Back to the Bookstores:
A 25-question survey conducted by the Book Industry Study Group revealed a resurgence of physical purchases at independent bookstores and increasing interest in print-on-demand technology.
Selectivity:
In an April 26 decision, Chief Judge Colleen J. McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the CIA can disclose information to journalists while continuing to withhold that information in Freedom of Information Act requests.
Journalism in Jeopardy:
Although Afghanistan's media have grown to encompass hundreds of outlets since the decline of the Taliban, two April 30 bombings that resulted in the deaths of nine journalists revealed the precarity of their success.
The End of Democracy:
Harvard University political scientist Yascha Mounk has said, "the daily experience of liking and sharing posts on social media may habituate users to a simulated form of direct democracy that makes the existing institutions of representative democracy appear intolerably outmoded."
Counter-critique:
In a mass mailing, White House Correspondents’ Association President Margaret Talev criticized Michelle Wolf's monologue at the organization's April 28 dinner. "Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while offering civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people," she said. "Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission."
Time Is Money:
After Meredith announced it would sell off Time Inc.'s magazine portfolio, shortly after paying $2.8 billion for it, many titles have been in limbo. One staffer said, 'People don’t know who is going to be signing their paychecks in 90 days or even if they will have jobs. We are all just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop.'
Life Sentence:
A Danish court has sentenced Peter Madsen to life in prison for the premeditated murder and sexual assault of 30-year-old Swedish journalist Kim Wall.
Secret of His Success:
This year's fiction winner, Andrew Sean Greer, revealed in Esquire: 'The nervous breakdown happened before I wrote the book, which made the writing much easier.'
In Memoriam:
Columbia Journalism School Dean Emerita Joan Konner died on April 18. An executive producer of the 1988 PBS series 'Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,' Konner was an ex officio member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1988 to 1997.
Broader Approaches:
Is Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan's 'Welcome to the New World' an editorial cartoon? Practitioners are divided. 'While I think the work was worthy of a Pulitzer, it was not worthy of this particular prize,' said cartoonist Wiley Miller. Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy contended the 'fit within the rules, like all good cartooning, was provocative.'
