AAN News
Village Voice Employees Sign Contract, Avoid Walkoutnew
The unionized Voice employees averted a strike early this morning, forging an agreement with Village Voice Media for a new three-year contract, the New York Press reports. "We got a deal. 3 o'clock this morning," Voice staff writer and shop steward Tom Robbins tells the Press. "We won a good victory for unions." Under the new contract, which was unanimously ratified this morning, union members will not be expected to pay any portion of the premium of their health care, and Robbins says the new contract calls for a raise.
New York Press |
07-01-2008 12:36 pm |
Industry News
Former Village Voice Editor Clay Felker Diesnew
Felker, 82, died in his home this morning. Felker founded New York magazine and exerted a seminal influence in new journalism. He owned and edited The Village Voice from 1974-1977, and also founded California-based alternative magazine New West. But as the Voice points out, Felker "proved to be an unpopular editor" at the paper. "Felker did found New York magazine, and he had some great writers there," Nat Hentoff says. "He had one of the most distinguished staffs in magazine history. He started that vogue for weekly city magazines around the country. But his tenure at the Voice was very unpleasant -- because he tried to turn it into New York magazine."
The New York Times | The Village Voice |
07-01-2008 11:47 am |
Industry News
Veteran Cartoonist on Her Strip's Disappearance from Alt-Weekliesnew
In a lengthy Q&A with the Comics Reporter largely about her new book What It Is, Lynda Barry says she's "gone from being in over 70 papers to being in seven papers." She says consolidation has been the main factor, and that comics are often the first casualties. "My comic is often axed the minute the sale is complete. And I can understand why," Barry says. "The papers aren't as alternative or freaky as they once were, and having a comic strip in the paper that is often weird and sad just leaves editors with question marks over their heads. There was a time when it wasn't that strange, but now it is strange to have that kind of strip in a paper."
The Comics Reporter |
07-01-2008 9:18 am |
Industry News
New Red Hook Brewing Ad Campaign to Run in Handful of Alt-Weekliesnew
BrandWeek |
07-01-2008 9:29 am |
Industry News
Former Daily Paper Editor Now Blogging at Santa Barbara Independentnew
Editor & Publisher |
07-01-2008 9:20 am |
Industry News
Boulder Weekly Editor Lives 'Secret Life' as Romance Novelistnew
Pamela White, better known to romance-novel readers as Pamela Clare, is set to release two books this year: Unlawful Contact and Untamed. She talks to the Daily Camera about how she balances editing an alt-weekly, cranking out award-winning romance novels, maintaining relationships with fans of her books, and being a single mother. "I will say it's hard," White says. "I would only do this if I felt absolutely compelled to write. And I can't not write." She says she couldn't possibly manage it all without the help of her youngest son, who helps cook, clean house and keep the yard presentable. "I am absolutely so proud of her. I am so impressed with how much she manages to get done," he tells the Daily Camera. "She's daring enough to go after her dream at a time when that's really hard to do."
The Daily Camera |
06-30-2008 9:51 am |
Industry News
Tim Redmond: Cleveland Merger Marks a 'Curious New Chapter'new
The San Francisco Bay Guardian executive editor offers his take on the deal announced last week that will merge the Cleveland Free Times and Cleveland Scene under new owners Times Shamrock. He wonders why "VVM couldn't create a monopoly, [but] another newspaper outfit apparently can." He's referring to when the Justice Department nixed a similar 2002 deal between New Times and Village Voice Media (then two separate companies) that shuttered the Free Times. Justice forced the sale of Free Times to a group of investors, and the paper reopened in May 2003. "I'll leave it to you to speculate on why we couldn't do this deal, but Times Shamrock could," VVM executive editor Andy Van De Voorde says. Redmond says the Justice Department has yet to respond to his request for comment.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
06-27-2008 8:33 am |
Industry News
New Nashville Scene Editor Gets Mixed Reactionnew
Outgoing editor Liz Garrigan reports that she had "openly recommended Scene managing editor Matt Pulle for [her] job, and he was seriously considered." But in the end, Village Voice Media brought Pete Kotz over from the soon-to-be-defunct Cleveland Scene, a move that was criticized by some of the paper's staff. "Bypassing Matt sent exactly the wrong message to the city: It said that the Scene is just another interchangeable cog in a big corporate wheel," one staffer says anonymously. Former Scene media critic Henry Walker agrees. "The idea of an alternative weekly paper importing an editor would have been almost unthinkable just a decade ago," he says. "[But VVM] has pioneered the adoption of a cookie-cutter news and design formula and the employment of fungible editors among the alternative weeklies." VVM executive editor Michael Lacey, for one, isn't buying Walker's critique. "For nearly 40 years, we, like most alternative newspaper owners, have selected editors, writers and columnists based upon their skill, not their birth certificate," Lacey says. "Walker's simplistic comments reflect parochial jingoism."
Nashville Scene |
06-26-2008 1:04 pm |
Industry News
Village Voice Staff and Management Meet Today for Contract Talksnew
The two sides are trying to reach an agreement on a new contract before June 30, when the unionized Voice employees' current contract will expire, the New York Post reports. "The battle lines have already been drawn, and, not surprisingly, health care is a major focal point," says the Post. Staff writer and shop steward Tom Robbins says that the unionized employees are being asked to join a contributory health plan for the first time. He estimates the plan could cost each employee up to $5,500 per year, and notes that the union has put forth a wage increase proposal, but he isn't sure that will work. "There is no way they are going to give us a pay increase to match that [health care cost increase]," Robbins says. There has been talk that a strike is possible if the contract isn't in place by the end of June, but editor Tony Ortega is hopeful a deal can be reached. "I've been told these things always go to midnight on June 30," he tells the Post. "We value their work and hope to make an amicable settlement."
The New York Post |
06-26-2008 9:36 am |
Industry News
ProPublica Snags Another Alt-Weekly Talentnew
Independent Weekly staff writer Mosi Secret is leaving the paper to work for the self-described "non-profit newsroom producing journalism in the public interest," the Weekly reports. Secret, a 2004 Academy for Alternative Journalism fellow who recently won his second Casey Medal in as many years, will join former San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly reporter A.C. Thompson and former Texas Observer editor and Miami New Times scribe Jake Bernstein on the ProPublica staff.
Independent Weekly |
06-26-2008 9:21 am |
Industry News
Why Local Papers Should Fear the New Local Huffington Post Projectnew
"It's scary, or it damn well should be," former free daily paper editor John Wilpers says of Arianna Huffington's recently announced plan to venture into local news. "With her clout and visibility, she may succeed at the aggregation game where others have failed or are struggling. She plans to grab your content and the best local bloggers and citizen journalists -- something we should have done long ago." He says that papers should act now to help fight out the HuffPo incursion, by lining up high-quality local bloggers -- to run not only on your website, but also in your weekly paper. "Your print product is a huge advantage you have over Arianna," Wilpers writes. "She has no external promotional vehicle; you have what amounts to tens or even hundreds of thousands of daily promotional fliers for your bloggers and your website."
John Wilpers' Blog |
06-25-2008 10:45 am |
Industry News
From Scene to Scene: Cleveland Editor Heads to Nashvillenew
Cleveland Scene editor Pete Kotz has been named the new editor of the Nashville Scene in the wake of last week's news that the Cleveland paper will be merged with Cleveland Free Times in July. On July 1, Kotz will replace Liz Garrigan, who announced she was leaving the Nashville alt-weekly in May. "I know Pete from editors' meetings and conventions and can say unequivocally that he's a wonderful guy, a talented journalist and a good soul, if not the 'dangerously handsome man' he claims to be," Garrigan writes. "He has five kids, loves to 'bust a phrase,' holds dear the value of a great story, and prefers to chase his whiskey with beer."
Nashville Scene |
06-25-2008 8:36 am |
Industry News
Google Launches Tool for Media Plannersnew
AdWeek |
06-25-2008 9:24 am |
Industry News
Illinois Times Editor Stepping Down
In an email, Roland Klose says he's leaving the paper in mid-August. Klose joined the Illinois Times in 2003, after a four-year stint at Riverfront Times. Prior to that, he had reporting and editing assignments at outlets including The Commercial Appeal of Memphis and The Tampa Tribune. "I've been doing journalism since the days of Jimmy Carter," Klose says. "I'm looking forward to a break, then diving into some projects I've put off for a long time."
AAN News |
06-24-2008 9:11 am |
Industry News
HotJobs Debuts 'Smart Ads' and Monster Partners with Newspapersnew
Online Media Daily |
06-24-2008 12:39 pm |
Industry News
