« March 30, 2004 | Main | April 1, 2004 »
March 31, 2004
Books -- Mar. 31
Current: The Murder Room by P.D. James. Set it aside for awhile to read Emotional Design.
Finished: Emotional Design: why we love (or hate) everyday things by Donald A. Norman. His first book The Psychology of Everyday Things was more eye-opening. Best parts were about designing robots with emotions so humans will feel more comfortable with them and "bystander apathy," where mistakes happen because everyone in the group thinks someone else will catch or has caught the mistake.
Audio book
Current: Flashing before my eyes 50 years of headlines, deadlines & punchlines by Dick Schaap
Finished: To America: personal reflections of an historian by Stephen E. Ambrose.
Posted by eubie at 8:20 PM permalink
Wal-Mart, P&G expand as publishers
Wal-Mart and Time Inc. are publishing a magazine that will be sold only in Wal-Mart stores, according to this Reuters story.
If Wal-Mart, which controls 15 percent of all U.S. newsstands sales, is successful, other retailers could try publishing special magazines, says a journalism professor quoted in the article. Tip from rexblog.
Procter & Gamble is considering a print publication building on the success of its web site HomeMadeSimple.com, according to AdAge. One reason P&G is considering a print edition of that brand is possible backlash against Martha Stewart Living from Martha Stewart's conviction. A P&G executive quoted in the article says HomeMadeSimple has also tested a TV show in the UK.
P&G has created a new online media brand HealthExpressions.com, to tap the unmet need of "light health-care information" and the ability of P&G products to meet that need.
One more publishing note, NY Times reports on Ford's UK division signing a sponsorship deal with "Chick-lit" novelist Carole Matthews, that includes writing references to Ford's Fiesta into her next novel. The novel, The Sweetest Taboo, was almost finished when the deal was signed. In the original draft it was a Vokswagen Beetle.
Posted by eubie at 6:20 AM permalink
Readers reply to "credibility crisis"
Credibility with readers has become a non-stop worry with newspapers.
Losing touch with readers is one reason given for many ills in the industry from falling circulation to believability of articles to news judgment. The revelations of plagarism or fabrication these days fuel the concerns of editors and publishers. Here is an ombudsman column from the Sacramento Bee on the range of comments from readers about the credibility of the Bee.
Posted by eubie at 5:38 AM permalink