What would you prefer—a traditional ink-and-paper book (such as this one) or an e-book? Why?
Book sales have not increased in the last couple of years. What might be some of the reasons? What impact, if any, do you think the Internet has had on book reading?
In the face of an apparent declining readership, why do publishers keep publishing more books?
What advantages and disadvantages are connected with a book industry dominated by a few big firms?
Read the boxed insert "Labor vs. Management in Journalism Textbooks," on page 143, and then consider the following. To what extent—and why—does it matter whether such texts avoid discussing labor problems in the media industry or carry a promanagement bias? If you are taking a course in writing/reporting, look at the text you are using. Does it marginalize or trivialize labor? What can students do to raise awareness of these issues in class?
