AAN News

Is Facebook Becoming Uncool for 18-24s?new

Adweek  |  11-16-2009  10:24 am  |  Industry News

Dallas Observer Refuses to Hand Over Interview Tape to Judgenew

After a guilty verdict was handed down in Dallas' high-profile political corruption trial last month, one juror told an Observer reporter that the jurors may have discussed -- or overhead outside discussion about -- some pieces of evidence during the trial, both of which are against the rules of the court. That revelation led one of the defense attorneys to request a new trial, which led the judge to request the interview tape from the Observer. The paper said no, drawing a snippy rebuke from the judge, who wrote that the alt-weekly was citing "some vague constitutional protection unknown to this Court" in its refusal to give her the tape. "But 'round here we call that 'vague constitutional protection' the First Amendment," notes Observer managing editor Patrick Williams, adding: "We're not in the business of becoming an adjunct to the government."
Dallas Observer  |  11-13-2009  10:35 am  |  Industry News

Dayton City Paper Moving Officesnew

The paper will relocate its offices over the Thanksgiving holiday to the Metropolitan Arts building in downtown Dayton, "putting the City Paper in the middle of the scene it covers," Dayton Business Journal reports.
Dayton Business Journal  |  11-13-2009  9:41 am  |  Industry News

Chicago Reader Associate Publisher Leaves the Papernew

"The appointment of Jim Warren as publisher of the Reader has made the position of associate publisher redundant, in the view of the Reader's owners, and Steve Timble, who held that position and has been acting as publisher, has left the paper," Michael Miner reported in late October. (Ed: We missed this news when it broke; our apologies.) Timble, who was also the founding publisher of Time Out Chicago, had held the associate publisher position since September 2008.
Chicago Reader  |  11-12-2009  12:44 pm  |  Industry News

L.A. Weekly Film Critic and Editor Leaves for Film Societynew

Scott Foundas has been named the new associate program director of The Film Society of Lincoln Center, where he will work on series and event programs, including the New York Film Festival. "Scott's writing is an exhilarating dialogue with artists and audiences alike," society executive director Mara Manus tells Variety. "It is this vibrancy, along with Scott's deep film knowledge, that will contribute greatly to our growing organization, ensuring we continue to offer a vital place of serious film culture." IndieWire's Anne Thompson says Foundas' move is another nail in the coffin for the "dying art" of film criticism. "As one of the best critics working today, Foundas should be anticipating a long and happy career," she writes. "He's giving it up to program movies. This should not happen."
Variey | IndieWire  |  11-12-2009  8:33 am  |  Industry News

John Hodgman: Alt-Weekly Writers Should Get Their Own Ticker-Tape Paradenew

In a Q&A with The Onion's AV Club, Hodgman, the comedian who is probably best known as the PC in the ubiquitous Apple ads, discusses his lack of sports knowledge. He says he understands the "comforting" aspect of "watching millionaires hit balls with sticks," but offers the example of others who provide similar comforts. "Why isn't there a ticker-tape parade for the freelance magazine writers? Where's the ticker-tape parade for the guy whose movie review you read in the alt-weekly every week, and who lives down the block from you, and who gets drunk in the same bar as you, and, like you, will never go anywhere in his life?," Hodgman asks. "That guy gives you comfort as much as the millionaire who hits the ball with a stick or kicks it."
The AV Club  |  11-10-2009  8:26 am  |  Industry News

VVM Building Web Revenues by Collecting Niche Partnersnew

Village Voice Media CEO Jim Larkin tells Forbes that for web revenues, the company is continuing to focus on its "Voice Local Network," which sells ads on niche websites that partner with VVM. Larkin also says that VVM is on track to pull in $120 million in ad revenue this year (down from $141 million last year), and that the company is running at a profit.
Forbes  |  11-09-2009  12:33 pm  |  Industry News

Twitter to Unveil Geolocation Featurenew

The new feature, which Twitter hopes to roll out in the next few weeks, will allow mobile phone users to include precise locations -- via GPS -- with each tweet they send. On the other end, users will be able to limit their searches to messages from any particular location, which could help news organizations that are trying to curate local tweets. "Proximity can be this proxy for relevance," Twitter's Ryan Sarver tells the New York Times. "We are about delivering the right information to the right people."
The New York Times  |  11-09-2009  10:22 am  |  Industry News

The Stranger's Books Editor Talks About How He Manages His Sectionnew

Paul Constant, who says he thinks he's "one of the only books page editors left at an alternative weekly in America," tells the Rejectionist blog how he chooses books to include in The Stranger. "Basically, I read what I want. I figure, at a page and a half a week and with a very, very small freelance budget, there's no way I'm going to do a comprehensive books page, New York Times-style," he says. "So what I think is important is to keep track of my reading life."
The Rejectionist  |  11-09-2009  10:15 am  |  Industry News

Alt-Weekly Staffers Curate Local Compilations for LimeWirenew

Music writers and editors at the Nashville Scene and Willamette Week have put together compilation albums of their respective local scenes as part of LimeWire's "Ear to the Ground" series. "There's lots of talk these days about localism being dead, but these kinds of collections remind listeners that geography still has a lot to do with an artists' sounds and aesthetics," WW music editor Casey Jarman says. "Ear to the Ground compilations are fantastic primers, and we think this is a pretty amazing primer for Portland music." Nashville Scene music editor Steve Haruch adds: "Any time we have a chance to get the word out to a wider audience about what's going on here, we jump at it." These two papers join fellow alts like Boston's Weekly Dig, Flagpole, Metro Times, and Philadelphia City Paper, all of which have previously curated discs for LimeWire. (The free digital downloads are all available here.)
LimeWire Press Release (via AntiMusic.com)  |  11-06-2009  10:19 am  |  Industry News

What Did Isthmus Learn from its First Collaborative Reporting Project?new

Nearly two dozen media outlets in and around Madison, Wisc., took part in All Together Now's first project on health care, and the organizers are already talking about doing another project next year. Looking back, Isthmus news editor Bill Lueders offers six suggestions for news organizations in other cities who might want to take a stab at a collaborative project.
Isthmus  |  11-04-2009  10:02 am  |  Industry News

Podcast