From The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ghost Writers: Let us now praise anonymous journal-article reviewers, for they toil in a valuable, unappreciated literary genre. Tom Bower, the controversial biographer, takes a ringside seat for the trial of his latest subject, Lord Black. Outside the courtroom, he absorbs the culture of Chicago and takes a gamble on a break to Vegas.
The Bancroft maxim of "Never sell Grandpa's paper" is facing its toughest test. Despite their tentative no to News Corp.'s overture for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, family members — grown apart and lacking a clear leader — have been working nonstop behind the scenes to establish a consensus. From Foreign Policy, an interview with Devin Leonard of Fortune on Murdoch as a media pioneer seizing the future while others are fleeing. Rupert Murdoch won't rescue the Wall Street Journal. His influence on other outlets may be lucrative, but it doesn't always yield high quality.
One of the great mysteries about the mainstream press in the last six years is its seeming inability to use one particular word: "liar". The Numbers Guy on tallying Bill O’Reilly’s name-calling. Conservative blog Red State declares war on GOP perverts, louts, criminals. From TNR, when did the netroots come into being? Jonathan Chait, Ezra Klein, Rick Perlstein, Matt Stoller & Chris Bowers debate. From Wired, controlled chaos: An interview with Markos Moulitsas Zúniga. Fighting from the left: Netroots bloggers in the US don't just want to admire the right's propaganda machine, they want to beat it. In Egypt, blogging can get you arrested—or worse. YouTube, MySpace and other websites are banned on DoD computers.
How to Be a Star in a YouTube World: What it takes to stand out when anyone can be an entertainer. The Electronic Frontier Foundation jumped into a legal battle involving efforts by self-described psychic Uri Geller to censor video clips of him posted on YouTube. Instead of trying to keep bullies from taking over, too many Web sites become their unwitting enablers.
From Technology Review, the first epoch of Web design is over; from now on, Web pages will be as attractive as print—but more interactive. The BBC's desperate attempt to lead the new media revolution has been fraught with controversy, delays and huge costs. And from Business Week, who's behind The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs? The question riveting Silicon Valley as much as the satirical blog itself may be answered this week
