AAN News
Letter to the Editor RE: Michael Lacey's Comments
Paul Curci |
04-10-2008 1:30 pm |
Letters to the Editor
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
Four Alt-Weeklies Nab New York Press Association Awardsnew
AAN members were well-represented when the winners of the association's 2007 Better Newspaper Contest were announced this weekend. Syracuse New Times took home a total of nine awards, including first-place finishes in Best Advertising Campaign, Best House Ad/Ad Campaign, Graphic Illustration, Sports Feature, and Sports Feature Photo. Metroland won a total of seven awards, and staff writer David King was named 2007 Writer of the Year. Judges called King "a powerful writer, a master storyteller, and a thorough researcher whose convincing style grabs the reader and holds on tight -- navigating difficult subject matter, taking us to places we've never been, enabling us to understand things we never could." The New York Press came away with six awards, including first-place finishes in Best Front Page and Feature Story. The Ithaca Times took home four awards.
New York Press Association (pdf) |
04-08-2008 9:09 am |
Honors & Achievements
Keith Knight Launches New Comic Stripnew
The Daily Cartoonist |
04-08-2008 2:32 pm |
Industry News
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
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
Cartoonist Matt Bors Teams Up With ACLU for 'Civil Discourse'new
The bi-weekly comic strip is part of the ACLU's StandUp campaign, "an ongoing project that educates younger audiences about today's pressing civil liberties issues," and can be found online at www.aclu.org/StandUp. "Matt's cartoons are often about civil liberties violations and other injustices," ACLU executive director Anthony Romero says in a statement. "We're excited to have someone as original and talented as Matt help us inspire the next generation of civil libertarians."
ACLU Press Release |
03-24-2008 9:34 am |
Press Releases
Tags: Design & Production
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
AAN Hires New Director of Sales and Marketing
Rick Mundy has joined the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies as director of sales and marketing. He has a more than a decade of experience in newspapers, in sales, marketing, and publishing at various community newspapers, and also as federation manager at the Newspaper Association of America. Mundy's immediate focus will be on revitalizing the AAN CAN classified program. His first day on staff was March 4.
(FULL STORY)
AAN |
03-12-2008 8:56 am |
Association 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
Alt-Weeklies Win Handful of South Carolina Press Awardsnew
The South Carolina Press Association announced the winners of its 2007 news excellence competition Friday, and two AAN members were among the papers that were honored. Columbia Free Times finished first in three categories, including Mixed Media Illustration in the competition division open to all papers. In the weeklies division, Free Times swept the Illustrations category, placing first, second, and third; and took home a first-place award in Sports Column Writing. It also took home one additional second-place and one third-place award. The Charleston City Paper placed first in two categories -- Best Beat Reporting and General News Photo. City Paper also won one second-place and one third-place award.
The Associated Press via the Star-News |
03-10-2008 8:57 am |
Honors & Achievements
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
Oklahoma Gazette Picks Up Dozens of State Awards
The Gazette won a total of 38 awards during the last two weekends, including a sweep of the Best Reporting Portfolio category in the annual Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) awards. The paper took home a total of 24 honors in the SPJ contest, including a second-place finish overall in the Best Newspaper competition and eight first-place finishes -- in the Best Reporting Portfolio, Feature Writing, In-Depth Enterprise Reporting/Team, In-Depth Enterprise Reporting by an Individual, Health Reporting, Feature Headlines, Feature Page Layout, and Best Use of Graphic Illustration categories. The Gazette also took home 14 awards at this year's Oklahoma City ADDY Awards, including Gold ADDYs in the Publication Design (Magazine or Book) Series and Newspaper Self-Promotion Single categories.
(FULL STORY)
Oklahoma Gazette Press Release |
03-06-2008 8:34 am |
Press Releases
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
Three Alt-Weeklies Win North Carolina Press Association Awardsnew
The Independent Weekly's Derek Anderson was named Photographer of the Year by the NCPA, and the Weekly took home four first-place awards, for Investigative Reporting, Feature Photography, Photo Page, and News Coverage. The paper also placed second in two categories and third in one. Creative Loafing (Charlotte) finished first in two categories: News Feature Writing and Lighter Columns. Mountain XPress also took a second-place award for Investigative Reporting, and a third-place "general excellence" award for its website.
North Carolina Press Association |
03-03-2008 9:30 am |
Honors & Achievements
