AAN News
Longtime Seven Days Columnist Hangs it Upnew
Peter Freyne, who started writing for the Burlington alt-weekly two months after it launched in 1995, announced in this week's "Inside Track" column that it would be his last, the Times Argus reports. After beating cancer last year, Freyne says he realized that writing about state politics had begun to bore and depress him. "That's why the column and the blog stopped two weeks ago. We finally acknowledged the unhappiness generated by writing them," he writes. "And you know what? We haven't felt this good in years!" While he's ending his column, he will remain affiliated with Seven Days as a contributing editor and blogger. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy says that Freyne's retirement is a "big loss" for Vermont. "I went to his blog every day," Leahy tells the Times Argus. "He is the type of writer who clearly knows hypocrisy. But he also knows the difference between healthy skepticism and cynicism."
The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus | Seven Days |
03-20-2008 12:32 pm |
Industry News
Study: Younger Online News Consumers Are Not Newspaper Readersnew
Center for Media Research |
03-20-2008 8:49 am |
Industry News
State of the News Media: Mixed Forecast for Alt-Weekliesnew
The annual report issued by the Project for Excellence in Journalism finds the alt-weekly industry still struggling with an aging readership, stalled circulation, and increased competition, especially online. However, the report notes that the overall reader migration from print to web might eventually benefit alt-weeklies, since online is "a platform well suited for a sector that specializes in niche, intensely local content." Also noted: small and mid-market papers are seeing the most growth in revenue; and alt-weekly readers are "perfect" media users, with "a tendency to be avid consumers of other media, more so than the public overall."
The Project for Excellence in Journalism |
03-18-2008 11:50 am |
Industry News
Las Vegas Weekly Names New Editornew
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the Weekly has named former executive editor Stacy Willis as the new editor, replacing Scott Dickensheets, who left last month for Las Vegas CityLife. The Weekly has also named Ken Miller managing editor.
Las Vegas Review-Journal |
03-14-2008 8:27 am |
Industry News
Google News Gave Financial Times Website a 75 Percent Traffic Boostnew
Editor & Publisher |
03-14-2008 9:03 am |
Industry News
Tags: Electronic Publishing
AOL to Buy Bebo, the No. 3 Social Networking Sitenew
The New York Times |
03-14-2008 9:01 am |
Industry News
Tags: Electronic Publishing
How to Overcome the Stigma of In-Text Adsnew
MediaPost's Kory Kredit recently did an informal survey to gauge internet users' and publishers' attitudes about in-text advertising, and reports, not surprisingly, that "it didn't take long to discover that there was a predominantly negative stigma." According to Kredit, the primary reason was "the invasiveness of in-text ad technology. More specifically, they 'hate' the fact that the ad automatically launches on a mouse-over (when their cursor moves over a highlighted word)." Kredit suggests two simple solutions to work towards reversing the negative attitude: change from mouse-over activation to click activation and provide contextually relevant content in the in-text window.
MediaPost's Online Publishing Insider |
03-13-2008 10:29 am |
Industry News
Santa Fe Reporter Launches New Muckraker's Guide Websitenew
In honor of Sunshine Week, which is March 16-22 this year, the Reporter has launched "version 2.0" of MuckrakersGuide.com, "a toolshed of links and resources for digging up public records." The website began with a January cover story by Dave Maass and now features more than 200 links to databases and search engines that will help citizen watchdogs. The Reporter plans to continue growing the site, and welcomes all questions and additional links.
Santa Fe Reporter |
03-12-2008 12:36 pm |
Industry News
More on the Bay Guardian/VVM Verdict
"There's more to the Bay Guardian-VVM fight than ill will and purple prose," writes Boston Phoenix media reporter Adam Reilly. "The two sides have predictably divergent takes on the merits of the outcome. But they agree that its legal ramifications go far beyond the Bay Area and the alt-weekly universe." Guardian publisher and editor Bruce Brugmann tells the Phoenix that the suit sets an example for small businesses everywhere. "Everyone can use our suit as a model and template for any big chain that's coming in and trying to predatory-price them," he says. But SF Weekly attorney Jim Wagstaffe thinks that if the judge grants the Guardian's request for an injunction for the Weekly to stop all below-cost sales as the case winds its way through the courts, "the result here could dramatically harm consumers. If every one of [a publication's] ad sales is scrutinized to make sure it's not, quote-unquote, too low, then what'll happen is, publications will raise their prices to avoid getting sued." The Guardian notes that interest will accrue on the judgment at a rate of 10 percent a year. "That means the Weekly and VVM will be paying $4,000 a day in interest for as long as they seek to dispute and appeal the jury decision," the Guardian reports.
Boston Phoenix | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
03-12-2008 8:35 am |
Industry News
Village Voice Food Critic on Anonymity and 'Iron Chef'new
"It's actually rather easy to go unrecognized as a critic," says Robert Sietsema, who's been eating and writing for the Voice for 15 years. "Most critics want to be recognized since they love having restaurateurs kiss their ass and bring them free food. The Voice pays for what I eat, so I don't need any free food." The critic talks to Gothamist in advance of the Voice's first-ever Choice Eats tasting event tonight in New York, which features some of Sietsema's favorites. They also ask him about the response to his recent much-talked-about story on "how bogus" the popular TV show Iron Chef is. Sietsema says "the funniest responses came from crybaby Iron Chef judges ... it was like poking a hornet's nest, and I'd do it again in a second."
Gothamist |
03-11-2008 3:48 pm |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Editors on John McCain's Relationship with the Pressnew
On the heels of the presidential candidate's "testy exchange" with a New York Times reporter last week, Politico talks to some Arizona journalists who describe "a sometimes pugnacious politician whose media strategy is a far cry from joking asides and backslaps around the barbecue pit." Former Arizona Republic national editor Tina May, who now edits the Monterey County Weekly, recalls a Republic story on McCain's temper in 2006 that led to her reporter being kicked "off the bus." She tells Politico it's "a perfect example of how McCain people treated the Republic differently than the national media," which has, in exchange, often flattered the Republican senator. Politico says that Phoenix New Times' Amy Silverman -- "one of McCain's most persistent critics" -- documented the romance between McCain and the national press in 1997's "prescient" story, "The Pampered Politican."
Politico |
03-11-2008 3:33 pm |
Industry News
IAB Makes Headway In Online Video Industry Standardsnew
Late last year, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) put together a Digital Video Committee to try to "establish industry standards so agencies could compare apples to apples on a network by network basis," MediaPost reports. The committee presented findings from its first white paper last month in New York, and made the initial steps of defining some key terms and creating two working groups to further study ad format standards and core metrics. MediaPost reports that 120 companies are involved with the committee.
MediaPost |
03-11-2008 11:08 am |
Industry News
Traditional Media Lag Far Behind Web Companies in Data Collectionnew
The New York Times had the research firm comScore conduct an analysis of the amount of consumer data that is transmitted to internet companies, and finds magazine and newspaper publishers comparatively collect very little, making them "increasingly at a disadvantage when they compete for ad dollars" online. "Some advertising executives say media companies will have little choice but to outsource their ad sales to companies like Microsoft and Yahoo to benefit from their data," the Times reports.
The New York Times |
03-10-2008 12:32 pm |
Industry News
Palo Alto Weekly Building New $5 Million 'Green' Headquartersnew
Ground will be broken on the new three-story building within the next two months, the Weekly reports. It will be the first office project in Palo Alto to be certified LEED "silver" -- a designation given when a building incorporates numerous environmentally sensitive features. "While it adds considerable complexity and cost, we wanted to use this project as an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to these environmental principles and to create a building that will be healthy and comfortable for our employees, as well as a model for future developers," Weekly publisher Bill Johnson says. Construction is expected to be completed by summer 2009.
Palo Alto Weekly |
03-10-2008 11:34 am |
Industry News
New Generation Taking Times-Shamrock Helmnew
Times-Shamrock Communications this week announced plans to begin passing operational control of the company to the fourth generation of the Lynett-Haggerty family. Four family members will join publisher William R. Lynett as chief executive officers, since they've completed the company's Management Development Program, a four-year track that provides future Times-Shamrock leaders with experience in each of its three major divisions as well as a year interning at an outside media company. The company, through its Times-Shamrock Alternative Newsweekly Group, owns AAN members Baltimore City Paper, Metro Times, Orlando Weekly, and the San Antonio Current. Of the new CEOs, Scott Lynett and Bobby Lynett spent time working at City Paper; while George V. Lynett Jr. put in three years at the Current. In addition, City Paper promotions manager Greg Lynett will now take the helm as publisher of The Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
The Scranton Times-Tribune |
03-07-2008 11:29 am |
Industry News
