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KAPSULA is looking for pieces that speak to the concept of finality in art. More specifically, writers are asked to highlight a topic specific to the period that KAPSULA has been produced: 2013–2016. What, in the broad sense, has led us to THE END? Open to abstracts, proposals, and finished papers. Deadline: June 30, 2016.

Within the last week I came across two local incidents and the papers' articles about them. They made me wonder what's happening to the world of writing, specifically writing and news.

The first incident occurred last week. A family in a borough of New York City were the victims of a home invasion. The family has 4 children who were fortunately asleep while the invasion took place. The intruders came to the door as police officers and once the door was opened, they pushed their way in. They bound the husband and wife and ransacked the house. While they were gathering what they wanted they repeatedly threatened to kill the family. The couple were left alone at times and the woman managed to untie herself and untied her husband. They were smart enough not to let the intruders know. When the intruders finally left, the husband chased them and called the police. The intruders were captured. This, you would think, is an amazing end to the story, but it isn't the end. The papers reported the incident and listed every article and it's value that was taken. This family happens to be well to do and the items and cash taken were substantial. Was this necessary? This family now has to worry about other criminals knowing exactly what they have in their home and where they live. In my opinion, the papers have put this family's safety in jeopardy. Shouldn't writers have a responsibility to ensure they are not the cause of further harm to the victims?

The second incident occurred a couple of days ago in my neighborhood. A 9-year-old boy was struck by a truck while running across a very large and busy intersection. While the story is graphic and disturbing, the pictures are worse. The front page shows the boy's body lying on the street in a body bag. The picture on the third page is of a man wiping the blood off the street with the boy's body in view. Are graphic words and especially graphic pictures of a 9-year-old's body and blood necessary to convey the story? The boy's friends and classmates will easily see this story and the pictures. And, I can't imagine how the family would feel if they see the paper – hopefully they never will. Again, shouldn't writers have a responsibility to ensure they are not the cause of further harm to the victims?

So, what's the reason reporters and photographers need to be so graphic and use words and pictures that are disturbing to the point of at times being sickening? I know papers are in the business of selling and it seems more and more it's the shock and gore effect that sells. The question is are the reporters leading readers down this path, or are the readers demanding it? Whichever is the case it is creating a world of desensitized people who need more and more horror and gore to get a reaction. When will it be enough? I'm not saying that writers shouldn't write the news; I'm saying there are many ways to tell a story and maybe the shock and gore should be replaced by compassionate and responsible news writing and reporting.

Just needed to vent.

Karen

Since I have been left with taking care of my Mom’s bills, mail and other personal accounts, I have been buried in a paper mound that rivals the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza. This has left me thinking about getting more organized and teaching my kid to do the same. Kids may be too young for bills and important papers now (other than homework), but they will learn by watching us. Here are some tips:

• If you write down a phone number or address on a piece of paper, don’t assume you’ll remember who that number or address belongs to. Write down the name. And also, put that note in a file immediately which you may want to label “Tiny Pieces of Scrap with Important #’s I Don’t Want to Lose”.
• This theory applies to check writing as well. Don’t assume you’ll remember to whom you wrote a check and the amount of the check. RECORD IT the minute you write it.
• Have a file for everything, including one labeled Misc., for those items which do not fit into any other category. Of course, have a cabinet for the files as well.
• Print out important emails that confirm anything you may need proof of later. Put those into an appropriate file.
• Keep a spiral bound notebook with you on the go to write some important things of all sorts. That way you’ll have all the info readily available later when you need it in one place.
• Every couple of weeks go through your papers laying around and toss what you do not need.
• Handle mail one time only. Stand over the trash can or recycling bin and toss out junk as soon as you pick the mail up in your hands. Then walk over to your file cabinet and put the remaining items into your “Bills to Be Paid” file. I promise you will never lose anything again if you do this, and your house will not be filled with scraps all over the place.
• If you have a business and keep business papers at home, KEEP THEM SEPARATE from your personal files. Never mix the 2 unless you enjoy freaking out and the heartburn that goes along with it. (This rule applies to me as well as keeping my Mom’s files in a separate place.)
• Get a small shredder and shred what you need to as you go. There are also companies that will come to your house to shred stacks of papers in a specially equipped truck.
• Keep a safe at home or use a bank’s safe deposit box to keep all your original important papers.
• As you prepare for taxes, look through your files to toss papers you will not need to keep. Trust me, there are many that can be tossed.
• Forget trying to get off junk mailing lists. The mail will slow down for a short while and then pick back up to full speed a few months later. It is just not worth all that work only to have it reversed.

Happy paper trails everybody! Send me your paper tips please.

In the post below David D. Perlmutter, a professor in the KU School of Journalism & Mass Communications, and author of Blogwars, reflects on the changing nature of newspapers. Read other blog posts by Perlmutter here.

For years, journalists have speculated when newspapers would give up the print ghost and convert to a purely online and digital presence. The news business is abuzz with the first real example of such a transference. The New York Times reports that the 90-year-old newspaper of Madison, Wisconsin, The Capital Times, “stopped printing to devote itself to publishing its daily report on the Web.” The editor of the paper was quoted as explaining, “We are going a little farther, a little faster, but the general trend is happening everywhere.”

The question is when a trend will become a flood–or a collapse. Newspapers are caught in quandary. The “print” business is their cash cow. Online revenues, while growing, fail to match what papers can change advertisers for print space and subscribers for copies. Online paper subscriptions rarely work or work well. There is a longstanding resistance by consumers to paying for a digital newspaper. And people are turning to many other sources of news besides papers, online or otherwise. Even old revenue standbys like classified ads are being taken over by outsiders like Craig’s List.

But the sheer costs of the print model are straining the news budget: The headlines in trade papers of the news business are about a time of confusion, retrenchment, uncertainty. You hear the same from journalists themselves: There doesn’t seem to be many happy and contented newspaper reporters.

Obviously, blogs and other social and interactive media are crucial venues for the traditional news business to explore and exploit. Going digital means more than changing platforms. Already one sees many papers trying different models, from adapting YouTube to their Web pages to creating interactive blogs for their staff.

However, it is unlikely that print will die out in all forms. Human beings still need it.

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Dear Friends,

As you probably know, I’m a teacher who uses and benefits from DonorsChoose.org, an amazing nonprofit organization that is a finalist in The Members Project. The prize is up to $5 million, and the outcome will be decided by votes of American Express card holders. If folks like you and I help DonorsChoose.org win, all the proceeds will go to classroom projects in public schools.

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Stacey Shubitz