Democracy under siege—and the press, too

On Wednesday afternoon, a mob of right-wing extremists and indignant livestreamers stormed the Capitol. Along their path, they left a note to the journalists who were covering the scene, a message that seemed a harrowing extension of a presidency marked by anti-press virulence: etched into a door was the phrase murder the media. It’s hard not to take that seriously—as was noted by Rachael Pacella and Paul W. Gillespie, both journalists who had survived the 2018 mass shooting at the Capital Gazette, in Annapolis, Maryland. And yet, as Masha Gessen wrote for The New Yorker, no one in charge seemed to take the mob seriously enough. The harm done to the press was alarming. All through the afternoon, reporters in Washington photographed rioters kicking, toppling, stomping, and pouring water on their equipment as they yelled “Fuck you, propaganda!” and chanted “CNN sucks.” An AP spokesperson told the New York Times that members of the crowd stole some equipment; a group appeared to be trying to burn it. One person shouted at a couple of Washington Post reporters, “How many more fucking people gotta die? All the lies you’ve told, all this time––that’s what made this happen. A lady died because of your lies!” (That was possibly a reference to Ashli Babbitt, the woman fatally shot by police during the siege.) Yesterday afternoon, the US Press Freedom Tracker said it was investigating several instances of assault, equipment damage, and other mayhem caused by the mob. Hours before... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-01-08 13:30:11 UTC ]

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BookCon 2015: In Our World and Beyond Fantasy, and Reality

Joe Monti, executive editor for Simon & Schuster’s new Saga imprint for science fiction/fantasy, or SFF, admits that diversity is more than an intellectual exercise. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2015: Hoopla Signs More ‘Big Five’ Deals

Hachette Book Group and Simon & Schuster this week became the latest Big Five publishers to offer audiobook titles to libraries via Midwest Tape’s nascent Hoopla digital platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2015: Tor Celebrates 35

Tom Doherty, president and publisher of Tor Books, worked his way up through the sales force ranks at Simon & Schuster and was mentored by Betty and Ian Ballantine when they launched the first science fiction and fantasy line in the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jose Mourinho signs first book deal with Headline

Headline has acquired the first book by Chelsea Football Club manager Jose Mourinho. The as-yet-untitled book will be a “visually sumptuous celebration” of Mourinho’s career so far. Mourinho has won eight league titles in four different European countries: in his homeland of Portugal with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gail Gonzales Named V-P, Associate Publisher at Rodale

Gonzales, currently director of integrated marketing at Simon & Schuster, has been been appointed v-p, associate publisher, trade books at Rodale, effective June 15. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Solutions lawsuit continues

Lawyers acting for Author Solutions are due to file new papers with a New York court this week in the latest development in the lawsuit against the assisted publisher. The Penguin Random House-owned company Author Solutions provides a variety of services direct to authors under a series of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Print drop hits S&S first quarter

A fall in physical book sales led to a decrease in revenue in the first quarter of 2015 for Simon & Schuster. Results released by the publisher’s parent company CBS Corporation were not broken down geographically, but gave publishing revenues for the first three months of this year at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers give $250m free ebooks for Obama scheme

Publishers in the US including Hachette Book Group, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster are making $250m (£163m) in free ebooks available to low-income students as part of a scheme announced today (30th April) by President Obama. The new ebook commitments, to cover a three-year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Playster Streaming Service to Offer Simon & Schuster Ebooks

Playster, a digital multimedia streaming platform, will now sell ebooks from Simon & Schuster on a subscription basis. The post Playster Streaming Service to Offer Simon & Schuster Ebooks appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S‘ six-figure Peterson poach

Novelist Alice Peterson has moved from Quercus to Simon & Schuster in a six-figure deal. S&S publishing director Jo Dickinson bought world rights to two novels from The Agency Group’s Diana Beaumont, in the latter’s first deal since joining the company from the Rupert Heath Literary Agency. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo, Mills & Boon and W H Smith launch competition

Mills & Boon, Kobo and W H Smith are launching a Romance Writing Life competition, offering authors the chance to win a book deal with Mills & Boon, ebook promotions from Kobo and in-store support from W H Smith. Entrants must submit a synopsis of their novel and its first chapter via... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Horobin to join Bonnier Publishing Fiction

James Horobin, previously group sales, marketing and publicity director at Simon & Schuster, is to join the recently launched Bonnier Publishing Fiction division as executive director with responsibility for sales and marketing. Horobin, who left S&S last month, will take up his new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon and HarperCollins renew friendship with multi-year contract

Amazon started mending its tattered relationship with the big five publishers last year, signing deals with Macmillan, Simon & Schuster and even Hachette. Now it's HarperCollins' turn to make peace with the e-commerce giant, according to The Wall Str... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2015-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tasker to Join Readerlink

Tasker, who has held positions at Simon & Schuster and Scholastic, most recently served as v-p, product development at Disney Publishing Worldwide. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC Adds Four More Global Offices; Signs Slaughter

As part of its global expansion, HarperCollins has signed Karin Slaughter to a four book deal in which the publisher has acquired world English rights as well as foreign language rights in about a dozen languages. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S change sales and children's staff

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oyster launches ebook store

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Surprise Project Becomes S&S Big London Book

The backstory of Steven Rowley’s new nearly seven-figure book deal with Simon & Schuster is the stuff of publishing fairy tales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S signs Sitwell

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Seafaring cat tale to S&S

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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