Colbert’s America: Satire and Democracy

Author: Sophia McClennen
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Colbert’s America
Sophia McClennen

Newman Communications client, Sophia McClennen and her new book, Colbert’s America: Satire and Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan) have been causing quite the media buzz.

Professor at Penn State, McClennen examines how the comedy of Stephen Colbert packs enough political punch to change the way a nation thinks.

COLBERT’S AMERICA covers the various themes and features of his satire and gives readers insight into the powerful ways that Colbert’s comedy challenges the cult of ignorance that has been threatening meaningful public debate since 9/11.

McClennen suggests that Colbert does more than mock pundits and politicians: he actually has helped influence a new generation of actively involved citizens. Satire offers the public a medium through which to express resistance to reigning political policies and social attitudes.  But Colbert’s satire goes even further, offering viewers myriad ways to engage with society.

Paul Farhi’s Washington Post article sparked the debate of whether or not Colbert should a worthy topic for academia.  His article has received more than 500 comments and been picked up across the country.

The Atlantic Wire and Newsbusters have both chimed into the debate as well.  McClennen has taken to The Huffington Post to share her thoughts on the debate and spoke with TVNewser.com.

McClennen argues that Colbert is a “new kind of public intellectual-satirist,” much like Mark Twain, Ben Franklin and Jonathan Swift and therefore worthy of our attention.

Newman Communications asks:   Should Colbert be studied in college?

Discuss.

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Book Publicity for The Pact: Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation

Author: Steven M Gillon
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The Pact

Celebrated historian Steven M. Gillon has teamed up with Newman Communications for a national book publicity radio tour in support of his new book, The Pact: Bill Clinton, New Gingrich, and the Rivalry that Defined a Generation. This election year book publicity tour took Gillon around the country to discuss presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his relationship with former President Bill Clinton. Newman worked with the author to secure spots on local and national radio stations including interviews with

• Dan Raviv on the CBS Radio Network
• Sirius XM broadcast with Rusty Humphries
• Louisiana Radio Network (NPR)
• America’s Radio News Network

Continue Reading »

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LINCOLN, INC.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America

Lincoln Inc.

Newman Communications’ had the pleasure of providing successful publicity services to promote Jacqueline Hogan’s recent release Lincoln, Inc.  including both radio and print publicity for the book.

As the book publicity campaign unfolded, it became clear that Lincoln is still among the most popular presidents, grabing spots on radio that included

• Nationally syndicated Jim Bohannon Show/Dial Global Network
• KYW-AM/Philadelphia
• WGTD-FM/Milwaukee WI
• and Daybreak USA/USA Radio Network

The print campaign included op-eds in

• The Christian Science Monitor
• The Atlanta Journal Constitution with a focus on how Lincoln might measure up as a Republican by today’s GOP.
• and The St. Louis Dispatch

Listen in to Jacqueline’s radio interview with WSLR-FM.

About Lincoln, Inc:

Nearly a century and a half after his death, Abraham Lincoln’s legacy and cultural clout is almost unparalleled. Noted sociologist Jackie Hogan details this phenomenon in her new book, LINCOLN, INC.: Selling the Sixteenth President in Contemporary America (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; December 2011).

A professor and researcher at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, Hogan fills LINCOLN, INC. with insightful observations on the exploitation of one of America’s most beloved Presidents. From the time of his first campaign to today, Lincoln has been packaged into a brand and marketed to the general public. His image has been used to make millions for corporations and win elections for politicians.

For mor information about Lincoln Inc., visit the publishers site at https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442209565

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Author: Mark Weisenmiller
Publisher: Alka Press International

Behold, The Mediterranean

Newman Communications is proud to announce its book publicity campaign for this timely new book on the Mediterranean region, its people, places, foods, politics, and much more: Mark Weisenmiller’s BEHOLD, THE MEDITERRANEAN.

In Behold, The Mediterranean (Alka Press International, April 2011; $22.95), the first of a planned series of books on countries and regions of the world, international journalist Mark Weisenmiller (The Economist, China’s Xinhua News Agency, Agence France Presse, Inter Press Service) takes readers on an action-packed, fast-moving tour of 15 nations that surround the Mediterranean Sea.

Combining history, politics, news, current events, and tourism, each chapter delivers a wealth of information in an engaging, highly readable style that will hold your interest. Whether you are planning to travel to the Mediterranean lands or just want to understand what has made the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, and Southern Europe what they are today, you will find this book both colorful and informative.

Divided into three sections, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, the 480 page, 6×9” book features a color insert section with more than 30 photographs.

Readers will love:

• Historical overviews from ancient times to the present
• Current events and politics
• Succinct, colorfully summarized biographies of key world leaders
• A guide to each country’s tourist sites, foods, and culture

Two years in the making, Behold, The Mediterranean not only embraces the history of these diverse, yet connected nations, but will also take readers to “visit” present day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Spain, Low France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, and Greece.

Though the book focuses on culture, politics, history, and news, Weisenmiller also present tips for well known and off the beaten path tourist sites alike, in a travelogue style, and writes about some Mediterranean cuisines as well. As well, he has profiled past, present, and potential political and historical leaders of these countries. In this sense, Weisenmiller’s original work has managed to skillfully meld a diverse body of information.

About the Author

Mark Weisenmiller is a Florida-based reporter for The Economist and China’s Xinhua News Agency. He has also done international journalism for Agence France Presse (AFP), Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa), Inter Press Service (IPS), and United Press International (UPI). His professional career has taken him around the globe for nearly 30 years. Behold, the Mediterranean is his fourth published nonfiction book. He is working on book two in a series of books that will follow the editorial template of Behold, the Mediterranean, but profiling different countries, in different regions of the world.

More information:

www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/03106.htm
www.alkapressinternational.com
http://www.amazon.com

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It’s been quite a wild ride on the American political scene.  Our President has been under great scrutiny, the Team Party has emerged with a major national presence, and the Conservatives are wondering who may be their next great hope.  If you are a reader of political books, we are more than sure you have heard from a number of recent Newman clients.

Revival

One of the most intertesting titles comes from award-winning journalist and political analyst for MSNBC television, Richard Wolffe.  The book, entitled REVIVAL is the dramatic inside story of the defining period of the Obama White House. It is an epic tale that follows the president and his inner circle from the crisis of defeat to historic success.  Wolffe draws on unrivaled access to the West Wing to write a natural sequel to his critically acclaimed book, RENEGADE, about the president and his campaign. Starting at the first anniversary of the inauguration, Wolffe paints a portrait of a White House at work under exceptional strain across a sweeping set of challenges: from health care reform to a struggling economy, from two wars to terrorism.

Game Change

If you’ve been listening or watching, we are sure you have heard from best-selling authors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.  Their book, GAME CHANGE, was a runaway bestseller in hardcover and the paperback has done quite well, especially with the new Afterword.  In 2008 , the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama’s partner and America’s face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines had been told—until now.  In GAME CHANGE, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin pull back the curtains on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived thestory, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel.

The Obama Identity

If you are interested in taking a light-hearted break from seriousness of politics, why not check out THE OBAMA IDENTITY: A Novel (Or Is It?).  Written by seven-time NY Times best selling author Ed Klein and former NY Congressman John LeBoutiellier, this book takes a satirical look at our current President and makes sure that no parties go unscathed!  If you like the following description, this is definitely a book for you:

WASHINGTON, D.C.-In the summer of 2004, CIA agent Theodore J. Higginbothem III was summoned by his boss to a hush-hush meeting in the basement of the National Museum of Health. “Higgy,” his boss whispered in his ear, “the CIA has a top-secret, off-the-books domestic spying operation in which we keep tabs on our most ambitious presidential hopefuls. I want you to do a complete workup on Barack Hussein Obama. Where was he born? Is he a Muslim? Is he a socialist? Who is behind him? And what is Obama’s real agenda.” THE OBAMA IDENTITY follows Higgy and his team as they travel all over the world-from Chicago to Mombasa to Honolulu to Jakarta and St. Petersburg, Russia-and encounter Birthers and Bushes, Katie Couric and Muslim clerics. Along their hilarious and madcap journey, Higgy and his crack operatives discover startling secrets about the 44th president of the United States-a man some call “The Chosen One” and others refer to as ” an Obamanation.” Among the many startling revelations in THE OBAMA IDENTITY:

• What Obama’s Kenyan grandmother says about his birthplace
• How a Muslim imam taught young Obama to apologize for America and bow to foreigners
• How the Reverend Jeremiah Wright taught Obama to use the TelePromTer
• What happened to the videotapes showing Obama high-fiving the Reverend Wright after one of his anti-American sermons
• How financier George Soros brought about the collapse of the American economy to help elect Obama
• Why Obama blames everything on George W. Bush except Katie Couric’s dismal ratings
• How the Russians blackmailed Obama into canceling America’s anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe
• Who came up with the idea of carving Obama’s face on Mount Rushmore right next to Abe Lincoln’s?

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