For the Record

AP Stylebook Announces 2020 Changes:

AP Stylebook Editor Paula Froke announced annual changes to the manual at an ACES: The Society for Editing virtual panel Friday. According to Kristen Hare of Poynter, "climate change," "climate emergency" and "climate crisis" will supplant earlier terms (such as "global warming"), while gendered terms (including "manhunt" and "mistress") will be discouraged. Product Manager Colleen Newvine also announced a shift to biennial publication of the print edition due to the popularity of its digital offering.

Local Leaders Buy Full Page Ad to Thank Herald Leader:

A group of 20 business and civic leaders purchased a full page ad in the Lexington Herald Leader Sunday to thank the Kentucky newspaper's staff “for their commitment to covering COVID-19 and its impact in our community.” Signers included U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft and Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Ben Self. "The Lexington Herald Leader has done a yeoman’s job of trying to keep the community informed both about COVID 19 news as well as about businesses, charities and other community events, and doing it without charge," said Lindy Karns, who organized the initiative.

Microsoft Word to Flag Double Spaces as Errors:

According to Tom Warren of The Verge, Microsoft Word "has started to update Microsoft Word to highlight two spaces after a period [...] as an error, and to offer a correction to one space." Although "typewriters used monospaced fonts to allocate the same amount of horizontal spacing to every character," necessitating the use of double spaces, the practice has become less common following the introduction of proportional fonts in word processing programs.

Alaska School Board Removal Spurs Interest:

The controversial removal of five books (including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou, "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller, "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison) from the Mat-Su Borough School District's high school English elective reading list has led area bookstores to field an array of requests for the titles, according to David K. Li of NBC News. "People who had read the books years ago are buying them to read again and to give away," said Mary Ann Cockle, owner of Palmer's Fireside Books. "Our biggest outpouring of support are people buying the books and donating them or leaving them to us to distribute for free."

McClatchy Receives Hedge Fund Offers:

Hedge funds Chatham Asset Management and Brigade Capital Management "have offered to swap $263 million of McClatchy debt for 100% ownership of the company as it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization," according to Rick Edmonds of Poynter. Under the proposed deal, the media company would remain intact while resolving its debt and pension liabilities. A Wednesday omnibus hearing will address potential hurdles, including "federal pension protections, a supplemental pension plan for executives and pandemic losses."

Axios Returns PPP Loan:

Axios CEO and former Pulitzer Prize Board member Jim VandeHei announced Tuesday that the media company will return its Paycheck Protection Program loan "after nearing a deal for an alternative source of capital." He added: "While applying for the loan felt like the right and prudent thing to do one month ago to protect our 190 employees, if we knew then what we know now, we would have gutted it out and hoped for the best." Since the inception of the program, the Small Business Administration has discouraged companies with alternative soutces of capital from applying for loans.

Artist Relief Issues Grants:

As of last Friday, "more than 55,000 U.S. artists had applied for $5,000 grants from Artist Relief, a $10 million fund established to aid them during the coronavirus pandemic," according to Marylynne Pitz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The program, which prioritizes applications based on financial need, has awarded $1 million thus far to 200 artists. Participating organizations include the Academy of American Poets, Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, MAP Fund, National YoungArts Foundation, United States Artists and the Sundance Foundation. The Mellon Foundation, which is headed by Pulitzer Prize Board member Elizabeth Alexander, offered an initial $5 million grant.

Former Hong Kong Bookseller Reopens in Taiwan:

Former Hong Kong bookseller and free speech advocate Lam Wing-kee reopened his store in Taipei last week to a crowd of "journalists and supporters, as well as flowers and a message from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen," according to Cindy Sui of the BBC. Lam, who was arrested during a visit to mainland China in 2015 and held for more than 400 days, defied a request to hand over data pertaining to mainland Chinese customers of his store and ultimately fled to Taiwan. "The reopening proves Taiwan is a place with freedom and democracy, and we still have the right to read books," he said.

Times Dismisses Hannity Threat:

The New York Times "brushed off Fox News primetime star Sean Hannity’s threat of legal action on Monday night over several articles criticizing his coronavirus coverage," according to Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast. Although the host has retained Charles Harder (known for his involvement in the Hulk Hogan Gawker lawsuit) "to push for an apology and retraction [...] over a series of columns" by Ginia Bellafante, Ben Smith and Kara Swisher, a Times spokesperson told Baragona that "there is no basis for a retraction or an apology."

Trump Displays Anger at Press:

President Trump ended a press conference on Friday without taking questions from reporters, canceled Saturday events and then criticized journalists on Twitter. He "called on Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters to be stripped of their 'Noble' prizes for critical reporting about him," the New York Daily News reported.