsbeat was the man they wrote about and what he did. 

The Enquirer broke the news of Rielle Hunter’s pregnancy and worse yet, the use of campaign donations as hush money.  Smelling a story in a small comment by the Huffington Post, the tabloid’s “bird dogs” went to work and within a month had confirmed publicly what the Huffington article first sensed, but apparently feared to state.  

As painful as it may be in the pristine halls of the Journalism School, one has to “give the devil his due” if the awards are to continue to have real meaning. Top notch digging and reporting of a disgrace at such a high level in our political structure deserves recognition.

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NATIONAL ENQUIRER OPENS A

PANDORA’S BOX AT THE PULITZER PRIZES 

You  may laugh when hearing that the National Enquirer, the scandal sheet found in grocery stores throughout the country, has submitted its application for a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most revered award. Word has it that their action has shaken some timbers at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, where the prize office is based. 

Yes, much of their coverage is an anathema to any self-respecting journalist. Doctored photos, biased and inaccurate stories, even blatant lies, almost too preposterous to believe. 

But this time they beat the national press at its own game, covering a top candidate for the Presidential nomination, John Edwards. And the only thing trashy about that exclusive newsbeat was the man they wrote about and what he did. 

The Enquirer broke the news of Rielle Hunter’s pregnancy and worse yet, the use of campaign donations as hush money.  Smelling a story in a small comment by the Huffington Post, the tabloid’s “bird dogs” went to work and within a month had confirmed publicly what the Huffington article first sensed, but apparently feared to state.  

As painful as it may be in the pristine halls of the Journalism School, one has to “give the devil his due” if the awards are to continue to have real meaning. Top notch digging and reporting of a disgrace at such a high level in our political structure deserves recognition.

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FIVE COMPETING MAGAZINES FORM

MARKET CAMPAIGN TO START IN APRIL 

Five rivals in the print magazine world have seen the sense of combining efforts to promote readership and restore this segment of the industry to its rightful status. Conde Nast, Meredith,, Time Inc, Hearst and Wenner Media have joined hands and hired Young & Rubicam to do the creative for the project.  

Advertisements will be placed on the pages of the five participants. Other members of the Magazine Publishers of America will be invited to join the campaign, according to an article in Media Week. 

Jack Griffin, President of Meredith’s National Media Group, explained in the Media Week story that “Industry leaders are joining forces to solve problems. I think it’s an opportunity to speak up at a time when the media landscape has gotten very confusing.”   

In addition to this new campaign, four of the participants were joined by News Corp to create an additional organization temporarily labeled Next Issue Media. The goal is to create open standards for digital reading applications for magazines, newspapers and books. The consortium hopes to create a consumer storefront of quality paid content along with an advertising platform and  audience measurement tools.   

Although it is headed by John Squires, formerly an exec with Time Inc and someone known as a “doer,” very little has been heard from the group since its formation at the end of last year. I have been able to locate only three blog editions. 

Its website states “The future of publishing is happening here.” And the bottom of the screen states, “For more information, come back soon.”  I came back, but found nothing new. Just the same problem I faced the first time…the type did not fit on screen, and there was no way I could adjust to read it all. 

Not a very exciting launch for such an impressive quintet of periodicals.

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NATIONAL ENQUIRER OPENS A

PANDORA’S BOX AT THE PULITZER PRIZES 

You  may laugh when hearing that the National Enquirer, the scandal sheet found in grocery stores throughout the country, has submitted its application for a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s most revered award. Word has it that their action has shaken some timbers at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, where the prize office is based. 

Yes, much of their coverage is an anathema to any self-respecting journalist. Doctored photos, biased and inaccurate stories, even blatant lies, almost too preposterous to believe. 

But this time they beat the national press at its own game, covering a top candidate for the Presidential nomination, John Edwards. And the only thing trashy about that exclusive newsbeat was the man they wrote about and what he did. 

The Enquirer broke the news of Rielle Hunter’s pregnancy and worse yet, the use of campaign donations as hush money.  Smelling a story in a small comment by the Huffington Post, the tabloid’s “bird dogs” went to work and within a month had confirmed publicly what the Huffington article first sensed, but apparently feared to state.  

As painful as it may be in the pristine halls of the Journalism School, one has to “give the devil his due” if the awards are to continue to have real meaning. Top notch digging and reporting of a disgrace at such a high level in our political structure deserves recognition.

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IT LOOKS LIKE WASHINGTON IS FINALLY CONCERNED

ABOUT THE POTENTIAL DEMISE OF NEWSPAPERS 

It was only a month ago that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wrapped up its hearings on the status of the newspaper industry as it sought to hear suggestions on what the federal government might be able to do to help stem the erosion.  

Now word comes down that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun its own belated study of the “Future of Media.” It too is requesting advice from the public. 

What a shame that years past under the former Bush administration when nobody gave a damn about the press’ problems. Indeed, they were rather happy to see these “gadflies” suffer. We’ll see just how concerned the current agencies really are when the investigations are complete. 

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HEARST’S NEW READER THE SKIFF OFFERS

AN INTERESTING BOOST FOR PERIODICALS 

The Hearst group refused to accept the sorry state of magazine publishing. Seeing the handwriting on the wall for print publications, it revealed its new concept for a digital reader at the recent electronics show. This one is somewhat different from most of the field. It’s larger (9 X 11 inches), but very light and portable at less than a pound of weight. Most important it comes very close to simulating a real magazine or newspaper page. 

One of the people at the show who sampled the innovation, former PC World editor and blogger Harry McCracken, is quoted in The Wooden Horse, saying, “The demo I got, involved digital versions of The Wall Street Journal and Esquire that maintained a newspaper and magazine-like feel, respectively, along with typography, art and layouts you associate with these two publications.”  

It makes one more sanguine about the future of periodical publishing when you see the changing preferences of readers supported by technology designed to meet those preferences by bridging the gap between on and offline publications. Great idea! 

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PUBLISHING POSITIONS DON’T FARE TOO WELL

IN REPORT ON TOP 200 CAREER CHOICES 

Tech jobs beat out most other publishing industry positions in a recent study released by Careercast.com. Technical writer ranked highest, winning position 13 on the list. It was followed closely by number 15, web developer. Computer programmers captured the 34^th slot, and then the big jump occurred. 

Author was rated 74th best job, while newscaster came in at 95^th.  The problem plaguing the newspaper and magazine sectors was reflected in the rating. Newspaper reporters came in 184^th, followed by photo journalists at 189th. 

Not very comforting to the large number of out-of-work journalists.

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                                     ONLINE REPORTING NOW ELIGIBLE

                                             FOR PULITZER PRIZE AWARDS 

The Publishing World  

The Pulitzer Prize Committee has announced a revision of the submission requirements in its annual awards program. Its decision to allow online reporters to qualify is a recognition of the growing presence of professional news sites on the Web, and a move that certainly makes sense. 

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                                         OFFICIAL AT EUROPE’S LARGEST DAILY INSISTS

                               PUBLISHERS SHOULD GET PAID FOR ONLINE NEWS 

The New York Times, itself in the throes of grappling with the question of paid news content online, recently ran a story quoting Christoph Keese, head of public affairs at Axel Pringer, publisher of the tabloid paper Bild.  

Talking on the controversial subject, Keese told the Times, “The meta-philosophy of free…we should get rid of this philosophy. A highly industrial world cannot survive on rumors. It needs quality journalism, and that costs money.” 

Keese doesn’t  stop there. He contributes an interesting idea to the issue while most others continue to wrestle over the question of pay walls. He envisions publishers and Internet companies working together to develop a “one-click marketplace solution” for distributing content. 

In Keese’s concept, online expeditors like Google would produce links to content provided by a number of sources. Users would select from that menu and pay to download the article, picture or video they want. 

That’s certainly a solid suggestion that deserves to be added to the limited list of considered solutions. 

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TIMING AND PRESENTATION ARE ESSENTIAL TO HELP

YOUR ARTICLE OR BOOK CAPTURE PUBLIC ATTENTION 

ProPublica, the highly respected, non-profit, investigative news source created by former Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger, published an article that looked at reasons why some news stories made headlines, while others of equal importance got lost in the shuffle. Their conclusions have great value for article writers and book authors. 

The article offered a very cogent example. Propublica broke the first story that reported the trials of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other detainees would be heard in Federal Court. It roused little concern, probably because it was buried in a story about the closing of Guantanamo Bay. 

Just a few weeks after the anniversary of 9/11, the Justice Department announced the decision, and headlines screamed the news. The trial was scheduled for a courthouse very near ground zero. Not only was the timing far more emotional, but the announcement was made at a full-blown press conference, a powerful presentation. 

There is a powerful lesson to be learned from this, not just by journalists, but also by those of us who craft articles and write books. Timing and presentation can make the difference between success and failure.

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