Writer Sues HuffPost's New Owner, AOL, for Non-Payment

Does content create itself?

A week ago the labor writer and activist Jonathan Tasini filed a $105-million lawsuit in United States District Court, in New York’s Southern District, against HuffPost’s new owner AOL Inc., and HuffPost co-founders Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, seeking to “vindicate the fundamental principle that creators of value deserve to be compensated.” The Daily Rumpus has more on the story here.

Finals Checklist

Your final grade in the course will be based on the following criteria:

* Quality and consistency of your blog (Is your concept unique and interesting? Is it working? Has the blog developed and improved over the term? Do you update regularly? Is the writing good? Is the information presented accurate and useful? Do you show a clear sense of audience? Are you working to develop your own voice? Do you regularly incorporate visual/audio components into your blog?)

* Quality and consistency of your interaction with your blog community (Do you regularly comment on the blogs in your community? Do you respond to comments? Do you work to develop a dialogue through your blog? Do you show a genuine desire to reach out to others?)

* Attendance and participation (More than two unexcused absences in the course may drop your grade by one letter for each additional absence. Presence in the class does not necessarily count as participation. If you've spent the semester Googling or typing entries for your own blog instead of paying attention to lectures and presentations, this will count against your participation grade.)

* Quality of your in-class presentation. (Was it thorough? Was the information presented accurate and useful? Was the presentation professional? Did you make useful connections between the blog you studied and your own blog?)

* Quality of your final paper.

Details:

The paper should be 4-7 pages long -- double-spaced, standard margins. It should include the highlights from your in-class presentation.

Topics covered should include: the history of the blog you studied; the demographics of the blog (audience, etc.); a thoughtful and informed analysis of the quality of the writing and information on the blog; a thoughtful and informed analysis of the design of the blog; and a discussion of what you learned from studying the blog. Please be sure to cover: elements you can incorporate into your own blog and your own new-media writing; what you admire about the blog you studied and how you might imitate it; what you'd do differently. Please discuss whether or not you'll continue to follow this particular blog and why.

Grammar counts. Use Associated Press style. Notate as needed. No bibliography necessary, but be sure to cite within the text itself.

The paper is due on Thursday, April 28 by 5 p.m. There will be a drop-box outside of my office. No e-copies please. (I know. The irony!)

Stephen Elliott's Tips for Writing a Perfect Book

At this year's Associated Writing Programs conference in Washington, D.C., Stephen Elliott said that there are three things any writer needs to write a perfect book. Here they are:

1. Perfect sentences.
2. Tension.
3. Honesty.

What do you think?

Ligonier Valley Writers Conference July 16

If the promise of spring is amping up your creative juices, now’s the time to write. Start your novel, play, or other work today and you’ll have enough material to workshop at the Ligonier Valley Writers’ Conference.

The 24th annual conference will take place on Saturday, July 16, at the Rogers Center at St. Vincent College in Latrobe (back by popular demand). If you’d like a hardcopy of the conference brochure or have any questions, contact Judith Gallagher at jgallagher@LHTOT.com or (724) 593-7294.

Exceptional faculty members stand ready to help you grow your writing. Peter Oresick is teaching poetry, Scott Mastro fiction, Rebecca Godfrey nonfiction, and F. J. Hartland playwriting. F. J. will also be delivering the Thoburn Lecture.

If you register by June 10, you can enjoy early-bird pricing ($95 for LVW members; $110 for nonmembers for the full day). From June 10-July 1, the price is $105 for LVW members and $120 for nonmembers. Once again, LVW members will be able to sell their books at our book room during the conference. And to celebrate LVW’s 25th anniversary, we’ve reduced the price of a full-year membership, which includes not just discounts to most events but also our information-packed quarterly newsletter, to just $25.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, six scholarships are available for adult writers. The only criteria for the Ligonier Valley Writers’ Conference Scholarships are writing talent and financial need. Regarding need, let your conscience be your guide. Regarding writing ability, we ask that you submit a sample of your writing. Writers of all ages and backgrounds are welcome to apply.

LVW also invites students who will be high school seniors in the fall or who are graduating this year to apply for the Tina Thoburn Memorial Scholarship. Application forms for both LVWC and Thoburn scholarships are at www.LVWonline.org. The deadline for both is June 6.

Publication Party: Ligonier Valley Writers is kicking off the conference Friday night with a publication party for the 2011 edition of its literary magazine, The Loyalhanna Review. The party will be on July 15, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Latrobe Art Center on 819 Ligonier St. in Latrobe. Loyalhanna Review authors will read from their work. Beautiful paintings and photos (some of them reproduced in the magazine) will be on display in beautiful surroundings. Guests will have a chance to talk with the authors and artists whose work is featured in the magazine. The Loyalhanna Review has been published continuously since 1992.

For more information about any LVW events, workshops, publications, writing contests, and submission guidelines, please visit LVWonline.org.

Written/Spoken Series to Celebrate Soon-to-Be Graduating Writers Tuesday, April 5

Come on out to the coffeehouse on Tuesday, April 5 at 7 p.m. to support your fellow bloggers -- and soon-to-be graduating seniors -- Rachel Kuskie, Rin Little, Natalie Strohm, Janelle Sheetz and Katie Mustovich (who's not in our class, but who maintains a nice blog called LitBurgh). They'll all read from their English Writing Capstone projects, and answer any questions you have about being a senior and maintaining a nice work-life balance.

Copies of the Capstone anthology will be available. A reception will follow the readings. The official press release for the event appears below:

***********

Five soon-to-be graduating writers will headline the April Written/Spoken series reading on Tuesday, April 5 at Pitt-Greensburg. The reading will begin at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall coffeehouse on campus and is free and open to the public.
The line-up will include:
* Rachel Kuskie, a senior English Writing major who specializes in creative nonfiction. Kuskie will be reading from a collection of essays that deal with her experiences as a race-car driver and, especially, her father’s daughter. Kuskie’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Pendulum magazine, the Pitt-Greensburg Insider, and in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, as well as on her blog – http://www.girlsagearhead.blogspot.com
Kuskie is also the winner of this year’s Ida B. Wells Prize, the annual Pitt-Greensburg award for the best in student nonfiction and journalism.

* Rin Little, a senior English Writing major and poet. Little will be reading a poetry sequence dealing with the subjects of mental illness and family. A member of the Sigma Tau Delta literary honor society, Little has published work in Pendulum magazine and elsewhere. She also blogs about her experiences with alternative cultures at http://www.thealternativeandtheunderground.blogspot.com.

* Katie Mustovich, a senior English Writing major with an emphasis in creative nonfiction, will read excerpts from her memoir/essay collection, “I Still Hide Behind My Mother.” Mustovich’s work has been published in Pendulum, and she maintains the literary blogsite, LitBurgh (http://www.litburgh.blogspot.com).

* Janelle Sheetz, the winner of the 2011 Joan Didion Creative Nonfiction Award at Pitt-Greensburg and a senior English Writing major. Sheetz will read from her essay collection, “Fayettenam,” a series of place-based pieces based on Sheetz’ Fayette County home. Sheetz writes more about Fayette County daily on her blog, http://www.fayettepa.blogspot.com.

* Natalie Strohm, a senior English Writing major, journalist and creative nonfiction writer. Strohm is currently at work on a manuscript based on the reportage of oral historian and journalistic pioneer Studs Terkel. Strohm will read from her project, “Serving,” a series of interviews with people who serve others.
Strohm, a runner-up for the 2011 Joan Didion Creative Nonfiction award, writes about her other passion, the TV show “Glee,” at http://www.gleekergirl.blogspot.com.

Professor Lori Jakiela will host the Capstone readings. Jakiela, an associate professor of English and widely-published author, teaches the English Writing senior capstone course each spring.

A reception follows the readings. Free copies of the Capstone anthology featuring work by all the readers will be available.

The Written/Spoken series is sponsored by the Academic Villages, The Pitt-Greensburg Writing Program, Pendulum, and the office of Academic Affairs. For more information about the series, or about the writing program at Pitt-Greensburg, call 724-836-7481.

Jason Mosley Rescheduled for Next Week

Barring tornadoes, we'll see each other soon. Jason Mosley, however, won't be in
class tonight. He has breaking news from Denny's test kitchen and has to do a
live web show. (We'll tune in.) He will be doing a webcast for
us next week, though, so please have your questions ready to send him in a live
chat.

Those of you who were scheduled to do your presentations tonight: we'll go
ahead with these. Please let me know if this panics you in any way.

That's Church and the Backstory of Pitt Girl

For tonight's class, we'll become That's Church! experts. Please read and be ready to comment on the blog.

And here's a bit of background on Pitt Girl (the previous blog-carnation of Virginia Montanez). Read the Pop City take here.