1. Functions of Books
Transmission of Culture (religious texts, etiquette books, even travel guides)
Transmit Ideas and Knowledge (textbooks and non-fiction Books especially do this)
Entertainment

2. Problems Facing Industry
How to print books cheaply
How to get as many number of people to buy these books
Attempts at solving problem: Printing press, dime novels, mass market paperbacks, print-on-demand, eBooks, Oprah

3. eBooks
eBooks
A recent survey finds one 1 of 5 of us has read an e-book in the past year.
Sales were $441.3 million in 2010

4. Dime Novels Dime Novels The first paperback book, sold for 10 cents
Introduced in 1860
Helped increase literacy

5. Mass-market Paperbacks
1939: This form of book arrived in US when Pocket Books published books that sold for 25 cents at drugstores and supermarkets

6. Print-on-Demand Books
Began in late 1990s
Made authors less dependent on book publishing companies
Example of successful author: Teri Woods
Also allows book companies to revive out-of-print books

7. Teri Woods Teri Woods • Legal secretary and single mom in Philadelphia
Over 20 publishers rejected her book, True to the Game
1999: Printed it herself, sold out of car trunk—300,000 copies sold
2002: self-made millionaire
New York Times bestsellers (2007, 2008); reinvigorated the “urban fiction” genre

8. Publishing Success Stories
Harry Potter series (got adults and children reading fiction more; final book 14 million copy first print run just in US; films)
Da Vinci Code
50 Shades of Grey (After only two months, the first book sold 765,000 copies, three times faster than The Da Vinci Code)

9. Newspapers

10. Major Trends Affecting Newspapers:
Executives and editors coming from outside of newspaper industry
Online subscriptions not catching on
The need to figure out alternative revenue sources
How to cover local news with shrinking staffs
Need to understand audience better

11. What is News? “Man bites dog” not “dog bites man”
Recent events, discoveries or trends
Pseudo events: press conferences, rallies, marches

12. Hard News vs. Soft News
Hard News: The when, what, how, why and where (ex. Hurricane Sandy struck NYC)
Soft News: The follow-up story to the hard news OR human-interest stories (ex. NYC’s Food Trucks Hit the Streets to Help with Sandy Recovery)

13. The History of Journalism in 4 Key Developments:
Penny Press
Objectivity
Yellow Journalism
Muckracking

14. Penny Press: Newspapers sold for 1 cent
In order to attract large audiences…
Publishers toned down opinions.
Looked for dramatic stories
Hired reporters to find stories
Dramatically increased advertising

15. Objectivity & the AP
Objectivity: a principal in journalism that says reporters will not be biased in how they report a story Associated Press (started in 1848, exists today): a service where papers and radio can get information that is impartial

16. Yellow Journalism:
When stories are sensationalized and/or either partially or completely untrue. William Randolph Hearst & Joseph Pulitzer: competing newspaper men who practiced yellow journalism in early 1900s

18. Muckracking:
• Journalists who “rake up mud” (or muck), meaning they stir up trouble • Investigative, usually long, in-depth articles exploring corruption or other issues • By early 1900s, Joseph Pulitzer was a muckracker (established Pulitzer Prize)

19. The Rise of Electronic Journalism:
Newspapers began to lose their popularity with the rise of radios in 1920s, followed by TV in the 50s.
1947: Meet the Press debuted
1950s: Today show debuted

20. Filling the News Hole:
In 1980, 1 of 50 newspaper front page stories about celebrities (today: 1 of 14)
24-hour news channels have travel shows, documentaries, celeb coverage and their hosts become “celeb personalities”
WHY? To compete with other papers, other channels and the Internet

21. Assignment due in class 2/19/13
Write a one-page essay giving a defense to why print newspapers (not online news) is necessary and should not go away.
Must include 2-3 examples taken from newspapers this week.
Use or reject claims in the textbook to support your argument.
Do not final assignment, hand in a hard copy in class.