AAN News
AAN Releases 2007 Convention Survey Results [members only]
AAN Staff |
08-01-2007 12:44 pm |
Association News
Opera Inspired by Alt-Weekly Cartoon Hits Comic-Connew
This weekend marks the first performances of Shannon Wheeler's "Too Much Coffee Man Opera" outside of his hometown of Portland, Ore., where it premiered last year. Wheeler, who received an honorable mention in this year's AltWeekly Awards, says after being prodded to turn his comic strip into a opera by a friend, it was a dream in which a character sang an aria that sealed the deal. "I woke up and thought, Why am I fighting this?," he tells the San Diego Union-Tribune. "It's an opportunity to learn new things." Thus far, response to the opera has been overwhelmingly positive, and Wheeler is already planning an as-yet-untitled sequel to hit the stage next year in Portland.
San Diego Union-Tribune |
07-27-2007 8:20 am |
Industry News
Today is Early Registration Deadline for Medill Conferencenew
Friday, July 27 is the deadline for early registration and hotel rates for the Alternative Journalism Workshop for Writers and Designers to be held Aug. 10-11 in Evanston, Ill. Speakers include Poynter writing coach Chip Scanlan, journalist-author Alex Kotlowitz and Visual Editors' Robb Montgomery, and for the first time ever, the conference will include a separate program for design staff. Lunch and dinner on Saturday are included in the $75 AAN member early-registration rate.
AAN |
07-26-2007 7:20 pm |
Association News
Who Will the New Creative Loafing Turn to For National Ads?new
CEO Ben Eason tells Editor & Publisher he's not sure if the now-six paper chain will continue to use the Alternative Weekly Network (AWN) for national ad sales or switch over to the competing Ruxton Group, which currently handles ad sales for the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper. "We have been longtime AWN folks," he says. Ruxton, which was founded by the Reader, is now owned by Village Voice Media. Eason says figuring this out is one of his top priorities. He also tells E&P that strength in the national ad market is a key aspect of this week's deal. "Now with Chicago and D.C., all of the sudden you have enough critical mass and it becomes a go-to place for ad agencies on Madison Avenue," he says.
Editor & Publisher |
07-26-2007 12:22 pm |
Industry News
Creative Loafing CEO Meets With Chicago Reader Staffnew
The Reader's Michael Miner reports that Ben Eason didn't focus on editorial matters in Wednesday's meeting, but rather on "web opportunities, regaining ground lost to Craiglist in classified advertising, and the efficiencies of centralizing the design work in Atlanta," a change Miner notes "is likely to cost a dozen or so Reader employees their jobs." After the meeting, when Miner asked Eason about editorial, he said "it's everything" -- but Miner isn't so sure that's Creative Loafing's approach. He thinks the Creative Loafing papers' design "doesn't respect the stories it ought to serve. If the centralized design staff makes this the look of the Reader ... I think readers will judge it as antithetical to what they've understood the Reader to be." According to Miner, Creative Loafing will turn the Reader into a one-section tabloid, a change the old owners were also planning.
Chicago Reader |
07-26-2007 11:01 am |
Industry News
Chicago Reader, Inc. President: 'I Guess it Was Time'new
"We've received so many overtures over the years and they’ve never come to pass," Bob Roth tells Reader media critic Michael Miner. "[But] we got a better offer than I expected." Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason tells the Washington Post it was an "eight-figure sale" and that he tried to buy the Reader's minority stakes in the Stranger, the Portland Mercury and the Amsterdam Weekly, but that Roth wouldn't sell. Miner tells the Chicago Tribune that the Reader staff is "discombobulated" at the moment. "This has been a very insular paper," Miner says. "We've seen other papers buffeted by change that hasn't affected us until now." Miner also reports that Reader publisher Mike Crystal and editor Alison True will remain with the paper, but production will be moved to Atlanta, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times. Production of City Paper will also be moved to Atlanta, where all four of Creative Loafing's papers are currently produced. Back in Washington, editor Erik Wemple says that budget cuts that had already begun will continue, but "there's no fat in our newsroom that I can identify and so this is difficult process. I refuse to pay freelancers less money, and so we'll have to get terribly, terribly creative." MORE COVERAGE: Forbes; Crain's; St. Petersburg Times; Chicago Public Radio.
Chicago Reader |
07-25-2007 9:11 am |
Industry News
Creative Loafing Inc. Acquires Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper
The Reader and City Paper, which were both controlled by the founders of the Reader, were acquired today by Creative Loafing Inc., which owns alt-weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota and Charlotte. "Our expansion into Chicago and Washington reflects our confidence in the future of alternative publishing -- in print, on the web and in other media as they emerge," CEO Ben Eason says in a statement. "We've had a great ride," the Chicago Reader Inc. owners say in a separate press statement released by president Bob Roth. "Now we're happily handing the keys to a new generation, Creative Loafing and their CEO Ben Eason. We're confident they will build on what we've established and carry it ably into the future." The Reader statement also notes that most of the company's shareholders will retain their minority interests in The Stranger, Portland Mercury, and Amsterdam Weekly through a company to be called Quarterfold, Inc. MORE: City Paper's Mike DeBonis reports that Eason told the staff that publisher Amy Austin and editor Erik Wemple will remain in their posts but some financial, technology, and production operations will be shifted to offices in Atlanta and Tampa.
(FULL STORY)
Creative Loafing Inc. Press Release |
07-24-2007 2:04 pm |
Press Releases
Chicago Reader Inc. Statement on Sale to Creative Loafing
Chicago Reader Inc. Press Release |
07-24-2007 2:13 pm |
Press Releases
AAN Adds 'Members Only' Content to Website
The little red "A" logo you see next to today's AAN News story on the Austin Chronicle means the full text of that story is available only to AAN members. Every so often, we'll use that designation to highlight features we've developed specifically for AAN members that you won't find anywhere else.
AAN Staff |
07-23-2007 11:54 am |
Association News
Matt Groening on His Alt-Weekly Rootsnew
Despite having drawn a weekly "Life is Hell" cartoon for L.A. Weekly for 20-plus years, The Simpsons creator says he's never set foot in the paper's office. "I'm sure very nice people work there, but here's the thing: I used to work at the [Los Angeles] Reader, and I noticed ... that people go crazy," he says in a wide-ranging L.A. Weekly profile. Groening then recounts how, after working for the Reader as a proofreader, paste-up artist, editor, critic and columnist, they fired him for selling his comic strip to Pasadena Weekly for $10 a week. "All I know is that the last time I showed up at a newspaper office, I got fired," Groening says.
L.A. Weekly |
07-23-2007 8:32 am |
Industry News
The Importance of Email Designnew
iMedia Connection |
07-23-2007 9:48 am |
Industry News
Tags: Design & Production, Marketing
Two Alt-Weekly Cartoonists Compete in 'Science Idol' Contestnew
A strip each of Matt Bors' "Idiot Box" and Jen Sorenson's "Slowpoke" are among the 12 finalists in The Union of Concerned Scientists' competition rewarding "creative takes on the issue of political interference in science." Voting for "Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest" closes July 23.
Union of Concerned Scientists |
07-20-2007 11:43 am |
Honors & Achievements
M. Wartella Starts Local Comic for The Village Voicenew
Editor & Publisher |
07-18-2007 1:08 pm |
Industry News
Medill Program Announcednew
Chip Scanlan, Alex Kotlowitz, Michael Tisserand and several members of the AAN Editorial Committee will head the writers' portion of the program at the annual conference, which will be held Aug. 10-11 on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston, Ill. A design track has been added this year as well; Robb Montgomery, Luke Hayman, Lesa Snider King and members of the Design and Production Committee will head that program. The registration fee is $75 for AAN members.
AAN Staff |
07-16-2007 12:47 pm |
Association News
Tags: Design & Production, Editorial
California Alt-Weeklies Win a Slew of 'Better Newspapers' Awardsnew
AAN members won 15 first-place awards in the California Association of Newspaper Publishers' annual contest, led by Palo Alto Weekly, which took home five firsts. Chico News & Review placed first in in three categories; Pacific Sun won two; and Metro Santa Cruz, North Coast Journal, Sacramento News & Review, San Francisco Bay Guardian, and the Santa Barbara Independent each finished in first in one category. The awards were presented in a ceremony Saturday evening.
California Association of Newspaper Publishers (PDF file) |
07-16-2007 8:54 am |
Honors & Achievements
