conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a book about Bestselling, Yorker, Bill with the genre: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'The Highwaymen'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the first paragraph for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Highwaymen
  Kinsley reminded them that they were in a new business: "We're looking for ways to leverage our differences with other magazines. One of our advantages is that the reader can get our reviews 'hot off the press.' "
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is five more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Indeed, CompuServe has a new on-line product—called Wow!—that invites users to customize by clicking next to "My News," "My Mail," "My Places." Microsoft Network News, which is housed in a large, open newsroom around the corner from Kinsley's office, is perfecting personalized software tools of a kind that Kinsley abhors. When Steve Forbes made a flat-tax proposal the centerpiece of his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, the Microsoft newsroom, with the help of the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, devised an interactive form. Individuals could type in a few figures—income, approximate deductions, etc.—and the screen would instantly announce how much you would pay in taxes under the Forbes plan versus the current tax law. Some people see this tool as advancing the trend in journalism toward "news you can use," by giving individuals vital information with which to make intelligent choices. To Kinsley, however, "all these how-it-affects-you things bother me because they play into what's wrong with American politics, which is that too many people take the short-term, selfish view." What if the Forbes plan is good for you, he asks, and bad for the country? "One of the bad things about e-mail is that it's too easy to reach your congressman!" But if the customer insists, Kinsley will become just another talented entrepreneur who guessed wrong.
  For Kinsley, pesky business problems kept intruding, and sometimes pitted him against his staff. Looking over the numbers that Williams had prepared, Kinsley appeared placid, except for those unblinking eyes. He skipped over the money set aside for the next three years' editorial budget and homed in on what he thought were profligate expenses for marketing and public relations. "This is what I wanted to get away from," he told Williams.
  Kinsley said that he'd like to slim down those numbers, although he realized that there was too little time to do it before their meeting with Siegelman.
  But on the subject of promotion Kinsley was an unshakable Luddite. "The typical way a magazine fails," he said, "is they create enormous expenses in PR and parties."
  They were going around in circles, and Kinsley suggested that they end the discussion. Let Williams present the numbers to Siegelman in a few hours and they could cut the budget later.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Add another sentence about Williams, March, John, huddled, accompanied.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Indeed, CompuServe has a new on-line product—called Wow!—that invites users to customize by clicking next to "My News," "My Mail," "My Places. " Microsoft Network News, which is housed in a large, open newsroom around the corner from Kinsley's office, is perfecting personalized software tools of a kind that Kinsley abhors. When Steve Forbes made a flat-tax proposal the centerpiece of his quest for the Republican presidential nomination, the Microsoft newsroom, with the help of the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, devised an interactive form. Individuals could type in a few figures—income, approximate deductions, etc. —and the screen would instantly announce how much you would pay in taxes under the Forbes plan versus the current tax law. Some people see this tool as advancing the trend in journalism toward "news you can use," by giving individuals vital information with which to make intelligent choices. To Kinsley, however, "all these how-it-affects-you things bother me because they play into what's wrong with American politics, which is that too many people take the short-term, selfish view. " What if the Forbes plan is good for you, he asks, and bad for the country? "One of the bad things about e-mail is that it's too easy to reach your congressman!" But if the customer insists, Kinsley will become just another talented entrepreneur who guessed wrong. 
  For Kinsley, pesky business problems kept intruding, and sometimes pitted him against his staff. On March 14, he huddled knee to knee in his office with John Williams to review the budget presentation that Williams, accompanied by Kinsley, would make to Russell Siegelman at one o'clock that day. Looking over the numbers that Williams had prepared, Kinsley appeared placid, except for those unblinking eyes. He skipped over the money set aside for the next three years' editorial budget and homed in on what he thought were profligate expenses for marketing and public relations. "This is what I wanted to get away from," he told Williams. 
  Kinsley said that he'd like to slim down those numbers, although he realized that there was too little time to do it before their meeting with Siegelman. 
  But on the subject of promotion Kinsley was an unshakable Luddite. "The typical way a magazine fails," he said, "is they create enormous expenses in PR and parties. "
  They were going around in circles, and Kinsley suggested that they end the discussion. Let Williams present the numbers to Siegelman in a few hours and they could cut the budget later.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What is the last five paragraphs? Start with the sentence 'In short, I propose that we embrace our destiny as a new form of journalism and abandon the conceit that any particular article or feature is attached to a particular weekly "issue'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: In short, I propose that we embrace our destiny as a new form of journalism and abandon the conceit that any particular article or feature is attached to a particular weekly "issue."... Each article in the ToC [table of contents] could simply indicate the day it was posted and the day we're planning to archive it.... As we and the readers get used to this new form of journalism, we could abandon the one-week-up convention completely, and simply have a smorgasbord of stuff to which we add new dishes and remove old ones on no fixed schedule, but simply to keep the whole meal tasting as delicious as possible.
  The latest... we probably WILL be able to charge from the beginning or very near it. At any rate, we still plan to charge as soon as possible.
  Are you "spinning" me? If Carville & Co. sent me such an e-mail I'd interpret it this way: trying to figure way to charge from day one, but unlikely; what is likely is what Kinsley said earlier... we'll probably charge by August.
  Let me "respin." We're going to charge as soon as it's technologically possible.... It looks now like we'll have to give it away for a month or so (ie, until July).
  After reporting this piece I better appreciate what useful tools e-mail and the Web offer to the reporter or biographer. The paper trail—of thoughts, correspondence, the steps in a decision-making process, the discussions of strategy or tactics—made it easier for me to re-create Kinsley's journey.