AAN News
VVM Witnesses Begin Taking the Stand in Bay Guardian Suit
On Friday, Village Voice Media executive editor Michael Lacey testified in the predatory pricing trial. The Guardian says Lacey "had some trouble answering some key questions" about SF Weekly's ad sales and a 1995 meeting where he met the Weekly staff shortly after purchasing the paper. The Weekly says Lacey's testimony illustrated that his and Bruce Brugmann's "editorial philosophies were worlds apart," and notes that Lacey's testimony showed he is not involved in the business side of VVM's affairs. This is key because of comments he made about being "the only game in town," which the Guardian is using as evidence he wanted to drive them out of business. Patricia Calhoun, editor of Denver's Westword, which New Times bought in 1983, also testified on Friday, and according to the Weekly, she "got on and off the stand in only about twenty minutes, a timely performance that drew appreciative nods from jurors." The trial resumes today.
San Francisco Bay Guardian | SF Weekly |
02-11-2008 12:21 pm |
Industry News
New Widget from Seven Days Links Personals to Facebook
The paper's director of digital development tells AAN News that the widget pulls its "I Saw You" listings into Facebook. "Our users love to check these out to see if they or someone they know has been spotted. Now they don't have to wait a week to read them,"
Bob Kilpatrick says. "The most recent three postings update on their Facebook profile every hour. It brings our brand to mind and increases readership: The widget connects right to our personals site so potential new users can create profiles and start making contacts." If you're interested in finding out more about the widget or having Seven Days build one for your personal ads, email Bob at bob (at) sevendaysvt.com.
AAN News |
02-11-2008 10:14 am |
Industry News
Large Crowds Flock to San Francisco for AAN Conferences
More than 190 people attended the Web Publishing Conference and 288 attended AAN West last week as AAN members descended on the Hotel Kabuki and the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco for several days of education, networking and fun. Post-conference surveys for both events will be circulated later this week. In addition, Powerpoint presentations featured at the conferences will soon be uploaded to the AAN Resource Library.
AAN Staff |
02-05-2008 6:03 pm |
Association News
Adding Online Video to the Sales Toolkit
In November, the Sacramento News & Review launched its Face to Face Video Ad project. The ads, which have also been rolled out at the company's paper in Chico and will soon hit its Reno paper, are serious, in-depth recorded interviews with vendors about their products and services. News & Review president and CEO Jeff von Kaenel says the idea was inspired by a vacation to India with his teenage daughter, who was shooting and editing video of the trip. "The video technology had gotten so easy to use," he says, it got him thinking about how the paper could take advantage of the technological leaps. So far, the initial reaction to the project has been promising, according to Susan Cooper, sales development manager at the Sacramento paper. In this Q&A with AAN News, she talks in more detail about the project.
(FULL STORY)
AAN News |
01-28-2008 8:47 am |
Industry News
Is a 'Generational Shift' Afoot in the Alt-Weekly Industry?new
That seems to be the opinion of Ed Avis, who looks at the challenges alt-weekly owners are facing in a piece for Quill, a magazine published by the Society for Professional Journalists. Not surprisingly, he says the biggest challenge to the business is the internet. He talks to the Austin Chronicle's Louis Black, Creative Loafing's Ben Eason, and Times Shamrock's Don Farley to see where they are at in relation to the internet, and, more importantly, where they're trying to go. Ultimately, Avis thinks that the challenge of the online market -- in concert with the aging of the original alt-weekly founders -- is what's behind the industry's increased consolidation. Northwestern University professor and Academy for Alternative Journalism director Charles Whitaker agrees. "I think the (older owners) have had difficulty adjusting and figuring out the new media landscape, particularly the internet and things like Craigslist," he says. "At the same time, a group of new owners said, 'We can do this as a chain. We still have our alternative press sensibilities, but by pooling our resources we can run these papers more efficiently than they had been run in the past.'"
Quill |
01-25-2008 10:34 am |
Industry News
One Man Hopes to Rid an Entire Neighborhood of the Boston Phoenixnew
Attorney Bob Joyce has started a campaign to rid Boston's West Roxbury neighborhood of the paper, according to the West Roxbury Transcript. Joyce claims that the Phoenix's adult ads don't jibe with the "values of the West Roxbury community." But Phoenix Media executive editor Peter Kadzis says Joyce's motivations are purely political. "Attorney Joyce is active in the anti-choice, anti-gay marriage movements," Kadzis tells the Transcript. "He is trying to halt the Phoenix from circulating for political reasons. His recent crusade against the paper's Adult section is merely an extension of those efforts." Joyce claims he has gotten the paper yanked from six neighborhood businesses, but one merchant who talked to the West Roxbury Bulletin says he doesn't plan to stop carrying the Phoenix. "As far as I know, West Roxbury is still part of the United States of America and the Constitution still covers us over here," says Gary Park of Gary's Liquors. "He is not going to tell me how to run my business."
The West Roxbury Transcript | The West Roxbury Bulletin |
01-24-2008 10:29 am |
Industry News
Conference Attendance Exceeds Expectations
Registration totals for AAN West and the Web Publishing Conference, which will be held next week in San Francisco, have far surpassed AAN projections. At 275 registrants, attendance at AAN West is already 50 percent higher than last year and the most it's been since 2003. And the Web Publishing Conference current total of 170 registrants is more than 40 percent above the final numbers from October 2006, the date of the first AAN web conference in San Francisco. There's still room for more if you would like to register. Although our room block at the Hotel Kabuki is already filled, they have a limited number of rooms available at prices that exceed the AAN group rate. Another option: The Kabuki has a sister property about two blocks away, Hotel Tomo, with lower online rates.
AAN |
01-23-2008 11:44 am |
Association News
AltWeekly Award Deadline Approaches
Members have just over a week to enter the 2008 contest. Entries must be registered through the contest website by midnight EST on Fri., Jan. 25. Payments and hard copies of entries should be sent to Charles Whitaker, Northwestern University Fisk Hall,1845 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208. Hard copies must be received at Northwestern by 5 p.m. on Mon., Jan. 28. For more information, contact contests (at) aan.org.
AAN |
01-17-2008 9:57 am |
Association News
Miami New Times Turns 20new
In 1987, Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, who started Phoenix New Times in 1970 and bought Denver's Westword in 1983, "bought a South Beach rag named The Wave for $50 and a hot dog with plenty of relish," and Miami New Times was born, managing editor Chuck Strouse writes as the paper celebrates its 20th anniversary. "Miami is a city that reinvents itself every few years," he writes. "Indeed between the time I left town in 2000 to edit New Times Broward-Palm Beach and my return two years ago, the place went from cultural wasteland to visual arts mecca. Miami New Times, though, has become a constant -- brassy, iconoclastic, and, well, sometimes tasteless."
Miami New Times |
01-17-2008 9:12 am |
Industry News
Chicago Reader Joins ChicagoJobs.com Network of Affiliates
ChicagoJobs.com Press Release |
01-16-2008 9:19 am |
Press Releases
Chicago Tribune Eliminates Print Help-Wanted Ads on Weekdaysnew
Editor & Publisher |
01-14-2008 8:36 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Classified Advertising
Commentary: Better Measures for Web Adsnew
Washington Post |
01-14-2008 11:14 am |
Industry News
Web Publishing Conference Early Registration Deadline Approaching
The early deadline is this Friday, Jan. 11; registration rates will increase by $50 the following day. The conference is slated for Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, and will feature programming on topics ranging from online metrics to social networking. In addition, two separate open discussions, one for editors and the other for web-tech personnel, will be added to the program next week after AAN conducts a survey of registrants to determine when to schedule them. You can register online by clicking here.
AAN |
01-10-2008 12:45 pm |
Association News
Village Voice Media Partners With Trulia for Online Real Estatenew
Trulia has announced a new platform which allows publishers to use the company's online real estate tools to create co-branded sites with real estate guides, heat maps and home sales information, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Village Voice Media, Kiplinger, and American Towns are all partnering with Trulia in the new venture.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
01-08-2008 8:50 am |
Industry News
Monster.com Debuts TV Campaign Aimed at Passive Workersnew
Brandweek |
01-08-2008 10:16 am |
Industry News
Tags: Classified Advertising
