Sunday, September 20, 2015

Magazine Monitor

Weekend Edition: The week's best reads

Magazine MonitorA collection of cultural artefacts

A collection of some of the best features from the BBC News website this week, with an injection of your comments.

"Superb and fascinating article," posted Phyrelfi. This is a story about the art of influence. In the latest of our immersive long-form tales told using pictures, video and audio, find out how British, US and Afghan forces worked together in late 2007, as told by retired Maj Gen Andrew Mackay.

The Art of Influence

Stolen lives

"This is so awful," posted Julia Sutherland. "Essential reading for women and girls," concludes Darda Gregurev. There is no national database of missing people in Mexico - a country where thousands of women and girls disappear every year. In the past decade, more than 2,000 have been murdered just in Mexico state, the administrative region which surrounds Mexico City, while many more have been trafficked into prostitution. Families who have lost loved ones are campaigning for the government to do more to tackle the problem.

The women vanishing without a trace

Pop prophet

"This is fascinating," tweeted John H. The year 1999 was the most profitable in the music industry's history. Since then the business has been in decline, with the growth of file sharing and, later, the popularity of streaming services. It's often said that no-one saw this coming. Step forward Jacques Attali. The French polymath wrote a book in 1976, which accurately predicted everybody would one day have so much recorded music that it would eventually cease to have any value.

The pop star and the prophet

Wrong note

"Until a few weeks ago, I always wondered why "For he's a jolly good fellow" was sung at birthdays," posted Jake Campbell. The company that owns the rights to the song Happy Birthday To You collects an estimated $2m per year in fees - it charges every time the tune is used on TV and in films or other public performances. The fact that Warner/Chappell holds exclusive rights to the melody and charges for its use could change, though, if a challenge to its copyright claim is successful.

The most common song you can't sing in public

Lightning

"I find this inspiring," commented Lynsey Shevlin. Lindsey Swift has been chosen as the cover star of a magazine one month after she was heckled about her weight by a man in a van whilst running. Although the open letter she wrote in response generated a great deal of attention, she says it was only intended for her friends. "It's time real female runners were given proper representation in the media," says Elizabeth Hufton, editor of Women's Running, which is featuring her on its front page.

'Plump' runner on magazine cover