Author Archive
Words of the Week: Ari Goldman
From Ari Goldman, an extraordinary Jewish Week article revisiting The New York Times’ reportage on the events in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 20 years ago:
“You don’t know what’s happening here!” I yelled. “I am on the streets getting attacked. Someone next to me just got hit. I am writing memos and what comes out in the paper? ‘Hasidim and blacks clashed’? That’s not what is happening here. Jews are being attacked! You’ve got this story all wrong. All wrong.”
You must read the entire article.
Friday Find: AP Sept. 11 Style and Reference Guide
This isn’t a fun find, but it’s an important one.
Within a few weeks, we’ll commemorate the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps you are planning to write about the anniversary. Perhaps you’ve already written something and are waiting to post or publish it.
As I learned from the Nieman Journalism Lab this week:
To assist its members as they create that coverage, the Associated Press just released a style and reference guide whose content is dedicated to 9/11. It includes terms like “airline, airlines” (“Capitalize airlines, air lines and airways when used as part of a proper airline name. American Airlines, United Airlines”); “ground zero” (lower-case), “acceptable term for the World Trade Center site”; and names like “Osama bin Laden” (“use bin Laden in all references except at the start of a sentence…. Pronounced oh-SAH’-muh bin LAH’-din”).
The guide is intriguing — not only as a useful tool for the many journalists who will be, in some way or another, writing about 9/11 over the next few weeks, but also as a hint at what a Stylebook can be when it’s thought of not just as a book, but as a resource more broadly. AP’s guide (official name: “Sept. 11 Style and Reference Guide”) is a kind of situational stylebook, an ad hoc amalgam of information that will be useful for a particular set of stories, within a particular span of time.
It’s intriguing, all right. It’s remarkable. Go take a look.
And then, go have a good, safe weekend. See you back here on Monday.
Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat
Shabbat shalom!
Essay Contest: Making Orthodox Synagogues More Meaningful
From the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals:
“How can we make modern Orthodox synagogues more meaningful and attractive? Send us your suggestions; the top three entries will receive $100 credit for our publications and will be published on our website. Please send your entries to mdangel@jewishideas.org. Entries should be no longer than 300 words. Entries must reach us no later than September 15.”
(via @FrancesKraft1)