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Joel Stein Doesn't Want To Talk To His Readers
From: www.writerswrite.com

" L.A. Times journalist Joel Stein expresses his opinion on the trend of interactivity: in a nutshell, he hates it. Joel thinks that the concept of instant interactivity -- where readers can have input into a writer's work via internet comments or other feedback -- is a terrible trend that should be reversed. He views the trend of making journalists' emails and phone numbers freely available on their columns as the beginning of the death of the once-proud newspaper industry. His email is at the end of his columns, but he warns readers: "Have something to say? I don't care Don't bother sending anything to that e-mail address below -- because I don't care."

Here's what my Internet-fearing editors have failed to understand: I don't want to talk to you; I want to talk at you. A column is not my attempt to engage in a conversation with you. I have more than enough people to converse with. And I don't listen to them either. That sound on the phone, Mom, is me typing.

Some newspapers even list the phone numbers of their reporters at the end of their articles. That's a smart use of their employees' time. Why not just save a step and have them set up a folding table at a senior citizen center with a sign asking for complaints?

Where does this end? Does Philip Roth have to put his e-mail at the end of his book? Does Tom Hanks have to hold up a sign with his e-mail at the end of his movie? Should your hotel housekeeper leave her e-mail on your sheets? Are you starting to see how creepy this is?

Not everything should be interactive. A piece of work that stands on its own, without explanation or defense, takes on its own power. If Martin Luther put his 95 Theses on the wall and then all the townsfolk sent him their comments, and he had to write back to all of them and clarify what he meant, some of the theses would have gotten all watered down and there never would have been a Diet of Worms. And then, for the rest of history, elementary school students learning about the Reformation would have nothing to make fun of. You can see how dangerous this all is

"All the best things happen by accident," Cheever said by phone from her New York City home. "It may even be the mother of creativity. In my life, accident and indirection have been very influential. Then, as I read more about these people, it began to seem like destiny."

Cheever was determined to know what was going on beneath the surface. "Maybe people are not well served when they are revered ? it dehumanizes them. I hadn't read Thoreau's 'Walden' in 30 years either. When I reread it, I was amazed. He was so angry and so eloquent! And you know, these people had so much trouble getting along with other people."

She found many connections between them. "They inspired each other; they sold houses to each other; they planted each other's gardens; they delivered vegetables to each other; they helped each other in every conceivable way." And life was so different in the 19th century; it was not easy. "They were always cold; there was no medicine that worked; there were no dentists; there was almost no old age. So many were taken so early. Alcott was considered old at 36."

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"But these early books started American literature on its path. Thoreau invented the memoir. Alcott gave us the idea that women's business could be the stuff of the novel. Their books were astonishingly good. Good as Tolstoy, good as anything! If there are 20 great books in the world, the fact that half of them lived in these three Concord houses is amazing."

Cheever's personal favorites were the two women, Alcott and Fuller. "They did things women had never done before. They were not owned by men anymore. Instead of being second-rate whatever, they reinvented themselves in an era when womanhood was completely prescribed by society."

The rituals involved in submitting work to literary magazines are almost as precise and complicated as those of the writing process itself. Most writers take great care in signing cover letters, applying proper postage, self-addressing their stamped envelopes, even patiently centering binder clips as if dressing a child for the first day of school. But a growing number of magazines are switching to an online submission process, making those rituals-not to mention the U.S. Postal Service-unnecessary.

Proponents of online submissions say the process saves money on postage and paper and cuts down on response times, since it curtails much of the administrative work involved in logging, assigning, and distributing manuscripts once they are received by a magazine. It also reduces the chances of submissions being lost. Online submission systems usually notify writers once their work is received. After setting up accounts, writers can also log on to the journal's Web site, determine whether their work is still under consideration, or review what they have previously submitted.

Last August, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) unveiled Submission Manager, an online software system that makes submitting manuscripts a cheaper, less protracted process for writers, while offering greater efficiency to literary journal staffs. Designed by One Story webmaster Devin Emke, the software allows writers to submit electronic manuscripts and enter their own contact information directly into a journal's database-in effect, logging their own submissions. A number of magazines, such as A Public Space, Fence, jubilat, and Ploughshares, are using the software. Others, like Glimmer Train Stories, use customized online systems.

Omani writers and scholars will seek their rights and more freedom, according to the chief of the newly formed Omani Scholars and Writers Association yesterday.

"We would seek support for the freedom of thinking, encourage dialogue and support the rights of young writers and scholars," Sayyid Nameer Bin Salim Al Said, Head of Omani Scholars and Writers Association (Oswa), said at the formal launch of the association under the auspices Sayyid Haitham Bin Tareq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture.

The minister said that scholars and writers will now be encouraged to contribute more to the cultural renaissance of the country. Sayyid Nameer said the idea to found the association was first mooted in the 1980s and efforts continued for years until 2000 when a law organising the activity of private associations in Oman was issued.

"If Ms. Regan did make the charge that a Jewish cabal was conspiring against her, she clearly stepped over the line by employing the age-old anti-Semitic canard that Jews conspire against non-Jews," ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman said. "She also gives credence to the conspiracy theory that Jews control the media. Whatever her dispute with HarperCollins, the Jewishness of her critics had absolutely no relevance to the matter at hand, which leads one to question why she resorted to raising the Jewish issue."

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[Attorney Bert] Fields, whose other clients have included Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg, told the AP Tuesday that he "was really alarmed" by Foxman's remarks and found them "quite harmful to the Jewish cause. And I feel free to say that because I am Jewish." Fields acknowledged that Regan had used the word "cabal," but denied she said "Jewish cabal." Even if she had, he said, her comments would not be anti-Semitic. "I am quite stunned at what I think is a super thin-skinned response (by Foxman)," Fields said. "If a Jewish person is in a cabal, I don't think it implies that all Jews are conspiring against her. And to say that is silly."

For 60 years, pre-readers have enjoyed Highlights magazine alongside their older siblings or with the help of parents. Now preschoolers have their own monthly magazine that is like Highlights, but every page is developmentally appropriate.

"We believe that children are the world's most important people," said Kent S. Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, Inc. "Creating a publication that celebrates early childhood while encouraging children to develop a love of reading and become lifelong learners fits perfectly with the mission of our company - to help children become their best selves. We are delighted to offer a magazine that is wholly dedicated to the very young child."

Highlights High Five, published monthly, offers a mix of read-aloud fiction stories, including stories that introduce the Spanish language; poems; simple nonfiction; puzzles; easy crafts and cooking activities; finger plays; and action rhymes. Also included are new versions of features familiar to Highlights readers, designed especially for preschoolers: "The Adventures of Spot," featuring the dog from "The Timbertoes," and "My First Hidden Pictures." Beckoning young children with brightly colored illustrations and photographs, the playful, user-friendly magazine is meant to be enjoyed by the child with an adult or older sibling. Many features can be enjoyed independently by pre-readers after they have been introduced to them.

"The way I look at it, almost every comedy show or satire show I see uses the same talking points against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney," Surnow said. "The other side hasn't been skewered in a fair and balanced way."

The working title of the show has been "This Just In," but that will change because AOL just launched a broadband comedy channel by that name.

The pilot segs will be co-anchored by comedians Kurt Long and Susan Yeagley and feature a family of correspondents. "There will be some elements of 'The Daily Show' and some of 'Weekend Update,'" Surnow said.

Surnow originally pitched the show to Fox Entertainment prexy Peter Liguori, who is searching for latenight programming for the Fox network. Liguori passed but connected Surnow with Roger Ailes, who in addition to Fox News Channel also runs Twentieth Century Television and the Fox stations group.