Technology • Innovation • Publishing — Issue #209

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Important Items

Where Abortion Is Now Banned in the U.S. — www.nytimes.com

Near-total bans on abortion took effect in Idaho, Tennessee and Texas on Thursday, bringing the total number of states where abortion is banned to 12. Two others ban abortion at about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

1 in 3 American women have already lost abortion access. More restrictive laws are coming.

www.washingtonpost.com 
Two months after the Supreme Court decision, a seismic shift in who can access abortion.

After Roe, teens are teaching themselves sex ed, because the adults won’t

www.washingtonpost.com 
They say it’s crucial to learn about more than abstinence, especially if abortion is unavailable.

North Carolina school district planning to put AR-15 in every school in the event of another school shooting

www.fox5dc.com 
A U.S. House investigation has found that gun manufacturers have taken in more than $1 billion from selling AR-15-style guns over the past decade.

School district bans the word “transgender”

twitter.com

Nebraska school officials close newspaper after LGBTQ issue and eliminated its journalism program

apnews.com

RT @juliacarriew A Nebraska school board closed a 54-year-old high school newspaper after student journalists ran a Pride month issue w/ an editorial criticizing Florida’s don’t say gay law. The admin had previously forced a trans student to use his deadname as his byline

What’s Actually Being Taught in History Class

www.nytimes.com 
Schools across the country have been caught up in spirited debates over what students should learn about United States history. We talked to seven social studies teachers about how they run their classrooms, what they teach and why.

Arizona’s New Law Banning People from Recording Police Violates our First Amendment Rights

www.aclu.org

Arizona recently passed a law that makes it a crime, punishable by up to a month in jail, for people to record videos within eight feet of police activity.

Our right to record police is protected by the First Amendment and serves as a key tool in holding police accountable.

Per the American Academy of Pediatrics: Masks can help kids avoid COVID in school

twitter.com

If caregivers are wearing masks, does that harm kids’ language development? No. There is no evidence of this. And we know even visually impaired children develop speech and language at the same rate as their peers.

Masks are important to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. During the pandemic, schools with mask policies had less spread of COVID in school. Masks may still be needed to keep kids safe.

The Biden administration plans to offer updated coronavirus booster shots to Americans 12 and older soon after Labor Day.

www.nytimes.com 
A top F.D.A. regulator cited compelling data for redesigned coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Pakistan Hit Deadly Floods a Climate Catastrophe

www.nytimes.com

Officials said the country’s record rainfall this summer has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-June, and affected more than 33 million people.

Problematic News Consumption and Its Relationship to Mental and Physical Ill-Being

www.tandfonline.com

What may have begun as an effort to monitor disconcerting events and remain apprised of potential threats develops overtime into a maladaptive relationship with the news.

Innovation

Metaverse for publishers: What’s the long-term potential with AR and VR?Publishing News

whatsnewinpublishing.com

#AR #VR

iHeartMedia to Host Metaverse Concerts In ‘Fortnite’ Virtual World — www.hollywoodreporter.com 
iHeartMedia has launched its first virtual world on Fortnite called iHeartLand.

MTV introduces the ‘Best Metaverse Performance’ award category

cointelegraph.com

The award for the Best Metaverse Experience is among 18 categories available to the public for voting. #Metaverse

Technology

Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers

devblogs.microsoft.com

HT @benedictevans

Apple Builds Ad Empire After Crippling Rivals

www.axios.com

Apple’s advertising business is booming after policy changes made it easier for iPhone users to opt out of being tracked

Microsoft is putting more ads in Outlook on iOS and Android — www.theverge.com 
Microsoft has started rolling out more ads inside Outlook mobile. If you’re a free user of Microsoft’s mobile email app, you’ll see ads if you’ve disabled the Focused Inbox feature.

‘House of the Dragon’ Crashes HBO Max in ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Debut

www.bloomberg.com

The hotly anticipated debut of the “Game of Thrones” prequel saw a vast number of users flock to HBO Max, overwhelming the service for some in the U.S. #streaming

Google ‘helpful content’ update to crack down on publishers creating ‘unsatisfying’ SEO stories

pressgazette.co.uk

RT @michellemanafy A Google search update, rolling out this week, promises to prioritize “original, helpful content written by people, for people” rather than unsatisfying content’ aimed purely at ranking high on search

Facebook glitch floods users’ feeds with celebrity posts

www.theage.com.au 
The scale of the glitch is enormous as it’s affecting some of Facebook’s most-followed accounts.

YouTube launches a dedicated podcasts homepage for US users

techcrunch.com

YouTube confirmed a new podcasts destination is live for U.S. users, as the company is getting serious about investments in podcasts and potential ad revenue. #podcasting

Twitter Adds Podcasts to Live Audio Tab — www.hollywoodreporter.com

RT @michellemanafy Twitter will start recommending and streaming podcasts directly to users as part of a redesigned hub that groups live and recorded audio content by category.

Increased on-screen LGBTQ+ inclusion in ad-supported content could boost consumer loyalty

www.nielsen.com 
Ad-supported content provides brands with a medium to engage with consumers who are open to brands engaging with them based on sexual orientation and gender.

Amazon says it will shut down Amazon Care, its primary and urgent health care business

www.nytimes.com

Amazon told employees that it is shutting down Amazon Care, its in-house foray into providing primary and urgent health care. The move comes a month after Amazon announced plans to buy a much larger competitor, One Medical, in a $3.9 billion deal.

Amazon’s Twitch will now let partners stream on YouTube and Facebook

www.theverge.com 
Twitch has announced that partnered streamers will now be allowed to stream on other platforms, ending the long-standing exclusivity portion of the partner agreement.

Amazon and DirecTV are entering a pact to have the satellite distributor carry “Thursday Night Football” to bars and restaurants on Prime Video

www.sportsbusinessjournal.com

#streaming

Publishing & Media

Baker & Taylor’s Systems Remain Offline Almost A Week After Ransomware Attack

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com

On Tuesday, Baker & Taylor acknowledged experiencing a “server outage” that “impacted systems and applications across B&T.” As a result, Title Source 360, EDI and phone systems were all down. By Friday, with broad frustration at the inaccessibility of their systems, the company admitted to inventing a new euphemism for “a ransomware attack.”

Once Again, Beijing Book Fair Postponed At the Last Minute, Now Convening On November 24 (Thanksgiving Day)

www.thebookseller.com

TikTok’s Book Club Is Now Sponsored by Amazon

mashable.com 
Amazon is now sponsoring the TikTok Book Club. The company has been recruiting influencers and TikTokkers increasingly.

Walmart Live Book Club to Make Debut on TalkShopLive

www.publishersweekly.com

MT @HotSheetPub Walmart has launched Walmart Live Book Club in partnership with TalkShopLive (TSL), a streaming video shopping network. A marketing team makes recommendations based on sales trends and upcoming releases.

Help Understanding The Publishing Industry Podcast w Jane Friedman

podcasts.apple.com

HT @RachelKrantz @JaneFriedman

Time to Refresh the Canon: Here Are Our Picks

www.slj.com

Inspired by our Reinventing Summer Reading surveySchool Library Journal(SLJ) reviews editors and members of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) joined forces to select 141 titles that can reinvigorate the “canon,” or books considered classics by U.S. educators.

New American Girl Is Full-Circle Moment for Author Brit Bennett — www.publishersweekly.com 
American Girl is adding a new historical character, Claudie Wells, to its line of middle-grade books and toys; set during the Harlem Renaissance, ‘Meet Claudie’ is written by Brit Bennett, bestselling author of ‘The Mothers’ and ‘The Vanishing Half,’ who is making her first foray into children’s books.

Audiobook or Podcast? Doesn’t Really Matter.

www.nytimes.com

However you classify them, these narratives combine intellectual rigor with an undeniably bingeable format. #Storytelling

Innovating access in the literature sector

www.inklusionguide.org

The Inklusion Guide summarizes best-practice accessibility across hybrid, online and in-person events.

Afghan women open library to counter growing isolation — www.reuters.com 
Afghan women’s rights activists opened a library in Kabul on Wednesday, hoping to provide an oasis for women increasingly cut off from education and public life under the ruling Taliban.

PLS Partners on 16,000 Books for Young Ukrainian Refugees

publishingperspectives.com 
In the UK, Publishers Licensing Services (PLS) and the printing firm Halstan partner to produce Ukrainian-language children’s books.

A Michigan library refused to remove an LGBTQ book. The town defunded the library.

www.washingtonpost.com

RT @DPAQreport “Where is she? Where is the pink-haired freak? Where is the pedophile librarian?” When a Mich. library refused to remove an LGBTQ memoir, people harassed two librarians out of their jobs. Then they voted to defund the town’s only public library:

Duval County Public Schools Bought Dozens of New Books. They’re Sitting Indefinitely in Storage.

bookriot.com

RT @jonfreadom 177 books barred from distribution to K-5 classes last school year in Duval, FL, after being purchased. The collections are called “Essential Voices” — and, you guessed it — made up up of books meant to add diversity and inclusion to school classrooms.

Library Purchases Paused by Florida Superintendent — to Keep Media Specialists “Safe”

www.slj.com 
New policies are impacting school library purchases in Pennsylvania and Florida; one Texas district cancels its Scholastic book fairs for the year; and a South Carolina state senator threatens to eliminate the salaries of public library executives in his county in the latest Censorship Roundup.

Removal of 327 Books with LGBTQ+ Themes by TN School District Is “Heartbreaking” Censorship

pen.org 
The literary and free speech organization PEN America is raising the alarm about Tennessee’s Collierville school district removing 327 books from library shelves that feature LGBTQ+ characters and themes, in spite of there being no policy or restriction requiring their removal.

Seminole County book fairs on hold following state ‘Parental Rights’ law

www.mynews13.com

Principal forbids students from talking about a challenged book

www.slj.com

At George Dawson school, they cannot read George Dawson’s book

twitter.com

RT @JimGBoyle At George Dawson Middle School an autobiography co-authored by George Dawson at 103 has been banned. Mr. Dawson was the grandson of a slave. He learned to read at 98. His book is an inspiration to all readers except it can’t be read at the school that bears his name.

Katy ISD police ‘investigated’ a library book after complaint alleged it was ‘harmful to minors’

www.houstonchronicle.com 
A Katy ISD police officer temporarily removed a copy of a book from a high school library last month as part of an investigation after a woman filed a criminal complaint.

Conservatives in Idaho target 400 library books — but the library doesn’t even own them — www.nbcnews.com

After nine months on the job, the library director is quitting. “Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism,” she said.

2021 sees more challenged, banned books in libraries than ever before

www.ksla.com

RT @ALALibrary When you target books that deal with gender identity and sexual orientation…, you’re telling gay, queer, and transgender students who attend that school that they don’t belong in that community…” @OIF Director Caldwell-Stone #UniteAgainstBookBans

Penguin Young Reader Book Censorship Resources

sites.prh.com

RT @PenguinClass #BannedBooksWeek is coming up but you can get active right now! Here are some things any book lover can do to get involved.@BannedBooksWeek Get more info and resources. #teamPRH

Letter from 1,300 Children’s and YA Authors on Book Banning

diversebooks.org

MT @soontornvat As we go back to school, a reminder that over 1,300 children’s & YA authors signed a letter condemning censorship & book banning. Read this letter at school board meetings, use it as a template to write to your admins and electeds, post in your FB groups.

New White House Policy to Make Publicly-Funded Research Free By 2026 — www.publishersweekly.com

The culmination of a 20-year advocacy effort, the new policy will finally make taxpayer-funded research available to the public without cost or delay. The guidance says that federal agencies must implement the policy, “including ending the optional 12-month embargo,” by the end of 2025.

3 reasons publishers need a dedicated YouTube strategy

digitalcontentnext.org

RT @DCNorg This isn’t a piece extolling another “pivot to video.” We’ve been there. We know how that worked out. Instead, it is a recommendation to take a look at YouTube and whether you are using it as effectively, and comprehensively, as you could. @damianradcliffe

New Condé Nast division aims to lure pharma with patient targeting, branded content

www.fiercepharma.com

HT @BoSacks

WWD Launches WWD Store — wwd.com

WWD is introducing the WWD Store, offering reprints of photos from the Fairchild Archive as well as, in the near future, WWD apparel.#BrandExtensions

BuzzFeed is sharing early details about its inaugural Eat Your Feed Food Festival, its first joint experiential offering with Complex Media

www.adweek.com

South Korea’s Webtoons Seek K-Wave Success — variety.com

HT @michellemanafy Webtoons seek K-Wave success as comics for smart phones may be the next form of Korean cultural expansion in international markets.

Why One Organization Is Rushing to Digitize Decades of Broadcast Media

hyperallergic.com

HT @paulkbiba

Vienna’s Albertina Museum Puts 150,000 Digitized Artworks Into the Public Domain: Klimt, Munch, Dürer, and More

www.openculture.com

HT @paulkbiba

Resources & Opportunities

Calling all media experts: join a network to help young children have better news diets

www.journalism.co.uk

HT @michellemanafy @newslitnetwork

What to Expect At This Year’s Free National Book Festival

www.nbcwashington.com

120+ authors this September.

Submit New Books — Latinx in Publishing

latinxinpublishing.com

RT @LatinxinPub Are you a latine author or illustrator with a new book coming out? We’d love to feature your work! Fill out the form below Dfor LxP reviews, social media support and more!

She Writes Press Submissions

shewritespress.com

RT @shewritespress Are you a woman author of color? Are you ready to submit your manuscript? #SheWritesPress & @GoSparkPress are accepting submissions for our STEP contest until 10/15 and you could win a full publishing package! Read over the details and submit here: https://shewritespress.com/equality-in-publishing/

Publishing While BIPOC Panel Questionnaire

docs.google.com

MT @_Pitch_Blaque Coming soon… a #PitBLK industry panel on “Publishing While BIPOC” and we don’t think it could be more timely. Submit your questions for our amazing panelists by Sept. 5th here.

PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction

pen.org

RT @PENamerica Polish those manuscripts! Submissions to the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction close September 1! Founded by @b_kingsolver, the prize includes a publishing contract with @AlgonquinBooks. Find out more here: https://pen.org/pen-bellwether-prize/… #fiction #writing#awards

Are you a Deaf person interested in a career in publishing & would like to find out more?

twitter.com

RT @aliyagulamani Are you a Deaf person interested in a career in publishing & would like to find out more? I’d love to see more Deaf people in the industry — so if I can help with any tips, insight or feedback on applications, please feel free to send me a DM. #MakePublishingInclusive

WRITE N’ FIGHT Stream Game — twitter.com

RT @riley_fox There is a new fighting game on Steam called WRITE N’ FIGHT in which all of the characters are classic writers. Here is a 100% real screenshot from the game of Ernest Hemingway punching HP Lovecraft in the nuts.

Publisher Podcast Summit — publisherpodcastsummit.com

The inaugural Publisher Podcast Summit will be held on Wednesday 5th October at Proud Cabaret City, London, from 9–5pm.

The Metaverse Spectrum announces the first Metaverse B2B Conference & Expo event in the Metaverse

blockchainwire.io

HT @WarrenWhitlock

The federal government has announced that the USPS program for free rapid tests will be ending on Fri. Sept 2

special.usps.com

At-Home COVID-19 Tests Available at All Open NYPL Locations — www.nypl.org 
The City’s Test & Trace Corps will supply a limited number of at-home tests to all open NYPL locations.

How to build Corsi-Rosenthal Box to protect against COVID for under $100— www.seattletimes.com 
The Corsi-Rosenthal Box, a do-it-yourself air filtration system, has taken the internet by storm. The box is more effective than other pricier options.

— twitter.com