Books and Articles

Courtroom Carnival: Famous New Orleans Trials

Book cover From Edwin Edwards's outlandish antics to Chicken King Al Copeland's romantic entanglements, this is a collection of stories about 10 of New Orleans's most memorable high-profile litigants. Each chapter describes one of the colorful personalities whose trials and tribulations have captured widespread public attention.

Featured characters include sheriff Harry Lee ("The Chinese Cowboy"), Harry Connick, Sr ("The Singing DA"), NOPD's Antoine Saacks ("The Fop Cop"), and state senator Michael O'Keefe ("The Courtly Pol").

In addition to the chapter on recently-released-from-prison Edwin Edwards (Fast Eddie Plays the Game The Louisiana Way), a bonus chapter on the four-time former governor includes 100 examples of instant retorts and quips divided into such sections as politics, women and gambling: The Wit and Wisdom of Edwin Edwards.

September 2011 SPJ/RTDNA convention Such tales could only take place in Louisiana, where courtroom proceedings often take on the air of a Carnival celebration.

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Pelican Publishing (October 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 145561498X
ISBN-13: 9781455614981












The Times-Picayune in a Changing Media World:
The Transformation of an American Newspaper

Book cover In 2012-2013, one of the largest U.S. newspaper chains, Advance Publications, determined its main product was no longer newspapers but news, and switched from daily print publication of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans to three days a week, while upgrading its presence online ("Digital First").

More than two hundred employees, including half the newsroom, were laid off in one of the poorest U.S. cities with among the lowest literacy rates and percentages of households with Internet access. The decision raised a furor in New Orleans. Beginning with an historical overview of The Times-Picayune, from its 1837 founding through the present, The Times-Picayune in a Changing Media World: The Transformation of an American Newspaper describes the crucial role the dailies played in the 1960 school desegregation crisis, as well as the impact of the switch on print coverage of hard news in the context of media developments, and provides a detailed analysis of specific print editions of The Times-Picayune and its digital formats conducted before and after the switch.

This study of the evolution of The Times-Picayune is instructive for all concerned with what the transformation might portend for the news profession and for the traditional role of the press in the digital age.

E-book and Hardcover: 154 pages
Publisher: Lexington Books (July 2014)
Language: English
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-0-7391-8244-4
ISBN (E-Book): 978-0-7391-8245-1


K+10 Aftermath: A Flood of Hurricane Katrina Books (August 29, 2015)

A review of a representative sample of the 500-600 books published as of the second anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, the article serves as a rich database of original and secondary sources for social scientists studying the social and economic impact of the storm. News coverage books ascertain the immediate response; creative books present more in-depth responses; first-person accounts and essays prove instructional; and in-depth analyses of the aftermath of the storm by journalists, historians, and natural and social scientists particularly provide a unique understanding of the social and economic impact of the 2005 disaster.
Full text available online: Article | Condensed References | Full References


Courts and Media in First Amendment Law in Louisiana

Book cover First Amendment Law in Louisiana chronicles the First Amendment's robust career in Louisiana, which has a legal tradition unlike that of any other state. Louisiana's legal heritage derives from both continental law and common law, which gives its body of laws a hybrid vigor that serves as a better model for understanding freedom of expression in politics and business around the world.

Although First Amendment Law in Louisiana was chiefly written for a college student readership, practicing attorneys and the general public will find this book's chapters invaluable to understanding the legal principles and precedents behind many of the issues of the day.

Softcover: 292 pages
Publisher: Lafayette Press (2015)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781935754657



Book content and excerpts © 2011-2015 S.L. Alexander