AAN News
The American Council on Germany Seeks Applications for McCloy Fellowships in Journalismnew
The American Council on Germany (pdf file) |
02-13-2008 2:45 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial
Medill Survives Wave of AltWeekly Awards Entries
In its first year administering AAN's editorial contest, Northwestern University's journalism school processed 1,404 entries, a slight decline from last year's total of 1,490. The decline is probably due to rule changes that resulted in the elimination of two categories and a decrease in the number of entries allowed in other categories. Member participation continues to hover around the 100-mark, with 97 newspapers and seven independent cartoonists submitting work. Finalists will be announced on AAN.org in May.
AAN |
02-12-2008 1:37 pm |
Association News
Testimony Continues in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial
Village Voice Media chief financial officer Jed Brunst and former SF Weekly publisher Chris Keating took the stand yesterday in the predatory-pricing trial. In its wrap-up, the SF Weekly focuses on the part of Brunst's testimony that offered "evidence that Weekly rates have been going up over time," not down. The Bay Guardian, on the other hand, focuses on the "huge amounts of cash" the Weekly and the East Bay Express had lost under New Times/VVM control. The trial takes a day off today for Lincoln's Birthday, and will resume on Wednesday.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
02-12-2008 12:07 pm |
Industry News
Philadelphia City Paper Gets Dramatized for V-Daynew
"I Love You, I Hate You" is a City Paper message board filled with rants from people on everything from lust to jealousy to thievery. Allison Heishman has scoured the last three years' worth of postings and culled the best for tonight's dramatic reading at the Azuka Theatre Company's Valentines Party, Metro reports. Heishman, who is literary manager for the theatre company, says she expects a bigger crowd than at Azuka's other events due to the feature's popularity. "It's amazing how many people say, 'that's the first part of the City Paper I read every week'," she says.
Metro Philadelphia |
02-12-2008 8:31 am |
Industry 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
Texas Observer Names New Executive Publisher and Managing Editornew
Carlton Carl is the new CEO and executive publisher of the Observer. He most recently was vice president of media affairs and policy and strategy for the American Association for Justice. The Observer is also bringing back Brad Tyer, who has been named its new managing editor. Tyer, who did a stint as the Observer's interim editor a few years ago and has worked at the Houston Press and Willamette Week, was most recently editor of the Missoula Independent.
The Texas Observer |
02-11-2008 9:26 am |
Industry News
NEPA Names Boston Phoenix 'Newspaper of the Year,' Gives Alts Many Awardsnew
The Phoenix was named "Newspaper of the Year" in the alternative weekly division by the New England Press Association in its 2007 Better Newspaper
Contest. "After 40 years, the Boston Phoenix remains a model for alts, bristling with attitude and loaded with coverage of entertainment, culture, politics, and tweaking of the daily press," the judges say. The Boston alt-weekly led the pack of AAN papers represented in the awards with 12 first-place finishes. Boston's Weekly Dig was close behind it's crosstown competitor, grabbing seven first-place awards. The Portland Phoenix and Worcester Magazine each finished first in three categories, while the Hartford Advocate and the Providence Phoenix each took home one first-place award.
New England Press Association |
02-11-2008 8:50 am |
Honors & Achievements
Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Phoenix New Times in Public Docs Casenew
The documents in question were held by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, the same outfit involved in the secret grand jury kerfuffle that led to the arrests of Village Voice Media executives Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey and, ultimately, to the humiliation of county attorney Andrew Thomas and special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik. New Times originally sought the documents in May 2004; MCSO released them five months later, after New Times was forced to file suit. On Tuesday, the Arizona Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's ruling, finding that MCSO "wrongfully denied New Times access to public records." The Court of Appeals sent the case back to superior court "for a further determination on the issue of attorney's fees." In the Arizona Republic, the Sheriff's deputy chief admitted that the officer responsible for complying with public-records requests "was truly afraid of the (New Times) reporter, that there was a genuine personal joint vendetta between the two of them."
Phoenix New Times |
02-07-2008 3:10 pm |
Industry News
NYT: The Cult of Secrecy at the White Housenew
"There’s no end to President Bush’s slyness in subverting new Congressional law and clinging to the secrecy that has been the administration’s executive cloak," says the New York Times today in an editorial decrying the budgetary legerdemain Bush used to gut a key provision of the recently passed OPEN Government Act. The Washington Examiner editorial page weighs in on the controversy as well.
New York Times |
02-07-2008 1:17 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
Baltimore City Paper Celebrates 30 Years at Art Gallery Shownew
City Paper art director Joe MacLeod narrates a short video shot during the paper's recent party at G-Spot, a local art gallery displaying large blow-ups of pages and covers published during the last three decades by Baltimore's finest alt-weekly. "Each page is sort of like a piece of artwork," says MacLeod, who laments the fact that the "archetypal alt-weekly-style feature ... it has that certain look ... it's all kinda going away because of digital. ... That kind of classic alt-weekly look is disappearing." Not that he cares, of course.
Baltimore City Paper |
02-07-2008 12:54 pm |
Industry News
Justice Fails to Meet Current Responsibilities under FOIA
In its FY09 budget proposal released earlier this week, the Bush Administration transfered to the Justice Department the Freedom of Information Act ombudsman position recently created by an act of Congress. The Bureau of National Affairs (subscription only) reports today that Justice failed to meet its own FOIA backlog reduction goal of 15 percent for 2007. "This should never happen, especially at the department that is responsible for reviewing other agency annual FOIA reports for accuracy," a former Justice official told BNA. The Justice Department currently provides guidance to federal agencies on FOIA compliance and also has a role in defending agencies against challenges to FOIA denials. Critics of the administration's proposal contend that because of its role in defending FOIA challenges, Justice lacks the neutrality to handle the new ombudsman function. More on the controversy from the Washington Post, the Ocala Star-Banner and Scripps Howard News Service.
BNA | Washington Post | Ocala Star-Banner | Scripps Howard News Service |
02-06-2008 7:43 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
New Editor at Philadelphia City Papernew
Duane Swierczynski will be leaving this year's AAN convention-host paper later this month to focus on his other life as an author of crime novels and other books, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. The City Paper has confirmed that senior editor Brian Howard will replace Swierczynski as the alt-weekly's editor-in-chief.
Philadelphia Daily News |
02-06-2008 6:38 pm |
Industry News
Boston Phoenix Investigates Wrongful Conviction
Boston Phoenix Press Release |
02-06-2008 6:54 pm |
Press Releases
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
Bush Tries to Eliminate FOIA Ombudsmannew
Only 35 days after signing the OPEN Government Act into law, President Bush wants to kill a key provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill via a budgetary maneuver, reports Cox Newspapers' Washington Bureau. Bush's proposal would eliminate funding for an ombudsman at the National Archive and Records Administration and transfer the role of settling FOIA disputes to the Justice Department. Open government advocates believe Justice has a conflict of interest that would inevitably lead the department to defend federal agencies seeking to keep government records secret. "This proposal violates both the explicit text of the OPEN Government Act and its legislative intent," bill sponsors Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) wrote today in a letter expressing their opposition to Bush's spending plan.
Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau |
02-05-2008 5:27 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial, Management
