publishing

After “The Word”….it’s The Afterword!

I recently wrote about the closure of the very fine British music magazine The Word. Two days ago, the magazine’s website also ceased doing business, although the site is maintaining an archive of all of The Word podcasts (which are well worth listening to).

The phonograph is part of The Afterword’s logo. (Credit: Wikipedia)

However, a dedicated group of the Word’s readers and website participants – known collectively as The Word Massive – have decided to attempt to continue the broad cultural coverage, the wit, and the fine writing that made The Word so exceptional. Their website, The Afterword, has just launched, and it’s excellent. It has many of the same features that made The Word website so lively –  and, as demonstrated by this post asking for volunteer moderators,  the volume of activity on the site has been far beyond anyone’s expectations.

The dedication and professionalism that’s evident on The Afterword shows the impact that The Word had on its readers during its nine years in print. It will be interesting to see how The Afterword evolves – other reader-initiated sites, like The Blizzard, have been able to find a niche, and to survive financially, by finding audiences that appreciate good writing and broad-ranging discussion.
Please visit The Afterword and take a look at what’s happening. I think you’ll be impressed.

Misreporting is Worse than ‘Self-Plagiarism’

In the last few weeks, science writer Jonah Lehrer has been under fire in media circles for “self-plagiarism”. A number of investigators have discovered close similarities or identical wording in the texts of articles and speeches he’s written or delivered. However, there’s another aspect of the Lehrer situation that I find more concerning than the allegations of “self-plagiarism” – and that’s the alleged errors in his reporting about scientific research. (more…)

“The Word” Is Closing: Bad News for Good Writing

Despite all the labour relations events over the past week, the news that made the biggest impact on me was the announcement by the British music magazine The Word that it would be ceasing publication with its August issue.

I’ve bought and read music magazines for as long as I can remember – and among my biggest thrills as a writer was having letters to the editor published in the New Musical Express and in Creem.  So I believe that I have the reader experience to say that The Word, over its nine years of existence, was consistently one of the smartest and best written music magazines ever. And when I say “smart”, I don’t mean snarky – I mean intelligent, well-informed, thoughtful and passionate. (more…)