Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Poor Hitch - Should we dare pray for him?

If he isn't putting us on, then Christopher Hitchens may need our prayers even if he doesn't believe in them.

He released a note today stating, "I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus."  That is how he explains his "personal reason" for halting the book tour for HITCH 22.

Men Who Lunch

There are still those men who lunch in Manhattan.  That's the way they were trained to do business in another era.  They continue to do business that way. 

The difference is that there are fewer to have lunch with.  Their power circle is being dramatically downsized.  Larry King is ending his reign.  Cathy Black went upstairs to the Chairman job at Hearst.  Rupert Murdoch is too busy playing with his toys in his sandbox to matter that much any more.  And the cardinal of this and the archbishop/bishop of that have to keep a low profile so they can't be men who lunch, not any more.

All pulling for Hitch

Christopher Hitchens has been this generation's Tom Wolfe.  His contrarian content and raspy smokin' tone jolted us older writers out of our safety zone.   Mostly that got started when he took on Mother Teresa in his article "The Missionary Position" in VANITY FAIR.  Then he went one further and took on God.

For reasons we don't know of yet, Hitch's book tour has been put on hold.  Rumor has it he was seen been removed from a plane on a stretcher.  We're pulling for you, Hitch.

John Edwards "no longer the person I married," Elizabeth tells Matt Lauer

Well, it's good to have Elizabeth Edwards back. 

Wednesday she will update the world on her reflections on her marriage and plans for the future.  Regrets she has few of.  She tells Matt Lauer on "Today" tomorrow that the man she married was wonderful but John Edwards is "no longer the person she married."  Sounds like she has worked out things in her memory bank and we are happy for her.

She also indicates she may try politics.  That might be a tough goal to achieve since many blame her for allowing her husband to run for president even though she knew his secret affair could be outed.  Also a number of exposes make her appear as not St. Elizabeth but a pampered shrew.

Of course, we wonder how the "Today" appearance will affect sales of Andrew Young's THE POLITICIAN.  So far, just about every new development in the Edwards's saga has at least kept strong sales stable or even boosted them.

The King Is Dead

Larry King announced that he will call it a wrap early this fall.   Given both his increasingly detached attitude on "Larry King Live" and the terrible ratings, this is no surprise.  It's also not sad.  It should have happened more than a year ago.

There are those who are or are pretending to be astonished that the king is dead.  In as brutal a game at TV, made more brutal as it becomes more mature a medium, it's hard to believe that anyone would believe that King is departing a star or at the top of his game.  Rather this is a lesson for all those past their prime to get out before they destroy their legacy.

Social Media: Oh, we already have lots of webinars on that

From new to mainstream so fast.   That seems to be the evolution of social media.  

Recently I was contracted by a webinar publisher to provide content for and lead several of them.  As for subject matter, I suggested social media for law firms or small buisnesses.  "Of, we already have lots of webinars on that."  That was what the screener told me.  Fortunately, I had a few other topics I knew I could speak on.  They were on the broader issue of developing new business, which entails lots more than having social media down cold.

Five years ago when I began blogging, that was a competitive advantage.  Now, of course, not leveraging in a strategic way the best practices of social media is a competitive disadvantage.   I just finished a white paper for a communications firm about how government agencies could comply with the spirit and letter of the President's mandate to be more open to the people.  It was about multichannel marketing, ranging from old-line advertising to, yes, social media like YouTube.  It was not strictly about social media per se. 

Nevertheless, social media itself is likely mutating more rapidly than other forms of marketing.  A few months ago I researched and ghostwrote a chapter on leveraging it in Campaign 2012.  You got it: about 40% of what I wrote is now dated or not accurate.  For example, in the California GOP primary the negative social media advertising by Fiorina obviously didn't harm her.  She won against the man - Tom Campbell - she panned in the sheep ads.

Lesson: Social media is no longer the magic bullet.  Communications pros have to return to a mix of best practices overall and to create their own innovations.

They moved the assignments

Remember that book from about a decade ago: THEY MOVED THE CHEESE.  I read it and smugly figured I move with the moves.   Wrong. 

When I was so busy being preoccupied with 20th century markets for my writing services, the work moved.  Instead of finding assignments easily in corporate America, I now - but it took a while - easily find them in education, at all levels, for all kinds of providers, in all formats, and for all media.  It was there for several years and I hadn't moved over to even notice.

Another market that has emerged is writing scripts for webinars, those delivered by others and those delivered by me.   We old-line speechwriters are ideal for this, as long as we recognize the dominance of the short form, or that less is more.

Barnes & Noble: Will it go the way of Blockbuster?

We wished Barnes & Noble well.  After all, its bookstores have been an institution for old print folks.  Even after we hopped on the digital train, we still purchased our annual membership cards from B&N, met with clients in its cafes, and ordered our books from its online service.  After all, the chain offered free WiFi. 

Now, we're wondering if this is a losing cause.  In PORTFOLIO.COM, Phil Wahba reports that B&N's sales at its stores open at least 15 months fell 3.1% in 4Q.   That drove the stock down.  Today, at its annual shareholder meeting, it will discuss its long-term strategy to survive in a digital world.  Currently, Starbucks also offers free WiFi.  It has also become the place to meet with clients.

"John V. Doe v. Holy See" - No publicity stunt, rules U.S. Supreme Court

In clergy sex abuse lawsuit "John V. Doe v. Holy See," the Vatican contended it was a publicity stunt and without merit since U.S. priests were not "employees" of the Vatican.  The U.S. Supreme Court did not agree with that argument.  It ruled for the suit, originally filed in 2002 by a Seattle man who claimed that Rev. Andrew Ronan molested him, to move forward.  That means that it will go to trial in an Oregon district court.

Jeff Anderson, attorney for the plaintiff, told AP reporter Rachel Zoll, "I have known for 25 years that all roads lead to Rome.  This is the beginning for us of a new journey, a uniquely difficult odyssey."  All eyes will be on the trial since testimony during it could reveal the inner workings and values of the Roman Catholic Church, both at the top level of the Vatican and on the micro level of the parish.  The Vatican has attempted to position the Roman Catholic Church as a decentralized structure, with authority not top-down but at the level of the individual parish.

This is not the first time that the U.S. Supreme Court has turned down the Roman Catholic Church's request.  Three times, the Diocese of Bridgeport, here in Connecticut, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The request was to keep sealed the 12,000+ pages of discovery documents from the clergy sex abuse settlement with the plaintiffs.  Three times the U.S. Supreme Court said no.  A court in Connecticut confirmed that ruling. 

Last December the media, ranging from THE NEW YORK TIMES to the HARTFORD COURANT, gained access to those documents.  There was outrage that some of those in authority who allegedly covered up the priest misconduct still were in those positions of authority in Connecticut.

David Carey - Watch Hearst go digital

On "Page Six," a few years ago, it was mentioned that Hearst's Cathie Black hadn't taken the company digital yet.  Now, that will be the mission of David Carey who is parachuting in from Conde Nast.   Black will be leaving the president's job and taking the chairman's one.  The latter, of course, is never a hands-on.

We can expect a very different Hearst.