Librarians offered free pass for March 6-8 Spring Book Show in Atlanta

/24-7/ -- Here's good news for Georgia educators and librarians looking to make their book purchase dollars go further.

The Spring Book Show, the largest bargain book show in the country, is held annually in Atlanta, and when the show comes to town this year on March 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre at 2 Galleria Parkway SE in north Atlanta, state educators and librarians will once again be permitted to attend free. Normal admission is $75.

The offer extends to librarians of all types - acquisition librarians, reference librarians, school media specialists, college and university librarians, special collections librarians and their supervisors.


According to Larry May, the show organizer, less than 10 percent of the books manufactured in the United States get sold at full suggested retail price. The rest are discounted. Remainders - the books that don't sell out at retail or discounted prices, books that are usually in pristine condition - get sold for as little as 10 cents on the dollar.

The Spring Book Show caters to buyers who purchase 25 or more copies of individual titles from dealers who specialize in remainders. School media specialists, librarians, school superintendents and principals and other public employees who purchase books in quantity will have an opportunity at this year's show to select from more than 50,000 titles - including past Caldecott and Newbery children's book award winners and a wide selection of classics - for far less than retail. According to May, they should easily be able to quadruple the number of books they could buy at retail with the same dollars.

"Any educator in the State of Georgia can come to the show for free - we will gladly waive the registration fee," May said. "I want to extend a personal invitation for the Georgia educators and librarians to register for the show at http://www.springbookshow.com."

May pointed out that, because the show is held over a weekend, attending will not interfere with the normal weekday responsibilities of the educators and librarians attending. He emphasized that remainder dealers from around the country will be offering a huge selection of titles at deep-discount prices.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Poll: 77% of Americans Blame Media for Making Economic Crisis Worse

/PRNewswire/ -- Seventy-seven percent of Americans believe that the U.S. media is making the economic situation worse by projecting fear into people's minds.

The majority of those surveyed feel that the financial press, by focusing on and embellishing negative news, is damaging consumer confidence and damping investment, making a difficult situation much worse. The poll was conducted via telephone, December 4 - 7.

The US survey of 1000 adults was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation and is statistically representative of the total U.S. population. The survey question: "Do you think the financial press is making the economic crisis worse by projecting fear into people's minds?" While the overall response indicated that 77% of Americans answered YES, here are highlights of note:

Household Incomes:
$25k - $35k -- 79% answered YES
$35k - $50k -- 88% answered YES
$50k - $75k -- 76% answered YES
$75k - more -- 78% answered YES

Demographics:
85% of young adults (18-24 yrs old) answered YES
77% of males and females alike answered YES
65% of blacks answered YES

Richard L. Scheff, a national expert on corporate liability and white collar crime issues, warns media that they could potentially be exposed to liability despite apparent constitutional protections:

"Although statements by the media are protected by the First Amendment, the survey results demonstrate that the public believes that the press bears some responsibility for the lack of confidence in the economy. One would hope that the media would act less out of self-interest in these times of national crisis," said Mr. Scheff, vice chairman and partner with Philadelphia-based law firm Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads.

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

Political Science Experiments Show Media Corrections Could Backfire

With less than a month to go before the November election, voters are weighing the information they’ve received about the candidates in preparation for the voting booth. But what happens when the information they’ve been given is wrong?

Jason Reifler, an assistant professor of political science at Georgia State, set out to examine the effects of political misinformation and attempts to correct that information on the public. They gave news articles that contained slightly misleading information to a group of volunteers. Half of that group then received corrections to the misleading information. The results were surprising.

“We started this research actually trying to figure out what strategies would best enable the media or other sources to be able to try and correct misperceptions that people hold,” Reifler said. “And what we found instead was that giving people a slightly misleading statement as part of a newspaper article and then giving some people corrections, that some people actually ended up believing the thing that was wrong even more fervently after being given the correction.”

Given their findings, Reifler and research partner Brendan Nyhan of Duke University will now shift their focus to examine why media corrections don’t work and what can be done to make corrections more effective. One possible explanation is that voters feel their sense of self is being threatened when they receive information that runs counter to their beliefs.

“We’re looking at interventions that increase people’s self-esteem or sense of self, and that if you reinforce those, are people therefore more open to counterattitudinal information?” Reifler said. “The long-term hope is that we’ll actually be able to give strategies to the media, to politicians, so that we’re able to have a better political debate.”

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page

News to Use in Fayetteville, Atlanta, Savannah, Peachtree City and all of Georgia

Valdosta State To Host National News Broadcast

President Patrick J. Schloss announced that Valdosta State University will host the Oct. 3 national broadcast of ABC’s “World News Tonight.” Schloss emphasized that it is fitting that VSU will host an event that stimulates dialogue and understanding. Further, the event will highlight an outstanding academic center and progressive community.

ABC News and USA Today have teamed up to showcase “50 States in 50 Days” as part of their national political coverage from every state in the nation during the 50 days leading up to the presidential election. ABC News’ anchors and correspondents will join USA Today reporters and photographers and examine specific issues facing voters in their respective state.

ABC’s “World News Tonight,” with anchor Charles Gibson, is set to broadcast live from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Friday in front of West Hall. The community is encouraged to attend the national broadcast and to arrive by 5:30 p.m.

“The value of this opportunity is reflected in our teaching service mission,” Schloss said. “The benefits will be felt by our faculty, students and community. It is wonderful to again see Valdosta highlighted in the national media.”

-----
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia