Gimme Rewrite Sweetheart

Recounts the behind-the-scenes happenings at Cleveland newspapers during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, describing how reporters found their stories, the role of the papers in the city's daily life, and the political ins and outs of the reporting world.

Mention Shaft and most people think of Gordon Parks' seminal 1971 film starring Richard Roundtree in a leather coat, walking the streets of Manhattan to Isaac Hayes' iconic theme music. But the black private dick who inspired the blaxploitation film genre actually made his debut on the printed page as the creation of a white novelist. Ernest Tidyman was a seasoned journalist down on his luck when he decided to try his hand at fiction. Shaft was the result, giving Tidyman the break he was looking for. He went on to become an Academy Award winning screenwriter and respected film producer. Based on extensive research of Tidyman's personal papers, this book tells the story of Shaft from the perspective of his creator. The author provides new insight and analysis of the writing of the Shaft novels, as well as the production of the films and TV series. First-ever coverage of the forgotten Shaft newspaper comic strip includes previously unseen artwork. Also included is Shaft's recent reappearance on the printed page, in both comic book and prose form.

A funny, frank memoir of over four decades of life in the press box from one of British Columbia's best-loved sports journalists.

“A stylish, expertly drawn novel about the characters who made journalism what it was, and whose disappearance is making journalism what it is now” (Kirkus). Ed Clancy and Joe Shelby are journalists with The Paris Star, an English-language paper based in Paris. Relics from a time when print news was in its heyday, when being a reporter meant watching a city crumble around you as you called in one last dispatch, the Internet age has taken them by surprise. The two friends are faced with the death of what they hold most dear—their careers, and, for Shelby, a woman he cannot bring himself to mention. The Paris Correspondent is a tribute to journalism, love, and liquor in a turbulent era. Written in riveting prose that captures the changing world of a foreign correspondent's life, Alan S. Cowell's breakout novel is not to be missed. Written from personal experience and in homage to Reynolds Packard's classic Dateline Paris, there is “also a touch of Kingsley Amis in Shelby's satiric dimensions and of Saul Bellow's Ravelstein in the book's late-in-the-day confessions” (Kirkus).

The Media Show is a lively analysis of one of the underreported major stories of our time: the growing power and influence of the media. In these essays and reports critic Edwin Diamond takes a hard look at the methods of the American media during a period of heightened competition and increased conglomeration, focusing on the way news stories are shaped, and sometimes distorted.Diamond first considers some of the consequences of the new order created by richer technologies and lowered aspirations. He explores the mixed results of this new system, including marked changes in American broadcasting as the networks downsize their expenditures to news and public affairs coverage. There is, he notes, often a serious conflict within networks between the public good and the bottom line, a conflict that the news media generally chooses not to examine.Diamond then scrutinizes the role of style and personality on television. Next he turns to specific examples of television coverage of the defining topics of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the arrival of cable technology and CNN, which changed the way wars and crises are covered; how some members of the media practiced "unsafe journalism" in their reports on AIDS; the role the media assumed as the "moral police" in recent election campaigns; the way race and class influenced crime stories such as the Tawana Brawley and the Central Park jogger cases; how the media has often seemed "married to the mob" in its reporting about reputed godfather John Gotti; and the changes in White House press coverage as Ronald Reagan was succeeded by George Bush. Diamond concludes by proposing several ideas for creating new media structures.Edwin Diamond is Professor of Journalism at New York University, where he directs the News Study Group, and he is media columnist for New York magazine. His previous books include Good News, Bad News, Sign Off. The Last Days of Television, and The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television.

“I have cerebral palsy much like I have blue eyes and have—or should I say had?—brown hair. It is simply a part of who I am. When I speak to groups about my situation I can even joke about it. ‘Think of CP as Canada Post,’ I tell them. ‘My brain sends out signals, and God knows where they wind up.’” Long-time journalist Cam Tait has seen some interesting times on the sports beat—rolling alongside Rick Hansen in the Man in Motion tour, playing in fundraising golf tournaments, and tipping back some cold ones with Wayne Gretzky, to name a few. His personal life hasn’t lacked excitement either—memorable moments include parasailing, winning a stand-up (or in his case, sit-down) comedy contest, and helping his grandson take his first steps. But he couldn’t have done it without the help of his friends. Tait was born with cerebral palsy, unable to sit up, speak or move his arms and legs. But thanks to a revolutionary form of physical therapy that required a 24/7 commitment from his parents and a team of 116 volunteers, he learned to get around in a wheelchair, move his hands and talk. These turned out to be useful skills for a career of prime interviews, crazy deadlines and pranks. Tait teams up with friend and fellow journalist Jim Taylor, telling his own story with characteristic directness and humour. With a newspaperman’s inveterate sense of timing, Tait moves seamlessly from one-liners and tales of debauched hijinks to candid accounts of his depression, career struggles and loss of loved ones. He speaks with eloquence about the importance of giving disabled people the chance to pursue their ambitions, and the value of all the support he’s received in achieving his own dreams. In both his career and personal life, he’s experienced the power of humour to break down barriers and bring people together—and have a hell of a good time doing it.