• The Newspaper Journalists of the ’90s: This comprehensive survey of newsroom attitudes, demographics and values explores what journalists think of their jobs, their bosses and the future of the craft. Based on a representative sample of employees at daily newspapers, the study finds strong positive attitudes, but not as widely held as in a similar study eight years earlier. 62-page report. $9 (The original 1988 report, “The Changing Face of the Newsroom” is only $3 more when both reports are ordered together.)
• A Return to Quality Editing: This report tackles the “Mount Everest” of copy desk discontent by examining several newspapers’ solutions. Based on conferences and conversations, the 32-page booklet examines “blowing up” the copy desk, modern quality techniques, and pagination. $5
• Change: Living It, Embracing It, Measuring It: As newsrooms wrestle with change, ASNE seeks solutions. This 28-page tabloid explores how newsroom staffers see change — and how they resist it. A thorough list of questions editors should ask before instituting newsroom improvements is included. $3
• Thinking Big About Small Newspapers: Not every journalist aspires to work at a large metro. In this compact booklet, journalists from around the country explain why they’re happy to work at small newspapers. Journalists ranging from photographers to managing editors discuss the thrill of getting the story and the importance of small-town newspapers to their communities. An excellent recruiting tool. Single copies are free. · Writing and Reading Today: The relationship between the language journalists use and newspaper reading is explored in this 27-page booklet. How are the best-retained leads written? Which forms of story-telling are the most and least comprehensible? Thinking about the mechanics of writing could go a long way to increasing readership, the authors say. $4

The writing that wins the ASNE Distinguished Writing Awards and Jesse Laventhol Prizes is presented in Best Newspaper Writing 1997, produced by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies. This year’s will include winning articles as examples of writing — deadline (by an individual as well as a team), non-deadline, commentary, editorials and religion/spirituality, plus interviews with the winners and more. Order from The Poynter Institute, 801 Third St. South, St. Petersburg FL 33701. $12.95.