A history of The New York Times, and of newspaper publishing in general, from the 1850s to 1921 by three-time Peabody Award winner Elmer Davis. The book provides a detailed history of the founding of The Times; its role in the exposure and demise of the notorious Boss Tweed; its resurrection from near-failure by legendary editor Adolph Ochs; and its efforts to distinguish it from its competition. Along the way, Davis gives insight into how technology (or lack thereof) influenced both The Times and other American newspapers. In the final chapter, Davis reflects on how changes in communication and transportation in the 21st century will affect The Times and newsgathering in general in the future. ( Joanne Turner)
Type of proof-listening required (Note: please read the PL FAQ): standard
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Genres for the project: *Non-fiction/History /Modern (19th C)
Keywords that describe the book: publishing, newspapers, the new york times
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The reader will record the following at the beginning and end of each file:
No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording! START of recording (Intro):
"Section [number] of History of The New York Times, 1851-1921. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
If you wish, say:
"Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Say: "History of The New York Times, 1851-1921, by Elmer Holmes Davis. [Section Title]"
For the second and all subsequent sections, you may optionally use the shortened form of this intro disclaimer:
"Section [number] of History of The New York Times by Elmer Holmes Davis. This LibriVox recording is in the Public Domain."
If you wish, say:
"Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Only if applicable, say: "[Section Title]"
END of recording:
At the end of the section, say: "End of [Section #]"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
At the end of the book, say (in addition): "End of History of The New York Times, 1851-1921, by Elmer Holmes Davis. "
There should be ~5 seconds silence at the end of the recording.
Example filename historyofnytimes_##_davis_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ## is the section number (e.g. historyofnytimes_01_davis_128kb.mp3)
Example ID3 V2 tags ID3 tags will be added automatically during cataloging.
Artist: Elmer Holmes Davis
Title: ## - [Section title]
Album: History of The New York Times, 1851-1921
Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file. Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: knotyouraveragejo
When your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread.
I'll MC this for you. Be back shortly with your MW.
BTW, the archive.org link is perfectly fine, but you might find the google books version easier to read from. Here's a link: https://tinyurl.com/y3mss3xs
OK all set here. Please note I have edited the intro/outro to reflect sections rather than chapters since based on the number of sections, it looks like you are planning to split chapters into multiple sections. Also I have shortened the suggested filenames. Let me know if you have any questions. Looking forward to working with you.
Thanks so much! And thanks for the cite to the google version. You're right--the archives version is readable but a bit awkward to use. Look for a first post from me in a few weeks.
Rachel, it is most definitely possible! I would love to have you as a DPL. I am finishing up another project just now and expect to start on The Times in mid-August. I hope you find the book as interesting as I do!
I’ll be ready to get to work whenever you up load your audios.
And I’m convinced I will like very much to be immersed in the history of one of my favourites newspapers. It is a great opportunity to do it.
Rachel, I've been able to start on this project a little ahead of schedule, and have posted the first two sections (which together comprise Chapter 1). If it works with your schedule to PL them, great--if not, they can wait.
By the way, Davis is a very funny writer, at least his sense of humor seems to match mine. Very dry, and lots of asides and (what must have been at the time) inside jokes. I find him a wonderful writer also, and very easy to record. And he does a great job of putting the history of The Times into the larger historical context, about which I'm sure I learned in school but most of which I had completely forgotten.
As you said, Davis is a funny, remarcable writer. And you are doing a great narration job, making the PLing a pleasure. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get in touch with all this, in such a wonderful way.
Section 1
Flawless - and goes smoothly with all the irony and jokes that delights one.
PL OK
Section 2
3:00 – skipped the phrase “The Hall bell rang at 9 o’clock last evening for the Sixth District”.
That is all.
It’s not a book just about the NYTimes. It is a book about journalism, journalism technical development, journalism Ethics, History and much more, with verve and good humor. The story about how the NYTimes got the Artic disaster news is delicious. As it is the dispute with The London Times to get the Italy war news first in New York.
How ease it is to forget that journalist used to write by hand – not even a typewriter – and send the news by Morse code! I mean, how good journalism is much, much more than the mere instruments it uses to get the news to the reader.
Hi Rachel - Please update the status column in the MW when you post your PL notes. If you haven't set up a password to login to the Workflow system, let me know and I will post instructions.
Thanks, Rachel. I'll make the correction to Section 2. In the meantime, I've posted the next two chapters, each in two sections. This is a part of American history that I never got to--when each new school year starts with the Pilgrims, it's hard to get past the Civil War before the year runs out. I found it--and The Times' role--fascinating and strangely familiar at the same time.
Besides the excellent narration, it amazes me the stories the writer brings. The one about Crounse as night editor and the forged presidential document about fasting and praying, shows that planting “fake news” to affect the stock market is nothing new. Actually, it is as old as the press itself.
And the entire Times staff armed with riffles in 1863 to face an eventual mob attack is just incredible. As it says “the internal front”.
Rachel, I've added the omitted phrase to section 2, and it is ready for your spot PL. I'm working on Chapter 4 now, which will be in two parts, and hope to have it ready for you by the end of the weekend. As you are listening, could you be thinking about the following question? Davis divides the book into two parts (I and II), and restarts his chapter numbering in the second part. Would it help the listener if the chapters were labeled by part number as well as chapter number, as in Chapter 1 of Part 1, Chapter 2 of Part 1, Chapter 1 of Part 2, Chapter 2 of Part 2, etc.? It is something I did not think about when I started recording but would be easy enough to add.
Certainly it would be better for the listener understanding if you refer to part number and chapter number - Chapter 1 of Part 1 and so on. You will have to record again the beginning and the ending of the already recorded sectiosn. But it is only a few words in six chapters.
Just tell me when they are ready and I will spot PL.
Section 5 is perfect, but I will wait till you “repair” the sections to put PL OK. Meanwhile I will PL section 6 and the spot PL you have already done for section 2.
It is hard to believe what is reported in section 5. The Tweed ring sounds like peculation, stealing, corruption and abuses in South American countries nowadays. And shows how important it's to have a strong and decent press. Or at least, a strong newspaper that stands for decency.
