AAN News
AAN West Schedule and Hotel Accommodations All Set
After a one-year absence, AAN West is returning to the Bay Area this winter. The conference will be held on Jan. 29 and 30 in Berkeley immediately after the Web Publishing Conference in San Francisco. The conference website is now live, and it has all the info you need on programming, hotels and registration.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
12-08-2009 4:31 pm |
Association News
SPD: Dallas Observer's Covers Among 'Most Creative of Any Publication'new
The Society of Publication Designers takes a look at the work being done at the Observer by art director Alexander Flores, who says he does almost all of the cover work himself. The SPD highlights a collection of Flores' covers that are quite diverse; the art director says that's intentional. "I try look at the paper as a collective volume; I try to not design similar-looking covers in tone, color palette, style, etc. in consecutive weeks," he says. "I want to make sure that the readers notice the new issue on the stand and pick that one up too, instead of not, because from 10 feet away it looks like last week's issue which they already grabbed."
The Society of Publication Designers |
12-08-2009 10:56 am |
Industry News
Sarah Palin Almost Signs City Pages Parody Covernew
Instead of bringing Going Rogue to be signed, an attendee at a recent Palin appearance at the Mall of America brought a copy of the Nov. 18 City Pages issue that parodied Palin's book cover, featuring U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in place of Palin, with the title Going Crazy. The former vice presidential candidate "smiled vapidly at everyone and started to sign it, apparently not noticing it wasn't her face on the cover image," City Pages reports. "Unfortunately one of her handlers yanked the paper away at the last second and tossed it in the corner."
City Pages |
12-08-2009 8:27 am |
Industry News
AAN Releases Guidelines for 2010 AltWeekly Awards
The contest website will open Tue., Dec. 15, 2009 and will close on the contest deadline, Mon., Feb. 8, 2010 at 11 pm (EST).
There are now three separate blog categories: Group/Staff Blog, Individual Blog, and Music Blog. There is also a new award for the best use of Multimedia. The Wild Card category is Health Care.
Download the complete contest rules here. (FULL STORY)
There are now three separate blog categories: Group/Staff Blog, Individual Blog, and Music Blog. There is also a new award for the best use of Multimedia. The Wild Card category is Health Care.
Download the complete contest rules here. (FULL STORY)
AAN |
12-04-2009 1:17 pm |
Association News
Update on the Executive Director Search
On Nov. 20, AAN officially stopped accepting applications for the executive director position. Since then, the Executive
Committee has narrowed a list of more than 75 candidates to a group of
eight individuals. At the same time, the committee created a Hiring Committee to oversee the rest of the process; this newly formed
committee's first task will be further winnowing the group of eight
down to a smaller group of finalists,
who will then be invited to AAN headquarters in Washington, D.C. for
interviews.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
12-04-2009 11:46 am |
Association News
Registration for Web Publishing and AAN West Conferences Now Open
After a one-year absence, both AAN West and the Web Publishing Conference are returning to the Bay Area this winter. The Web Publishing Conference will take place Jan. 27-29 at the Argonaut Hotel near San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf, and AAN West will happen Jan. 29-30 across the bay in Berkeley.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
11-23-2009 9:16 pm |
Association News
More on City Pages' Bachmann/Palin Mash-Up Covernew
Editor Kevin Hoffman and art director Nick Vlcek talk to the Society of Publication Designers about this week's cover design, which uses Sarah Palin's Going Rogue as source material for a cover story (titled "Going Crazy") on Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. As we noted yesterday, Hoffman had said it was the first time in 30 years the paper had gone out without a logo on the cover; a decision that he and Vlcek say was a pretty easy one to come by. "We realized very quickly that in order to make the cover look as much like the book as possible, that we would have to forgo our logo," Hoffman says. "But it was worth it for the impact it would have on our readers."
Society of Publication Designers |
11-19-2009 12:25 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing (Tampa) Sells Cover, Editorial Space in Holiday Auctionnew
Like several other alt-weeklies, Creative Loafing (Tampa) has put together a holiday auction to raise funds for a local nonprofit, but with a new twist: Cover space, a news story and a restaurant review in the paper are among the items up for bid. "This is our way of saying 'This is not how we do business,'" editor David Warner tells the St. Petersburg Times. "Just this once, you'll see what you get if our content actually is for sale. It's ironic, unchartered (sic) territory."
Creative Loafing (Tampa) | St. Petersburg Times |
11-19-2009 9:23 am |
Industry News
City Pages Mashes Up Palin Book for This Week's Covernew
The Minnesota alt-weekly has a big story this week on Michele Bachmann, the conservative Congresswoman who "has distinguished herself by saying crazy things in a very sweet voice tinged with folksy charm ... not unlike Sarah Palin," editor Kevin Hoffman writes. "The coincidence of Palin's book release this week couldn't be ignored, so art director Nick Vlcek decided to do a mash-up. It's the first time in 30 years that we're shipping a City Pages without our logo on the front, but we think it's worth it."
City Pages |
11-18-2009 10:12 am |
Industry News
Jury Rules in Lawsuit That Stemmed from Riverfront Times Storynew
A federal jury has awarded $100,000 to "Jane Doe," a cosmetic surgery patient who claimed that doctors provided before-and-after photographs of her torso without her permission to illustrate a 2006 Riverfront Times story. The woman's lawyers were seeking millions of dollars for compensatory damages alone, but one juror says the jury awarded only enough to pay something to her lawyers and to allow for her hotel and travel expenses. The St. Louis alt-weekly was not named in the woman's suit. However, one of the doctors being sued testified that Times reporter Kristen Hinman promised not to use the photos and to let him review the article before publication, charges that Hinman and her editor deny.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
11-17-2009 9:28 am |
Industry News
AAN Begins Search for New Executive Director
As we announced on Monday, AAN's longtime executive director, Richard Karpel, is stepping down to take the same position at the American Society of News Editors. AAN has placed ads to find his successor on four websites and has received more than 20 applications thus far. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors will do an initial screening of the candidates later this month; after this is complete, President Mark Zusman will appoint a separate committee that will likely meet and interview the finalists and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
10-30-2009 9:24 am |
Association News
Eugene Weekly Art Director Diesnew
The Weekly's longtime art director and production manager Kevin Dougherty died at home on Oct. 21 of an apparent heart attack, the paper reports. He was 49 years old. Dougherty, who began working at the Weekly in 1994, became production manager in 1998 and also took over the art director position in 1999. In addition, he served on the executive committee that ran the paper. "Kevin was an amazing boss and coworker, a wonderful friend and an inspirational human being," says Weekly staffer Sarah Decker. "He knew how to make us laugh, and he sure knows how to make us weep. I will miss him every day of my life."
Eugene Weekly |
10-30-2009 9:11 am |
Industry News
Boise Weekly Makes 'Difficult' Decision to Go with a New Printernew
The Weekly has been printed at Idaho's Snake River Printing for the past seven years, but that will change next week. The paper will now be printed in another state -- at Utah's Print Works (which also prints the Salt Lake City Weekly). "This has been a difficult decision because of our desire to keep our business local," publisher Sally Freeman says. "But circumstances beyond our control have forced us to make this difficult decision." Editor Rachael Daigle says that there just weren't many local printers that could handle the paper's print run of 30,000 each week; as an added bonus, she notes, the printer switch will allow for more color in the Weekly.
Boise Weekly |
10-28-2009 12:44 pm |
Industry News
AAN's Executive Director Stepping Down
Richard Karpel, who joined the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies as its executive director in July 1995, is leaving AAN for the same position at the American Society of News Editors. His last day will be Nov. 25, although he has agreed to help the association in an unofficial capacity after that date to assist in the transition to a new staff chief executive. "I have been at AAN for the better part of my adult life, and it has been an incredible ride," he says. "I want to thank all of the AAN members past and present who have made my time here such a rich and rewarding experience." MORE: Here's ASNE's announcement.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
10-26-2009 1:14 pm |
Association News
Monterey County Weekly Redesigns Website, Launches Mobile App
The Weekly has completely redesigned its website and launched a corresponding mobile application. Among the cool new features on the site are a local business guide, a local song of the day on the site jukebox and feeds from local blogs and local, state and national news sources. "[The site] will be a boon to our community, expanding our content and how our readers can obtain and interface with it," Weekly CEO Bradley Zeve says. "It offers more in every way -- more accessibility and more content." The site and the mobile app were both designed in-house by longtime Weekly staffer Kevin Smith, who says he's happy to roll out the project to the public. "Plus," he adds, "maybe now I can have time to read my kids a good-night story."
(FULL STORY)
Monterey County Weekly Press Release |
10-23-2009 10:50 am |
Press Releases
