blog Archives - About Editing and Writing

Latest News in Russia-Ukraine War

May 16, 2022

Ukraine: Ambitions are growing in Kyiv about what would define victory for Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces continue to take back Russian-occupied territory. Many Ukrainian refugees are heading back home, following the Russian pullback from the central part of the country.

More than 260 Ukrainian fighters who have been holding out for months at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol were evacuated ahead of a planned prisoner exchange, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Monday.

Russian forces continued to shell cities in Donbas and carried out a missile strike in western Ukraine.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Russia-Ukraine war news

How a Writing Coach Beats Writer’s Block

May 16, 2022

From a story on poynter.org by Roy Peter Clark headlined “How a bigshot writing coach beats writer’s block”:

It might give you comfort to learn that America’s friendliest writing coach on occasion succumbs to writer’s block. On a rare occasion, he refers to himself in the third person, but will stop doing that — right now.

I am thinking about this now because instead of revising my 300-page book manuscript, I am writing this essay on writer’s block. I could be watching the hockey game or mowing the lawn, but this will do for the moment.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: How a Writing Coach Beats Writer's Block

Jack Shafer: Why Jeff Bezos’ Tweets Are So Dumb

May 16, 2022

From a Jack Shafer Fourth Estate column on politico.com headlined “Why Jeff Bezos’ Anti-Biden Tweets Are So Dumb”:

Why do the billionaires tweet? The subject here, of course, is the motivation of the Ironmen of Twitter ego-tripping, Elon Muskand Jeff Bezos — not Bill Gates, whose tweets taste like weak dishwater, neither sudsy nor drinkable.

Musk tweets because his obsessive-compulsive disorder commands him to chime in on everything from his investments to his crackpot Covid-19 views to pronouns (they “suck”) to rude comments about Gates to name-calling (Elizabeth Warren, in his eyes, is a “Karen”) to raising the ire of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Some people use their hair to express themselves, I use Twitter,” Musk tweeted in 2019.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Why Jeff Bezos' Tweets Are So Dumb

About Solving the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

May 16, 2022

From an Inside the Times story by Rachel Fabi headlined “A ‘Queen’ of the Crossword Reigns”:

MONDAY PUZZLE — Hello, solvers, and welcome back to another installment of the Monday Wordplay column, where we help you get to know the tips and tricks of the New York Times Crossword puzzle. Most new solvers know that Monday puzzles are the easiest of the week, but one feature with which new solvers might not yet be acquainted is the online crossword puzzle archive. It contains every puzzle published by the New York Times Crossword editor, Will Shortz, stretching all the way back to 1993.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Solving the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Jelani Cobb Named Dean of Columbia Journalism School

May 16, 2022

From Columbia University president Lee Bollinger:

It is with great pleasure that I write to announce my appointment of Jelani Cobb as the next Dean of Columbia Journalism School, as of August 1, 2022. Professor Cobb is the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Director of the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Jelani Cobb Named Dean of Columbia Journalism School

Sherri Dalphonse Named Editor of Washingtonian Magazine

May 16, 2022

From Cathy Merrill Williams, publisher of Washingtonian magazine:

I am delighted to announce that our next editor-in-chief will be Sherri Dalphonse. She will be only the fifth editor in Washingtonian’s 57-year-history and the first-ever woman editor-in-chief. We are one of a very small number of woman-owned media companies and we now proudly have women leading both editorial and sales!

How AP Stylebook’s Editors Decide How to Change Their Guidance

May 16, 2022

From Colleen Newvine – product manager, AP Stylebook:

If you have ever wondered how the AP Stylebook’s editors decide how to add or change their guidance, a new section now available on AP Stylebook Online offers insight.

Below is an excerpt from the new section, which will also appear in the AP Stylebook, 56th Edition, coming on June 1.

“The English language is fluid and changes incessantly. What last year may have been very formal, next year may be loosely informal. Word combinations, slogans and phrases are being added and becoming part of the language. …

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: AP story guidance

What Washington Post Reporters Were Slacking About on Sunday

May 16, 2022

From a story on politico.com headlined “What Washington Post reporters were slacking about on Sunday”:

“Jeff Bezos Criticizes Joe Biden in Twitter Spat Over Inflation,” by WSJ’s Tarini Parti and Bradley Olson.

Exchange No. 1:

Biden’s original tweet: “You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share.”
Bezos’ response: “The newly created Disinformation Board should review this tweet, or maybe they need to form a new Non Sequitur Board instead. Raising corp taxes is fine to discuss. Taming inflation is critical to discuss. Mushing them together is just misdirection.”

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Jeff Bezos Amazon

Judy Woodruff to Step Down as PBS NewsHour Anchor

May 16, 2022

From an AP story headlined “PBS’ Judy Woodruff plans to step down as NewsHour anchor”:

Judy Woodruff says she’ll be stepping down as anchor of PBS’ nightly “NewsHour” program at the end of the year.

Woodruff, 75, said she will report longer pieces for “NewsHour” and do other projects and specials for public television, at least through the 2024 presidential election.

She was part of the “NewsHour” rotating anchor team from 2009 until 2013, when she and Gwen Ifill were named co-anchors of the program. Since Ifill’s death in 2016, Woodruff has been the show’s sole anchor.

Leave a Comment • Filed Under: blog Tagged: Judy Woodruff TV news anchor

Recent Posts

Archives