AAN News

Alison True Out as Editor of Chicago Reader

Alison True has been fired as editor of the Chicago Reader after twenty-six years with the paper. According to senior editor Michael Miner, the decision was announced during a staff meeting this morning by Reader publisher Alison Draper. Said Miner, "I consider this act unfathomable — a tragic misjudgment by two people, Draper and [Creative Loafing CEO Marty] Petty, whom I respect. I suppose they have a vision of tomorrow's Reader they think True is wrong for."

According to Chicago Business, True was caught completely off guard by the move.
Chicago Reader / Chicago Business  |  06-25-2010  5:55 pm  |  Industry News

Jersey Shore Boys 'Tricked' Into Posing For Village Voice Queer Issue?

Three male cast members of MTV's hit show 'Jersey Shore' grace the cover of Village Voice's annual Queer Issue, which hits the streets today. The New York Post reports that the cast members weren't told how their pictures would be used. In a tweet responding to critics of the Voice's decision to run the photos, editor Tony Ortega said, "It's only unethical if you think being a gay icon -- or gayness itself -- is somehow bad."
New York Post / Village Voice  |  06-23-2010  5:22 pm  |  Industry News  |  Comments (1)

Former Metro Spirit Publisher Lands New Gignew

Bryan Osborn, who stepped down as publisher of Metro Spirit in April, has taken over as publisher of The Laurinburg Exchange, a daily paper in North Carolina.
The Laurinburg Exchange  |  06-23-2010  4:41 pm  |  Industry News

C.J. Janovy Says Goodbye to The Pitchnew

In a farewell column cloaked as a "Memo to Self," outgoing editor-in-chief of The Pitch C.J. Janovy tells readers (and herself):
Part of the reason you're handing over The Pitch to a new editor is because, after nearly 20 years as a journalist in this town, you've pretty much said everything about the city that you want to say -- for now, anyway.

. . . it's time for me to do something else — and it's time for me to see what someone else can do with The Pitch.
Janovy will be replaced by Westword web editor Joe Tone, who starts on June 28.
The Pitch  |  06-22-2010  12:28 pm  |  Industry News

Record Crowd Shows Up For Westword Music Showcasenew

Over 11,000 people attended the sixteenth annual Westword Music Showcase in Denver over the weekend. It was the highest attendance in the history of the annual event, of which Westword's Dave Herrera said is "like Denver's answer to South By Southwest."
Westword  |  06-21-2010  2:03 pm  |  Industry News

2.2 Billion Digital Media Users By 2011new

A new report by Ernst & Young says that declining per-unit prices of digital content will be counteracted by the rapid increase in overall digital media consumers. As a result, "revenue potential from the Internet and mobile devices [will] be key for big gains."
MediaPost  |  06-21-2010  11:02 am  |  Industry News

Book by Creative Loafing (Atlanta) Editor Goes International

BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family, by Creative Loafing (Atlanta) editor Mara Shalhoup, has been picked up by British publishing company Milo Books for distribution in the U.K. The book -- which first appeared in the U.S. this past March -- is based on Shalhoup's three-part series exposing the links between hip-hop label BMF Entertainment and an international cocaine-trafficking network. The series won first place in the Website Content Feature category of the 2007 AltWeekly Awards.
theBookseller.com  |  06-17-2010  2:11 pm  |  Industry News

Boston Phoenix Replaces Editor

Phoenix Media has announced that Carly Carioli (pictured) will be replacing Lance Gould as editor of the Boston Phoenix. Former Phoenix staffer (and 2010 AltWeekly Awards judge) Dan Kennedy reports that Carioli will oversee the print and web content of three AAN members: Boston Phoenix, Portland Phoenix, and Providence Phoenix. The change at Phoenix Media comes on the heels of the significant layoffs of top employees last month, which included CFO/COO Richard Gallagher and corporate controller Michael Notkin. (FULL STORY)
Media Nation  |  06-17-2010  6:53 am  |  Industry News

Former L.A. Weekly Editors Launch New Literary Journalnew

Former L.A. Weekly editors Laurie Ochoa and Joe Donnelly are set to release the first issue of Los Angeles based quarterly journal Slake in early July, according to LA Observed. The full color publication will feature narrative journalism, fiction and poetry by several former L.A. Weekly writers, including current food columnist (and Ochoa's husband) Jonathan Gold. In addition, there are plans for a yet to be launched website that "will be one of the first websites designed from scratch to take advantage of the display capabilities of the iPad."

Donnelly left the Weekly in 2008 after his position was eliminated and Ochoa parted ways with the paper last year after holding the editor in chief position for eight years.
LA Observed  |  06-15-2010  4:22 pm  |  Industry News

Court Hears SF Weekly's Appeal in Bay Guardian Case

The California Court of Appeal heard oral arguments Friday in the SF Weekly/San Francisco Bay Guardian predatory-pricing case. The Weekly is asking the court to throw out the multi-million damage award the jury gave the Guardian in the case. A ruling is due from the appeals court within 90 days, and both sides have reportedly said they will ask the California Supreme Court to review the case if they lose at this level. The San Francisco Chronicle covered the hearing, as did both the Guardian and the Weekly.
AAN News  |  06-14-2010  12:24 pm  |  Industry News

Honolulu Weekly Takes it Easier on Ailing Dailiesnew

"Over the last couple of years, Honolulu Weekly has largely abandoned our old habit of taking potshots at the larger papers," editor Ragnar Carlson wrote last week. "We have simply felt that this was not the time to be nit-picking the Advertiser [which ceased publication on June 6], not with a dwindling staff of committed journalists struggling to keep it afloat." While noting that "there is a definite role for media criticism in this community," Carlson says the decision to not attack the daly is "one I feel good about."
Honolulu Weekly  |  06-14-2010  11:01 am  |  Industry News

FBI Hassles Seattle Weekly Photographernew

A Weekly photographer who was shooting on the public sidewalk outside a FBI building was confronted with a security guard and four federal agents when he was taking pictures for the paper's cover story this week. "It became pretty stressful -- they weren't interfering with the shoot by blocking us, but they kept asking us questions and at a certain point I said 'Well, I feel pretty intimidated, I think we're done here,'" Steven Miller says.
Seattle Weekly  |  06-11-2010  2:26 pm  |  Industry News

Creative Loafing (Atlanta) Undergoes Head-to-Toe Redesignnew

This week the paper debuted its drastically redesigned print publication and also rolled out changes to its website. Editor-in-chief Mara Shalhoup says the process began about nine months ago, with questions like "What if we turned the paper into the type of publication that existed only in our imaginations?" and "What was to stop us from rethinking ... everything?" The print overhaul was led by newspaper designer/art director Ron Reason, who goes into detail about the process and the thinking behind a number of decisions in a blog post.
Creative Loafing (Atlanta)  |  06-11-2010  2:15 pm  |  Industry News

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