A series staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman wrote for the Village Voice in 2000 laid the groundwork for her new book, "Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett." The book, which was featured on the front cover of the New York Times Book Review March 21, describes Bartlett's life post-release. After serving 16 years for a drug offense, she tries to reconnect with the children accustomed to seeing her in a prison visiting room. "What jumps out at you from 'Life on the Outside' is the extent to which imprisonment has been normalized," reviewer Brent Staples writes.
Marketers looking to target women might try putting more humor in their ads. So say preliminary findings in a yearlong study prepared by Oxygen Media and Grey Global Group's MediaCom. The study focuses on women and humor. Initial findings were released today.
In another sign that commuter and youth papers are not a fleeting industry fad, free dailies now have their own national rep firm. Fittingly, perhaps, the Free Daily Newspaper Network (FDNN) launched today is headed by a former publisher of the Metro commuter dailies that spurred mainstream publishers in many cities to create their own free quick-read papers: James McDonald, now president of Journal Newspapers, which circulate in suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Bill Richardson is rumored to be on the short list to be the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, but he downplays his interest. James Oliphant describes the man who might become the first Hispanic on a presidential ticket as part Music Man and part minister with "a super-sized portion of patron thrown into the mix." The Santa Fe Reporter writer accompanies Richardson to the Nambe Pueblo and interviews him about a career that included offering a Sudanese rebel commander an immunization program in exchange for hostages and serving a troubled stint as U.S. Energy Secretary.
Organs for transplant are in short supply in British Columbia, in part because the Canadian province has a good road safety record and far fewer deaths from gunshot wounds than the U.S. Writing for The Georgia Straight, Gail Johnson compares various countries' approaches to identifying transplant donors—some assume consent unless the person opted out earlier. British Columbia's registry program requires potential donors to take more initiative they did under a driver's license decal program, and not even 15 percent of residents have signed up.
The new issue of the Dig looks a lot like The Boston Phoenix, with bylines that are plays on the names of Phoenix staff writers. The Boston Globe Names columnists Carol Beggy and Mark Shanahan report that the parody is the latest episode in a dispute over advertising tactics (third item). Dig publisher Jeff Lawrence has challenged Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich to a one-mile footrace on April 19, with the loser required to make a donation to charity. Mindich hasn't responded.
Will a Catholic legislator who backs same-sex marriage now burn in hell for it later? The most hard-line opponents seem to want lawmakers to think so. Some Catholics are conducting a vociferous campaign in the hope of thwarting a Massachusetts high court ruling that it's unconstitutional to prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. Kristen Lombardi reports for The Boston Phoenix that the church's behind-the-scene lobbying efforts have left at least 10 legislators feeling denounced and harassed.
Think you're too fat? You can always blame Richard M. Nixon. By expanding farm subsidies and loosening regulations while he was president, Nixon "sowed the seeds that would end humanity's long war against hunger, making food cheap and plentiful to all Americans," Jim Duncan writes. "For that we now lay upon his grave the blame for the nation's epidemic obesity." The Pointblank cover story includes interviews with two women back in prison for using meth to lose the weight gained during a previous incarceration.
