The Guardian has an article explaining the chaos at Newsweek magazine, where management tried to shut down a story by its reporters about the publication’s ties to a Christian college. The magazine’s offices were raided by the DA on January 18th, and since then, the staff has been trying to dig into the reasons for the raid. In the process, there have been editors and reporters fired and charges by staff that executives tried to subject the reporting to an unethical review process. At Columbia Journalism Review, Joel Simon weighs in on why the dismissal of editors is so troubling: “These firings

A Newsweek story about the magazine’s ties to a Christian university was published last night with a lengthy note from the editors. The letter charges the publication’s leadership with trying to suppress the article. The opening paragraph states that two editors and a reporter were fired “for doing their jobs,” that two more reporters were threatened with termination by management, and that the article was subject to a review process that “involved egregious breaches of confidentiality and journalism ethics.” One Newsweek employee told the Daily Beast “I have never experienced a newsroom with

Carmen Maria Machado talks to Guernica about short stories, queer identity, and why memoir writing scares her. “With memoir, there is no place to hide; the screen of fiction is gone and it feels really naked, really vulnerable,” she said. “I’m afraid people are going to ask me all kinds of overly personal questions when it comes out.”

A new algorithm developed at the University of Illinois and the University of California at Berkeley suggests that women were better represented in nineteenth-century novels than they have been in more modern fiction. The academics in charge of the study expected

The New York Times reports on the case of Curtis Dawkins, a Michigan prisoner who sold a short story collection while serving a life sentence and is now being sued by the state for the cost of his incarceration.

The Guardian talks to Francisco Cantú about the border patrol, immigration policy, and how writing can inspire change. “Writing is where I see myself being able to do the most meaningful work,” he said. “I still see it as a tool for exploring all the questions that I still have, about the way that violence is normalised in a society.”

Mark Konkol, who was hired as the editor of the

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Man Booker prize, the organization will award a “Golden” Man Booker prize to one of fifty-one previous winners. 1981 winner Salman Rushdie “is likely a favourite to win,” The Guardian reports, “having already won the Best of Booker award in 2008, to mark the prize’s 40th anniversary, and the Booker of Bookers in 1993, for its 25th birthday.” The shortlist will be revealed in May.

NPR has hired two new hosts. Ailsa Chang is joining All Things Considered, while Noel King will work on Morning Edition and the Up First podcast.

Congressman John Lewis

Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson is writing a book. On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope, which will be published by Viking next September, examines “how deliberate oppression persists, how racial injustice strips our lives of promise, and how technology has added a new dimension to mass action and social change.”

The Washington Post is opening two new international bureaus, one in Hong Kong and another in Rome. The paper has also hired a second correspondent for its Mexico City bureau.

PEN America has awarded the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award to Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo,

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin is writing a new book, to be published by Simon & Schuster next fall. Leadership explores the “unique journeys” of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson and “analyzes how they emerged to confront the challenges and contours of their times.”

Vanity Fair’s Joe Pompeo speculates on which of Time Inc’s titles will be sold by Meredith Corporation first. Most observers agree that Sports Illustrated is most likely to be sold quickly as “it is undoubtedly the sorest thumb in a stable that serves a predominantly female audience—the Better Homes and Gardens-Real Simple-Rachael Ray Every Day demographic,” writes Pompeo.

Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News mainstay and friend of Donald Trump, has reportedly been considering the possibility of writing a book that rebukes Michael Wolff’s bestselling White House expose/takedown Fire and Fury. Sources say that Pirro has discussed the book with Trump, whom she has visited frequently at the White House. The president has agreed to be interviewed by Pirro. It is currently unclear if Pirro’s forthcoming book, Liars, Leakers, and Liberals, which is due out in June, will serve as the foundation for this Trump-boosting tome, or if Pirro will be starting a new book entirely.

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The New York Times’s books desk has hired Rumaan Alam as a special projects editor. Alam is a regular contributor to many sections of the paper, and his writing has been published by the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.

The Los Angeles Times is discontinuing its book blog, Jacket Copy. When Jacket Copy was created ten years ago, writes Carolyn Kellogg, “Blogs were a thing then . . . a way to get news and commentary onto the internet quickly.” But now, as the newspaper has adapted to the digital age, separating print and web content has become unnecessary.

Jesmyn Ward has signed a two book deal at Simon & Schuster. The first book is a still-untitled novel that “centers on an enslaved woman sent south from the Carolinas to New Orleans, site of the country’s largest slave market,” which will be published by Scribner. Ward will also write a young adult novel about “a black Southern female protagonist who possesses special powers,” which will be published by Caitlyn Dlouhy Books. Publication dates for the titles have not been announced.

Edna O’Brien has won the PEN/Nabokov lifetime achievement award. The prize will be given to O’Brien at a ceremony

Megan Greenwell has been hired as the editor in chief of Deadspin, Gizmodo Media Group’s sports website. Greenwell, the first woman to take on the role, is replacing Tim Marchman, who now leads the company’s Special Projects desk. 

Tyra Banks and her mother Carolyn London are writing a book together that will “get raw, real and cray-in-a-good-way.” Perfect is Boring will be published in April.

International Business Times senior writer David Sirota has resigned from the company after the firing of top IBT and Newsweek staff.

Tronc is likely selling the Los Angeles Times. 

Tavis McGinn talks