AAN News
In Harm's Way, Alt-Weeklies Weather Hurricanes
Readers of Gambit Weekly, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Miami New Times, Weekly Planet (Tampa), Weekly Planet (Sarasota), Folio Weekly and Orlando Weekly have lately seen Mother Nature at her worst. Distributed in areas affected by the hurricanes that have pounded Florida and surrounding states since August, these alt-weeklies have come out on schedule -- thanks to determined staffers and contingency plans.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
09-17-2004 6:06 pm |
Industry News
Street Teams Imitate Medieval Marketing Tactics
Sometimes word of mouth is a more effective way of promoting a paper than a print ad. That's why some alternative newsweeklies send street teams out to bars, movie theaters and cultural events to hand out freebies and stir up interest in their papers. When they dispatch their street teams to public places, alt-weeklies like NUVO and Boston's Weekly Dig are relying on a centuries-old marketing technique the music industry revived.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
04-30-2004 1:45 pm |
Industry News
Holiday Guides Can Be Naughty or Nice
"When you talk about holiday gift guides, it sounds very un-alternative," Baltimore City Paper Publisher Don Farley says. Maybe so, but while some AAN papers publish gift guides devoted solely to advertising, others season the ads with sex and satire and the kind of edgy content that would never make it past mainstream-media gatekeepeers.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
12-22-2003 5:43 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Retail Advertising
Where Was AAN When the Lights Went Out?
AAN members scrambled to
keep operations running after the massive
Aug. 14 blackout that plunged 50 million people
into darkness across the U.S.
and Canada. "This was a disastrous scenario,”
Grant Crosbie, ad director for NOW
Magazine in Toronto tells AAN News. But most
papers had flexible printers and were
fortunate that the power failure
occurred on a Thursday, after that week's issue
had already hit the streets.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
08-26-2003 11:29 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial
Circulation: An Eternal Preoccupation
As every alternative newspaper publisher knows, it's not easy to move thousands of newspapers every week, especially when distribution points are becoming increasingly difficult to secure. That's why AAN members keep a sharp eye on circulation, watching for erosion, distribution opportunities and threats from the competition. Managers at 11 member papers talked to AAN News about how they keep their numbers steady in a stagnant economy.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
07-14-2003 2:33 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Circulation
Metro Pulse Sold to Local Contractor
Joe Sullivan, publisher of Metro Pulse for 10 years, has sold the Knoxville, Tenn., weekly to Brian Conley, a general contractor who has development contracts with the city. Conley, who was briefly a co-owner of the Pulse in the mid-1990s, pledges he will guard the alt-weekly's editorial independence, even as it investigates his own dealings with the city (see story link below). Sullivan stays on as editor in chief and columnist.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
05-15-2003 10:37 am |
Industry News
SE AAN Conference Brings on Editorial This Year
Ann Hinch |
03-24-2003 3:32 pm |
Association News
New Voices in Cleveland, L.A.
Urban Dialect in Cleveland and Los Angeles Alternative Press in California are filling the holes left by the closure of New Times Los Angeles and Cleveland Free Times. The two young publishers – Daniel Gray-Kontar in Cleveland and Martin Albornoz in L.A. – see a place for a new generation's "alternative" alternative weeklies.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
02-04-2003 1:00 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Management
New York Press Owners Staying with Smith's Editorial Mix
Chuck Colletti and Doug Meadow, the new owners of the New York Press, tell AAN News they don't plan any changes in its eclectic mix of politics, arts and commentary. They have made what they describe as "a few" staff reductions, fired Editor John Strausbaugh and promoted former Managing Editor Lisa Kearns to that position. As for taking on The Village Voice, they say the Press will compete with, but can't dethrone, that venerable alt-weekly.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
01-08-2003 12:11 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Management, New York Press
AAN Marketing a Success with Gambit Advertisers
Gambit Weekly has used AAN's
marketing materials to create a whole
line of customized sales collaterals,
and the payoff has been new sales,
Ad Director Sandy
Stein tells AAN News. "We loved it the minute we saw it,"
Stein says, describing
the materials as sleek and beautiful. "The best
thing for me is we're all slammed all the
time, and there's no use to reinvent
the
wheel," she says.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
12-10-2002 11:50 am |
Industry News
Alt-Weeklies Look to Media Rivals as Partners
Alternative newsweeklies have found
myriad ways to team up with competitors
for lucrative cross-promotional
arrangements. Radio is perhaps the
most common partner for alt-weeklies
and music events the most frequent
vehicle for cooperation, Ann Hinch writes
for AAN News. Television and even print,
however, have been mined by AAN
members “to reach a broader
audience and more diverse
demographic.”
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
11-18-2002 12:34 pm |
Industry News
Tennessee Weekly Closes
Our City Weekly of Clarksville,
Tenn., twice an applicant for AAN
membership, has fallen victim to the "War
on Terrorism," which has emptied this
military town of a third of its population,
says Publisher Jan Massey. In
its seven-year history, Our City survived a
direct hit by an F-4 tornado,
embezzlement by an employee, and
aggressive competition from a
Gannett-owned daily newspaper. Its last
issue was Aug. 28.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
09-18-2002 10:54 am |
Industry News
Tags: Management
Straight Man McLeod Shakes up Sales
From a rebellious underground paper in the '60s, The Georgia Straight has grown to a 120,000 weekly circulation institution in Vancouver, B.C. It hasn't gotten that way by resting on its hippie laurels. Publisher Dan McLeod demonstrates that by once again shaking up his sales department, firing a vice president and parting ways with the consultant who helped double the paper's sales. "There's going to be some loud howling, but it's a way to grow the business," McLeod tells AAN News.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
08-29-2002 4:21 pm |
Industry News
Academy Grad's Real Trial Begins
Pittsburgh City Paper has hired
Brentin Mock, a graduate of the
Academy for Alternative Journalism at
Medill. Each summer 10 minority
journalism students go through the
eight-week residential program, learning
long-form feature writing with the
alt-edge. Mike Lenehan,
executive editor of the Chicago Reader
and one of the founders of the Academy,
says right now he's happy if one or two of
its graduates are snapped up by
alts. In the meantime, the Academy,
which is funded by grants from AAN and
its publishers, is building "a small
army of future writers," Lenehan
says.
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
08-28-2002 3:53 pm |
Industry News
Gannett Launching Weeklies in Lansing, Boise
Media giant Gannett Co. is launching its first salvo in a war to win the elusive 25-to-34 year old reader away from alternative newsweeklies. In Lansing, Mich., and Boise, Idaho, Gannett dailies are set to begin publishing "alternative" weeklies this fall. Established alts in those markets are bracing for the ruthless competition described by Richard McCord in his book "Chain Gang." Berl Schwartz, publisher of City Pulse in Lansing, scoffs at the notion the Gannett weekly will be an edgy alternative publication. "What is it an alternative to?" he asks. "Itself?"
(FULL STORY)
Ann Hinch |
08-15-2002 11:13 am |
Industry News
