LB's Rambles

Three Act Tragedy

Agatha Christie's "Three Act Tragedy," reviewed this week on my "Classic Mysteries" podcast, is a very readable and enjoyable story, built around an actor as the central character, and unfolding with a great deal of theatricality. Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot, finds himself faced with what appears to be an impossible and senseless murder: why would anyone choose to murder a seemingly blameless and inoffensive, elderly clergyman?

In typical Christie fashion, the clues are well obscured by several giant red herrings that get dragged across the trail - but the misdirection is fair and fun. You can listen to the podcast here; of course, you are also welcome to copy this link - http://classicmysteries.podbus.com/index.xml - and subscribe to it.

The 800 Pound Gorilla and Publish On Demand

At Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds links to a disturbing story that says Amazon.com is moving to force writers using Publish On Demand technology to use Amazon's preferred vendor - or else they won't get distribution through Amazon. An in depth report and some very good analysis from Sgt. Mom at the Daily Brief. Also a version from the Wall Street Journal here.And, if this worries you (as it worries me), there's an online petition you could sign urging Amazon to rethink its position. I'm a huge fan, and steady customer, of Amazon, but I don't like the sound of this.

Journalists Look in the Mirror

So what to journalists think about the changes taking place in their industry and in the changing nature of their roles? Today's Daily Dog from the Bulldog Reporter cites the results of a major new study sponsored by PR Newswire and PRWeek magazine which finds journalists saying, in general, they're working longer and harder, spreading their skills and talents over a wider variety of media, and becoming more aware of what might delicately be called the "commercial" nature of the business.

The link above has a pretty good summary of the findings. I was particularly struck by the fact that 73% of the respondents say they use blogs in their research - that's a huge change over the past several years. A significant number of otherwise traditional journalists are now writing blogs of their own, generally for their employers.

(Disclosure, although it's probably not relevant here: I spent several years working with PR Newswire's chief competitor. For what it's worth.)

Giving Journalists a Bad Name

Jules Crittenden catches some fictionalists - they are NOT journalists - with their pants down. An outfit with whom I was happily unfamiliar, called IPS, or Inter Press Service News - ran an article about how Iraqi doctors are naming a form of malaria "Blackwater," after the "mercenary company" which, the alleged journalists say, is "the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis." (No, I won't link to their story. If you like this kind of fiction, you can find it.)

Only trouble is, this form of malaria has been called "blackwater fever" since the mid-19th century. It has to do with the urine turning black, a fact the reporters either did not know or did not consider in any way significant to their slam. I mean, why let the facts get in the way of a good old anti-American slur?

As I say, this isn't journalism. It's straight fiction. And lousy fiction at that. Passing it off as an offering from a "news" agency is beneath contempt.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Reporting Without Reporters

While I was off gallivanting in London, Steve Boriss has written a very interesting column for Pajamas Media about the future - and past - of the concept of the "reporter" of news. Boriss, who is the Associate Director of the Center for the Application of Information Technology at Washington University in St. Louis and who blogs at The Future of News, argues that the reporter, as a concept, really only dates back to the last century. And, he argues, that in the future, we will continue to need what he calls "editor/aggregators" rather than "reporters."  The heart of his thesis: "America had a reporterless past and will likely have a reporterless future. And, news will be better for it."

I'm not sure I buy that argument entirely, but I think he raises some interesting questions, and I think the comments on his post are also worth reading, from those who agree with him and those who do not.

Hat tip: Instapundit.

By the way, I crave your patience - I'm a few days behind on this. As I work my way through interesting material I've missed over the past week, I'll try to share with you.

Our First Murder

It's not so much the lights of Broadway attracting the Beagle sisters to New York, circa 1940...it's the detective agency they inherit from their brother. So the elderly sisters come to town and what happens? They get involved right away in a murder investigation. Meet a couple of funny, witty, smart and very distinctive New York private eyes - the Beagle sisters - in Torrey Chanslor's "Our First Murder." It's this week's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast - click here to listen.

Back to Work

Back from the long weekend in London with Army Daughter. Let the blogging resume...

Bank Holiday

That's what the British call it. We'll be observing it for the next few days, over the weekend. I'll try to get the regular weekly podcast up on Monday - a review of a delightful little mystery classic called "Our First Murder," by Torrey Chanslor - but it may be Tuesday. In any case, enjoy the holiday weekend.

Help a Reporter

Attention PR people and journalists: here's a Facebook success story for those of us who believe that PR people can actually be helpful to journalists.

Peter Shankman started a Facebook group a few months back called "If I can help a reporter out, I will." The idea was simple: journalists on deadline looking for information on a particular story idea would let Shankman know. He'd email or message the group. Anyone in the group who could answer the question - AND FOR WHOM THE QUERY WAS ON TARGET - would reply.

The results: (1) journalist got the details needed for the story, and (2) PR person made a good contact and quite probably got some additional publicity for a client.

The group has been successful - so much so that it is now a victim of its own success. The group has outgrown Facebook's limit on outgoing messages - that is, when a journalist's request comes in, it is being redirected to so many people that Facebook's spam filters kick in.

So Shankman has started a new site - http://www.helpareporter.com - where you can register to join a special no-spam list and keep this project rolling. Please read what's at the link. It makes a couple of key points, the main one being DO NOT SPAM REPORTERS, but that's something you already know, right? Journalists will also find instructions there on how to get a query sent to the list.

It's a great idea. There were nearly 1100 members of the Facebook group, and the journalists were getting what they needed and the PR people were finding themselves actually getting some respect.

Let's see if we can keep it going.

Whither the Watercooler?

In Advertising Age this week, Dave Morgan, a former AOL EVP and now founder/chairman of Tacoda, looks at the possibility that a decline in "shared media," the experience of lots of people watching TV at once or watching a movie together in the theater, might "take away our water cooler moments."

Probably not - and, curiously, Morgan doesn't seem to think so either, despite setting up something of a straw man here. He notes, and I would note, the emergence of social media, which is very quickly becoming the way many of us share the experiences that interest us.

And, inevitably, the advertising, the marketing that will try to reach us will be turning to these new virtual water coolers as well - and they will do so with the ability to fine-tune and target their messages to people who are very likely to have a real interest in what they have to say.

"Central to the future of media will be a world where these tools and networks enable consumers to share their singular, on-demand media experiences with each other," says Morgan. And I think - and I'm pretty sure he agrees - that this is also central to the future of the advertising which provides the money to enable these networks.

Hat tip: IAB SmartBrief