AAN News
AAN Board Member Carol Flagg to Step Down
The Austin Chronicle's advertising director -- and AAN Retail Advertising
Committee chair -- says she's leaving the paper in the first week of July.
Flagg plans to move back home to Phoenix to start a new company that
provides consulting services. She will step down from her position on the AAN Board of Directors following
the board's meeting in June in Philadelphia. Her departure means someone will be
elected at the convention to serve the one year remaining in her term as retail ad chair.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
04-08-2008 4:20 pm |
Association News
Convention Website Open for Business
This year's AAN Convention heads back to the East Coast --
Philadelphia, to be exact. The Declaration of IndependAANts, the
association's 31st annual convention, will be hosted by the
Philadelphia City Paper from June 5-7 at the Pennsylvania Convention
Center. As always, AAN has lined up a mix of special speakers,
brass-tacks programming, and plenty of food, drink and revelry. New
Yorker reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh (pictured) is the
featured speaker at Friday's First Amendment Lunch, while OC Weekly
staffer and "Ask a Mexican!" columnist Gustavo Arellano will host
Saturday's AltWeekly Awards Lunch. The convention website -- where
you'll find registration information, event schedules, and programming
details -- is now live and accepting registrations. Be sure to register
before May 2 to get discounted rates.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
03-27-2008 5:51 pm |
Association News
Councilman Looks to Ban Folio Weekly from City Propertynew
Jacksonville city councilman Clay Yarborough is calling on mayor John Peyton to remove Folio and its distribution racks from public property after seeing the March 11 issue featuring a cover story on sadomasochism, the Times-Union reports. In his email to the mayor and council leadership, reprinted on Folio's blog, Yarborough says he's worried about children seeing the story, and objects to ads with photos of "scantily clad women." Ironically, the very distribution location that raised Yarborough's ire -- a coffee shop inside the library -- isn't even under city authority, according to the mayor's spokesperson.
The Florida Times-Union |
03-24-2008 8:44 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
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
Bay Area AAN Members Act to Fight Newspaper Theftnew
A rash of free newspaper heists is "making unlikely allies of Bay Area alternative publishers, whose intense competition over the years has seemed as much personal as a matter of business," Editor & Publisher reports. East Bay Express publisher Hal Brody has organized a group of free-paper publishers that is taking the thieves on with a two-front strategy: finding an aggressive DA who recognizes the real value of a free-circulation newspaper, and going after the recyclers who look the other way, according to E&P. Brody says he wasn't aware how bad the problem was until he and others bought the Express from Village Voice Media last year. "In one heavily trafficked area, where we lay out literally thousands of papers at dawn, we'd get calls from readers at noon that there were all gone," he says.
Editor & Publisher |
03-06-2008 9:56 am |
Industry News
Reaction Pours in to Verdict in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
A number of stories and blog posts have come out since a jury ruled in favor of the Bay Guardian in its predatory pricing suit against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media yesterday. Here are some:
- The Associated Press via the San Jose Mercury News: "SF Weekly Ordered to Pay Rival $15M for Predatory Pricing Ads"
- East Bay Express: "Guardian Wins $15 Million, Express Not Affected"
- Editor & Publisher: "Bay Guardian Awarded $15.6 Million In Lawsuit"
- The Georgia Straight: "SF Guardian Wins 'David and Goliath' Suit Over Village Voice Media's SF Weekly"
- San Francisco Chronicle: "Bay Guardian Wins Suit with SF Weekly"
- SF Weekly: "Ka-Ching!"
- SF Weekly: "Who You Callin' Guilty?"
AAN |
03-06-2008 9:47 am |
Industry News
Jury Rules in Favor of Bay Guardian in Suit Against VVM
The jurors handed down their decision in the Guardian's predatory pricing suit against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media today, awarding the Guardian more than $6.39 million in damages. Under California law, part of that verdict is subject to treble damages, bringing the total award to $15.6 million. The Weekly has indicated that it will appeal the decision. Read VVM's statement on the verdict here. The Guardian has a story on the verdict here.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
03-05-2008 5:30 pm |
Industry News
Jury Still Deliberating in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
The 12 jurors will reconvene to consider the case this morning. For more, check the most recent blog posts from the SF Weekly and the Bay Guardian.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
03-04-2008 8:28 am |
Industry News
Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Goes to the Jurynew
The jury began deliberations on Friday and will resume this morning. Both the SF Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian need nine of the 12 jurors to take their side in order to win the case. "Much like two candidates in the final days before an election, attacks from both sides are getting increasingly personal as a verdict nears," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The daily says the trial has brought to light financial data that call into question whether the city can support two alt-weeklies at "a time when newspapers are consolidating to stay alive." Local blogger Randy Shaw agrees.
"Maybe the San Francisco market can't support two alternative weeklies," he says. "It's likely, after the outcome of this court case, there might only be one left standing." For the most recent coverage, check out the trial blogs from the Guardian and the Weekly.
San Francisco Chronicle | SF Bay Guardian | SF Weekly |
03-03-2008 8:26 am |
Industry News
Closing Arguments in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Set for Thursday
The last three witnesses took the stand yesterday in the Guardian's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. Guardian publisher and editor Bruce Brugmann and associate publisher Jean Dibble were brought back to the stand, this time by the Weekly's attorneys; they were followed by Bay Area publisher Bill Johnson, whose papers include AAN members the Palo Alto Weekly and Pacific Sun. The trial takes a day off today, and closing arguments begin Thursday morning. For more details, read the latest from the Weekly and the Bay Guardian.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-27-2008 9:05 am |
Industry News
AAN West Post-Conference Survey Results Available
This year's AAN West conference went very well, according to the results of a post-conference survey. A total of 273 people attended the meeting, which was held last month in San Francisco, and 98 percent of the survey respondents agreed that the conference was an overall success. A summary of the survey results has been posted in the Resource Library.
AAN |
02-26-2008 12:51 pm |
Association News
Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Will Likely Go to the Jury This Week
The predatory pricing trial is winding down and it is now expected that the case will go to the jury either Tuesday or Wednesday (the trial takes a day off today). On Friday, the SF Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, continued his testimony and Jeff Mars, Village Voice Media's vice president for financial operations, also took the stand. The Guardian says the Weekly's witnesses "make the Guardian's case," while the Weekly says the Guardian's lawyers were focusing on "imaginary evidence." Meanwhile, Editor & Publisher columnist Mark Fitzgerald checks in on the trial, and on the daily blog dispatches from each side, and finds that "the Guardian and SF Weekly are covering the trial with reports that are gleefully unconcerned about appearing objective, and recall the great newspaper feuds of yesteryear."
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly | Editor & Publisher |
02-25-2008 9:33 am |
Industry News
Dueling CPAs Take the Stand at the Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
Bay Guardian expert CPA Clifford Kupperberg continued his testimony yesterday in the paper's predatory pricing trial against SF Weekly and Village Voice Media. The next witness was the Weekly's expert CPA, Everett P. Harry, who argued that Kupperberg's testimony was flawed. For more on the trial, check out these blog posts from the Weekly and the Bay Guardian and this week's editor's note from the Guardian. The trial resumes today.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-22-2008 2:27 pm |
Industry News
AAN CAN Contest Extended
The contest deadline has been extended until Friday, March 21, so AAN CAN sales reps and their managers still have an opportunity to win two 10-day trips for two that include round-trip airfare and accommodations for three nights each in London, Paris and Rome. Read here for more details about the contest, including the current list of leaders.
(FULL STORY)
AAN Staff |
02-22-2008 12:30 pm |
Association News
Tags: Circulation, Management
