Exceptions: I really hate linking to gossip about people in the magazine industry, but, well, sometimes I just can’t help myself. (via: iwantmedia.com)

Ya’ll ever heard such nonsense? Are southern accent reduction courses cropping up across the south? Despite the “faux trend story,” apparently not, says linguist Mark Liberman at Language Log. He can’t find a trend and says it’s dumber than dirt, anyway. (I’m paraphrasing.)

Continuing paper power: Last year, I blogged about the paper company, Sappi, and its Life with Print advertising campaign. An e-mail newsletter (I can’t find it online, sorry) from BusinessMediamag.com reports that Sappi has renewed and expanded the campaign in North America. There seems to be more pro-magazine advocacy advertising running now than I can ever recall. I’ll do a round-up on the campaigns when I get a chance.

Google cheatsheet: I don’t know how long this has been around, but www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html
is a page on which Google provides lots of helpful hacks. For example,
I can never remember how to use Google as a calculator. A nice link in
my “references” bookmark tab.

Books for designers: A list of “20 essential books for the designer’s shelf” from How Magazine can be found on this post at the 800-CEO-Read blog.

Richards Group gets magazines: Adweek is reporting that the Richards Group (agency of Home Depot, Motel 6, Chick-fil-A and others) is setting up a new media buying and planning group focused specifically on magazines. “As audiences continue to fragment, the use of magazines as part of the strategy to connect with consumers becomes more and more critical,” agency founder Stan Richards said. “We are seizing this opportunity.”

Fun in Nashville: Saucy Librarian says, “thank god (she) didn’t have to work last night” when commenting on this story about Kid Rock’s evening in Music City. Key quote: “Everything is wonderful. It was a beautiful night,” Kid Rock said as he left the Criminal Justice Center.”

A post you won’t read anyway: This is my annual gratuitous post about a special issue of some magazine that really doesn’t matter because, obviously, the only reason I make this post every year is so I can include a cover shot and still pretend that I’m merely blogging important magazine news. Okay, so I’ll link to some story on MediaPost about the issue. I didn’t read it, but if I link to it, I can say I’m doing a service in covering this important annual event in the magazine industry. Not that I care, but some of you may want to see a larger version of the cover. I understand you can find one here, although I have not looked there yet myself. Frankly, I was merely visiting the SI website to learn about the cancelation of the NHL season. We all know what a big fan I am of hockey and, well, I just like to keep up with those things. Okay. Well, I guess that’s it until next year. However, I understand there are 200 research-related photos (free) on the magazine’s website that some of you may want to review later (after work) for research purposes. I don’t have the time to do that, so I’m merely passing along that information…of course. I am glad to be of service.

Listen to what you are saying:  Verlyn Klinkenborg writes an appreciation of Eleanor Gould Packard, the New Yorker’s arbiter of style, who died on Sunday at 87.

Quote:

Kept media: Since its launch, Gary Price (ResourceShelf.com) and I have scratched our heads about Keep Media’s
ability to get people to pay for something that is so easily and
legally available for free: online access to vast magazine archives.
Gary Price has documented how most library card holders can remotely access (you don’t have to go to the library) thousands of publications online. Via Rafat Ali (PaidContent.org), I now learn that KeepMedia’s CEO is stepping down. The company’s founder and funder Louis Borders is taking his place.