AAN News
VVM Sues Owners of East Bay Expressnew
Eastbay Express Publishing LP, an entity controlled by former Express owner Village Voice Media, has filed suit against two of the alt-weekly's current owners, Hal Brody and Stephen Buel, claiming they owe $500,000 under the terms of the 2007 deal in which the paper was sold. Brody admits they owe the money but says their debt is exceeded by the damage they suffered as a result of VVM's violation of a non-compete clause included in the original agreement. "The SF Weekly [also owned by VVM] is not supposed to solicit our advertisers in Alameda and Contra Costa, and they've been doing it, over and over," Brody tells the San Francisco Bay Guardian. "We have massive claims against them for violating those terms." But VVM's attorney disagrees: "(VVM) is not aware that it has violated the terms of any its agreements with the current publisher of the East Bay Express or with Mr. Brody or Mr. Buel," Randall S. Farrimond says. "We believe that any judge or jury who reviews the facts of this matter will conclude that Mr. Brody and Mr. Buel owe us the amounts stated in our complaint." More from the Express.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
06-10-2009 2:05 pm |
Industry News
Long Island Press' Shop Local Campaign Spins Off a Local Marketnew
The KIOLI Flea Market and Farmers Market, an extension of the Press' KIOLI (Keep It On Long Island) shop local campaign, kicked off last weekend on a Long Island college campus, the Daily News reports. The market, which features more than 200 vendors, will run every Saturday and Sunday this summer. Press publisher Jed Morey says he hopes the market will help bring a sense of community to shoppers. "The mall sort of took the soul out of the flea market, so I think this is us getting a little bit of our groove back," he says. "The malling of America is hopefully coming to a little bit of a close, and we will get back to promoting local business."
The Daily News |
06-10-2009 9:54 am |
Industry News
Alt-Weekly Food Column Expands to Include a Catering Businessnew
Four years ago, Alex Brown and Evan George started writing the "Hot Knives" column in AAN member LA Alternative Press (later known simply as LA Alternative). The paper went web-only in 2006 shortly before disappearing altogether, but the duo continued the column, and eventually expanded to catering after readers approached them to do a wedding. George tells the Los Angeles Times they love cooking for fans. "People who are like, 'Oh yeah, I've been up late at night at my computer and I've been hungry and I've totally wanted to hang out in that website, and now I can hire those guys to chill with me and drink beer and make me my wedding feast,'" he says.
Los Angeles Times |
06-10-2009 8:19 am |
Industry News
Tags: Editorial, Management
Report: Craigslist's 2009 Revenue Will Top $100 Millionnew
The AIM Group/Classified Intelligence estimates the online classifieds network will generate $100 million in revenue this year, an increase of more than 23 percent from Craigslist's estimated revenue of $81 million in 2008. "This is a down market for just about everyone else but Craigslist," AIM Group editorial director Jim Townsend says. To come up with what it calls a conservative projection, the firm counted the number of paid ads on the site for a month and extrapolated an annual figure.
The New York Times |
06-10-2009 7:50 am |
Industry News
Facebook Rolls Out Vanity URLs This Weekendnew
CNET |
06-10-2009 8:32 am |
Industry News
VVM Strategist Talks Social Media, Journalismnew
In a Q&A with The Future Buzz, Village Voice Media social media strategist John Boitnott talks about how VVM is merging traditional journalism work with social media work. "What we are realizing at [VVM] is that one's effectiveness as a journalist now may depend to some degree on your social media prowess," he says. "It's absolutely a revolutionary concept -- and one that many old schoolers may scoff at or ignore."
The Future Buzz |
06-09-2009 2:32 pm |
Industry News
Crafty Folks Try Their Hand at the Adaptive Re-use of News Boxesnew
The New York Times' Green Inc. blog looks at two examples of news box re-use: a Toronto artist who is transforming abandoned metal boxes into planter boxes for flowers and a Birmingham-based editor who has turned an old dispenser into a digital display showing the front pages of newspapers.
The New York Times |
06-09-2009 12:13 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Circulation, Management
Nielsen: U.S. Ad Spending Down 12 Percent in First Quarternew
Preliminary figures show that the decline from 1Q 2008 to 1Q 2009 amounts to a drop of $3.8 billion in total U.S. ad spending, according to Nielsen. Local newspaper advertising was off by 14.3 percent, while internet advertising was only down by 3.4 percent. The worst-faring sector was local newspapers' Sunday supplements, which was off by 37.7 percent.
Marketing Daily |
06-09-2009 10:22 am |
Industry News
How Apple's New iPhone Changes Mobile Marketingnew
Advertising Age |
06-09-2009 1:26 pm |
Industry News
The Other Paper Sold to Parent Company's Creditorsnew
As part of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, a judge has approved selling the assets of American Community Newspapers -- including The Other Paper -- to its creditors, who formed the company American Community Newspapers II to pursue the purchase. The Dallas-based company, which bought The Other Paper in 2007, filed for bankruptcy in April.
Business First of Columbus |
06-08-2009 3:04 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Management, The Other Paper
Free Dailies Struggle During Downturnnew
Circulation and revenue at many free daily newspapers are down as the industry grapples with a difficult advertising market, the New York Times reports. As a result, free daily publishers like Metro International -- which recently agreed to sell its New York and Philadelphia papers -- are cutting costs and consolidating.
The New York Times |
06-08-2009 10:19 am |
Industry News
Tags: Management
Report: Mobile Users Spend Less Time with Other Medianew
The New York Times |
06-08-2009 2:30 pm |
Industry News
Forecast: Local Mobile Advertising (Particularly Search) Will Be Next Hot Trendnew
MediaBuyerPlanner |
06-08-2009 11:52 am |
Industry News
Writer Files Wrongful Termination Suit Against Cleveland Scenenew
James Renner says a story he wrote alleging that a Republican gubernatorial candidate had an affair with a former aide was killed after the politician threatened to file suit if it was published. Renner says that when he complained about this in an email to the CEO of Scene parent company Times Shamrock, he was fired. "I was told by both my publisher and my editor that the story was spiked because we couldn't afford another lawsuit," Renner tells Editor & Publisher. Times Shamrock CEO Matthew Haggerty begs to differ. "Our decisions concerning whether or not to publish any story, including the story referenced in Mr. Renner's lawsuit, is never dictated by the threat of potential litigation," he said in a statement. "Rather, Mr. Renner's draft story was passed over for publication because it did not meet management's basic standards of journalism as required of all our reporters and editors." In addition to demanding reinstatement, Renner is asking the court to declare the story he submitted to Scene not defamatory. The suit names the gubernatorial candidate in question, Ohio State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, as a defendant.
Editor & Publisher |
06-05-2009 3:19 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Scene
Who Knew? Bill O'Reilly Wrote for Alt-Weeklies in the 70snew
In his latest book, A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, the controversial Fox News host reflects on his days attending Boston University in the 1970s. He notes that once he was bitten by the journalism bug, he started being published in Boston's alt-weeklies. "I ran around Boston annoying the hell out of everyone, but bringing back good, crisp copy," O'Reilly writes. "In addition to the Free Press [BU's student paper], I got stuff published in the Boston Phoenix and the Real Paper. Then, I recycled the articles into class assignments. Somehow, this worked out great. How could I get a bad grade if somebody had paid me for a piece and it ran on page two?"
BU Today |
06-04-2009 11:05 am |
Industry News
