“Unlike journalists, publishers have never seen it as their purview to verify that the information in nonfiction books is true. Editors and publishers say the profit-margins in publishing don’t allow for hiring fact-checkers. Instead, they rely on authors to be honest, and on their legal staffs to avoid libels suits. But now there is a growing chorus both inside and outside the industry calling for publishers to take more steps to validate the authenticity of works that are marketed as nonfiction.”
Tag: 01.30.06
Judges, Audience Agree On Sundance Top Prizes
“For the first time in the festival’s 22 years, Sundance jurors and audience members gave the same two films grand prizes in the documentary and dramatic competitions. “God Grew Tired of Us,” a look at the so-called lost boys of the Sudan and their relocation to the United States, swept both documentary awards, and “Quinceañera,” the coming-of-age story of a Hispanic girl in a gentrifying Los Angeles neighborhood, won the dramatic prizes.”
NBC Struggles To Reinvent
NBC’s having a terrible year. The network is trying anything, and recently had a hit with podcast episodes. “Could it be that video iPods are helping decide prime-time winners? You can never prove anything for sure, but it hasn’t hurt and probably helped quite a bit.”
The Mozart Connection (Maybe)
“Does Mozart still speak to us? The fact that we are celebrating his 250th birthday this month suggests so, and for some fraction of the elite culture, he surely does. Judging by concert halls, it’s an old and shrinking fraction, but there are still a fair number of teenagers learning the “Turkish Rondo,” so who knows?”