Sexual harassment allegations against a growing group of prominent men — including powerful media figures as well as celebrities with broad platforms — has reverberated across multiple business, touching the publishing industry in multiple ways. Accusations have resulted in cancelled book contracts, agencies dropping major clients, and more. The heightened sensitivity to sexual harassment has also influenced the internal functioning of companies, with some publishers bolstering their human resources procedures as a result. We queried the five largest trade publishers to see what steps their HR departments are taking to open channels of communication with employees and better protect them […]
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Amazon Reports Strong Sales Growth, But Drops A University Store
Amazon reported strong third quarter sales on Thursday evening, with net sales excluding the recently-acquired Whole Foods and foreign exchange gains growing 29 percent. That coupled with a strong fourth quarter sales forecast means Wall Street doesn’t care about the paltry earnings again, driving the stock to a new all-time high in early Friday trading, trading at over $1,070 a share within the first 30 minutes, up over 10 percent. As noted previously, the company stopped reporting any useful metrics related to their media businesses earlier this year (as Apple appeared to surpass them). With the acquisition of Whole Foods, […]
Broadcaster — and Bestselling Author — Mark Halperin Apologizes Following Harassment Accusations
Five women shared previously undisclosed accusations of sexual harassment against political journalist Mark Halperin with CNN, related to when he was political director at ABC News. Halperin told CNN Wednesday night, “During this period, I did pursue relationships with women that I worked with, including some junior to me. I now understand from these accounts that my behavior was inappropriate and caused others pain. For that, I am deeply sorry and I apologize. Under the circumstances, I’m going to take a step back from my day-to-day work while I properly deal with this situation.” The accusations go well beyond pursuing relationships. […]
People: Senior to Leave Critic Role, Bill Clinton at NBF Dinner, and More
NYT book critic Jennifer Senior “has decided to leave” her position in December, moving to a long-form journalism role at the paper. Pamela Paul and Radhika Jones write in their announcement: “Hired as a critic of nonfiction books, Jennifer proved an omnivore across genres, bringing attention to new voices in fiction and covering subjects ranging from the art of dying to the life of truckers to the obsessions of Richard Nixon.” She will “continue to contribute reviews to the Book Review, as she has for many years.” The paper “will now begin our search for a new nonfiction critic.” President […]
Dohle Opens FBF Citing “The Best Times, Maybe Ever”
“It’s really the Olympics of book exhibitions,” Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boos said aptly at the event’s opening press conference on Tuesday. (It’s big enough that they have an opening press conference, followed by actual opening ceremonies later in the day, when German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron appear.) With some book fairs in Europe facing protests and pushback for including right-wing publishers, Boos made it clear that Frankfurt is open to all. “As the Frankfurt Book Fair, we cannot evaluate content and draw lines. Excluding anyone, censorship, bans — that’s not an option for us.” […]
Corporate: PRH Deal Closes, Milo Suit Proceeds, and More
The sale of a 22 percent stake in Penguin Random House from Pearson to Bertelsmann has officially been completed, per the previously announced agreement. Pearson retains a 25 percent share in the book publisher going forward. New York State Supreme Court Judge Barry Ostrager declined to dismiss Milo Yiannopoulos’s breach of contract lawsuit against Simon & Schuster. So the action will proceed to discovery and then trial. S&S noted in a statement that the ruling “was purely in connection with a preliminary procedural motion, and was not an adjudication on the merits of Yiannopoulos’ claims. As we proceed to discovery, we remain […]