AAN News
Comcast Appeals FCC's Net Neutrality Rulingnew
Online Media Daily |
09-05-2008 7:52 am |
Industry News
Gambit Weekly is Back in Business
After distributing this week's issue one day early, on Saturday, so readers fleeing Hurricane Gustav could grab a copy on their way out of town, about half of Gambit's staff are back in the office today, publisher Margo DuBos tells AAN News. The entire staff of 35 are expected back tomorrow. Much of New Orleans is still without power, but Gambit is running on a generator purchased after Katrina, furiously working on next week's issue, which will see the light of day on Monday, just one day after the paper's unusual Sunday street date. The alt-weekly also kept a steady pace of blogging over at the Blog of New Orleans before, during, and after the storm.
AAN News |
09-04-2008 1:40 pm |
Industry News
Weekly Dig Responds to Nude Illustration Flapnew
The Dig's media column this week tackles last week's "story" by WBZ-TV "reporting" that a nude illustration on the Dig's cover had sparked an outrage in Boston. "Look, we get it. The end of the summer is a rough time in the local news cycle," the column reads. "This is when news outlets bring out their own special brand of made-up news. We no longer start wars Hearst-style (we'd kill for that kind of budget), so you have to find something and say, 'This is an outrage/issue!' and go up to everyone within a small radius and say, 'Isn't this an outrage/issue?' and then quote the three people who agree."
Boston's Weekly Dig |
09-04-2008 8:45 am |
Industry News
LA Offers Huge Reward for Serial Killer Revealed by LA Weeklynew
In response to a four-month investigation by the Weekly that last week revealed the existence of an active serial killer who has been linked to the deaths of 11 people, the Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday to reward $200,000 to any person who supplies information leading to his arrest and conviction. The council also approved a record-high $500,000 if the clues lead to more than one conviction. The killer was dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" by the Weekly, since "he took a 13-year break before bizarrely resuming his slayings," but as the paper reports, not everyone is fond of the nickname. Comedian Patton Oswalt, for one, ridiculed the name while he guest-hosted a radio show, saying it was the dumbest, least-creepy name for a serial killer.
LA Weekly |
09-04-2008 8:28 am |
Industry News
JPMorgan, Citing 'Macroeconomic Weakness,' Cuts Online Ad Outlooknew
Online Media Daily |
09-04-2008 8:32 am |
Industry News
San Diego CityBeat Trims Paper Sizenew
San Diego CityBeat |
09-03-2008 8:50 am |
Industry News
Nude Illustration on Weekly Dig Cover 'Sparks Outrage'new
Local CBS affiliate WBZ-TV says this week's cover is "raising quite a controversy in Boston," and in classic local TV news style, finds three (count 'em, three!) residents to prove it, their reactions ranging from "weird" to "crazy" to "sick." The WBZ reporter even tracks down Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to give him a glimpse. "It's totally irresponsible to have a photo like this in a paper that's widely distributed around our city," Menino says. "Young children can see it. It's not what we should be showing our young people." Menino also says he's going to look into whether he can remove the Dig's news boxes from "nearby city buildings." Dig art director Tak Toyoshima tells WBZ that "the point of the cover is to celebrate summer, the end of summer -- it's the last hurrah." He adds that the illustration, done by Syracuse artist Phil McAndrew, "is not, to me, sexual at all. They're nude, but there's nothing sexual happening."
WBZ-TV |
09-02-2008 9:15 am |
Industry News
More Staff Cuts Could Be On the Horizon at Washington City Papernew
DCist reports that City Paper's parent company Creative Loafing needs to cut the paper's budget by $170,000. The belt-tightening could lead to additional layoffs at the alt-weekly (some production and editorial staffers were laid off after CL purchased City Paper and the Chicago Reader last year). "Like a lot of media companies, we are going through an exceptionally rough period, and indeed we are discussing how to cut expenses," editor Erik Wemple tells DCist. "I don't want to cite any figures at this point because we are trying our best as a company to minimize the impact. But yes, layoffs are part of the discussion."
DCist.com |
09-02-2008 8:28 am |
Industry News
Study: Under 60 Character Email Subject Lines Increases Open Ratenew
The Center for Media Research |
09-02-2008 8:30 am |
Industry News
City Paper Arts Editor on the State of Book Coverage at Alt-Weekliesnew
"Books coverage at American daily newspapers is asphyxiating. That's the bad news," writes Washington City Paper's Mark Athitakis. "Here's more bad news: The situation is just as dire at alternative weeklies." He goes on to cite the cost-cutting that occurred when Creative Loafing purchased City Paper last year as an example. But he says there are reasons to be optimistic about alt-weeklies. "We've taken one hell of a beating, but our basic mandate -- to give people informed and lively coverage of subjects that often fall outside the larger media's radar -- remains intact," Athitakis writes. "And books are still part of that mandate." He wraps up his post by listing some tips for any critics hoping to contribute to alt-weeklies.
National Book Critics Circle Blog |
08-29-2008 8:21 am |
Industry News
Washington City Paper Delivery Driver Held Up at Gunpointnew
A driver who delivers copies of the alt-weekly to street boxes around D.C. was held up today, City Paper is reporting. The blog post, written about a half hour ago, has few details, other than that the "driver lost his vehicle, cell phone, and wallet in the incident." Editor Erik Wemple says City Paper "will be aggressively updating this story."
Washington City Paper |
08-28-2008 12:11 pm |
Industry News
Former Alt-Weekly Editor Turns into Crime-Fighting Vigilantenew
Former Rocky Mountain Chronicle and Colorado Springs Independent editor Vanessa Martinez was eating lunch on Monday in Denver when a thief made off with her bag, which included cash, credit cards and her ID, which she needed to get into DNC events. After she called her credit card company and found out the guy was already on a spending spree nearby, she headed to the Virgin Megastore where he'd just bought some items. Before she got there, though, she ran into him on the street. "The poor guy couldn't have seen it coming," Westword's Joel Warner writes. "Biff! Bam! Kapow! Martinez punched him in the face, walloped him with his own shopping bag and tore at his shirt. He pulled out her stolen credit cards in surrender, but that didn't stop the fury." The pickpocket was taken into custody, and Martinez got her stuff back shortly after the scuffle. In other DNC-related news, check out this blog post, in which Westword writer Jason Sheehan's takes New York Post columnist Cindy Adams to task for her boneheaded comments about Denver.
Westword |
08-28-2008 12:05 pm |
Industry News
New LEO Owner Talks About His Plans for the Papernew
Chris Ferrell, whose SouthComm Communications bought the Louisville alt-weekly in May, tells the 'Ville Voice that they are busy working on a redesign of LEO's website, and that there will be a lot of emphasis on the web when the new site debuts in late September. He also says that he's added one staff writer and has been working on the design of the print product. "The paper looks better now that (sic) it did three months ago," Ferrell says. "We've created a larger news hole, and we wanted to make sure we have the kind of content people expect, even when the ad/edit mix doesn't justify it."
The 'Ville Voice |
08-28-2008 10:08 am |
Industry News
New Owners Shuffle the Editorial Deck at Worcester Magazinenew
With the exception of one person, the entire editorial staff will no longer have jobs at the paper tomorrow when the sale to Holden Landmark Corp. closes, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports. Three non-editorial staffers also will not be offered jobs with the new company, and one full-time position will be made part-time. "As we merge the Holden Landmark Corp. and Worcester Magazine, we are retaining 88 percent of the combined company's employment base," the paper's new publisher Gareth Charter says in a staff memo explaining the changes. Jim Keogh, current editor-in-chief of the Holden Landmark newspaper group, will take the reins as editor of Worcester Magazine, and Doreen Manning will be the paper's arts & entertainment editor. Outgoing editor-in-chief Noah Bombard tells the Telegram & Gazette that while he expected to lose his job as a result of the sale, he was "stunned" by the depth of the changes. "Cuts were expected, but nobody expected them at this level," he says. MORE: Read Bombard's farewell email.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette |
08-28-2008 8:30 am |
Industry News
Outgoing Editor-in-Chief's Farewell Email to Worcester Magazine Staff
AAN News |
08-28-2008 12:48 pm |
Industry News
