AAN News
Greenville, SC's The Beat is Shuttered
The paper's editor and publisher, James Shannon, announced the closure on Friday. Shannon predicted that alternative voices like his will increasingly gravitate to the web "as opposed to the more costly print product that requires a level of support hard to obtain without excessive pandering in a free publication funded solely by advertising dollars." With a lineage that began in 1991 and evolved from predecessors Creative Loafing-Greenville and MetroBeat, the latest version of The Beat lasted 31 months. "(We) only wish we could have done it better and for a longer period of time," said Shannon. "But hell, at least we tried."
(FULL STORY)
The Beat |
02-05-2008 4:27 pm |
Press Releases
Two More Guardian Witnesses Take the Stand in Trial Against SF Weekly
Executive editor Tim Redmond and former ad director Jody Colley were called as witnesses yesterday in the predatory pricing trial against the Weekly and Village Voice Media. Redmond's testimony centered on local ownership and the crucial matter of editorial spending. The Guardian is arguing that the Weekly was trying to put them out of business because it refused to cut editorial spending while it lost money overall. On the other hand, the Weekly reports that Redmond said he has had to struggle with laying off writers and editors over the past few years. "If [ad] revenue goes down, I have to cut costs. The Weekly editors don't have to meet that kind of budget; they can just get more money from headquarters," Redmond writes on the Guardian's blog. Colley, who is now the publisher of the East Bay Express, testified mostly about the Weekly's dealings with concert promoter Billy Graham Presents, which the Guardian claims is an example of illegal below-cost pricing. Her testimony will continue when the trial resumes this morning.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
01-31-2008 12:32 pm |
Industry News
Philadelphia City Paper Editor Adds to the Sherlock Holmes Legacynew
Duane Swierczynski's new interactive mystery is told from the perspective of Sherlock Holmes' trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson. The Crimes of Dr. Watson is sort of like an adult version of a pop-up book, as the clues in the book -- including replica newspapers -- fold out and are three-dimensional. Swierczynski, who in addition to editing the City Paper is a best-selling crime writer, says the book is targeted to both adults and children and can be a communal mystery-solving experience.
Good Morning America NOW |
01-31-2008 10:41 am |
Industry News
U.S. Justice Dept. Looking into Viability of Cleveland Free Timesnew
Lawyers and economists from the U.S. Justice Department are investigating if the Cleveland Free Times can "be a viable business in the current media climate" in the city, according to the Plain Dealer. The Free Times was closed in 2002 when its owner, Village Voice Media, agreed to shutter it, giving Cleveland's other alt-weekly, the New Times-owned Scene, a monopoly. (The two parent companies merged in 2005.) The Justice Dept. investigated that deal and forced the sale of Free Times to a group of investors. Former Free Times editor David Eden tells the Plain Dealer he was recently questioned by lawyers from Justice about whether or not he thought the paper could be turned around. He says he told them that Cleveland needs the paper's independent voice and he hopes it is sold to a local group rather than being bought out by the competition and closed. "It feels like deja vu all over again," he says.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer |
01-28-2008 1:20 pm |
Industry News
Dan Savage: Sex Column Flap 'Doesn't Rise to the Level of Plagiarism'new
Last week, the New York Press got rid of its newly minted sex columnist after it was revealed that Claudia Lonow took the questions for her first column from old "Savage Love" columns. But Savage tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that he feels bad for Lonow, and that he thinks the "borrowing was an accident." In an interview with KING5-TV, the syndicated columnist and editor of The Stranger says that if Lonow would have just sourced the questions properly, there would've been no problem. "She just thought they were good hypotheticals and thought she could use them with impunity, and that's kinda not the way the media business works anymore," he says. Meanwhile, the Press is holding an open competition to become the paper's new sex columnist. Each week, the paper's editors will select one piece for publication, and those winners will become finalists in the quest. The new column will launch in the paper's 20th anniversary issue on April 23.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer | KING5-TV | New York Press |
01-28-2008 8:39 am |
Industry News
Deadline Approaching for SPJ's Sigma Delta Chi Awards Competition
Society of Professional Journalists Press Release |
01-28-2008 1:36 pm |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial
Call for Entries: Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalismnew
The Carter Center |
01-28-2008 10:40 am |
Press Releases
Tags: Editorial
Why Did The Stranger Pull Negative Restaurant Review from Website?
The paper and its crosstown rival the Seattle Weekly are giving competing explanations for the review's disappearance. The restaurant's co-owner tells the Weekly that The Stranger agreed to give him "a deal" on advertising and take the story off the website after he complained about the review when it ran in the Jan. 3 print edition. But Stranger publisher Tim Keck says the review wasn't fair, and a note on the Stranger's website says the review was taken down because the restaurant was visited within the first three months of its opening, which is against the paper's editorial policy. Keck tells the Weekly that the restaurant was given free ads, but it wasn't part of a deal to quiet the owner, but rather due to "production errors" in earlier ads the restaurant had run.
Seattle Weekly | The Stranger |
01-25-2008 3:01 pm |
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
Court Rules Against Santa Barbara Independent Photographer's Appealnew
The Court of Appeals has ruled against the Indy's appeal of contempt charges stemming from photographer Paul Wellman's refusal to turn over about 300 photographs taken in the aftermath of the murder, the paper reports.
Santa Barbara Independent |
01-25-2008 8:46 am |
Legal News
Jackson Free Press to Launch Glossy Magazinenew
Boom Jackson will be an annual glossy celebrating "urban living, working and creating in Jackson," Todd Stauffer writes in his publisher's note this week. The magazine will be a joint partnership between the JFP and Downtown Jackson Partners, the Hinds County Economic Development District, the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, and others.
Jackson Free Press |
01-25-2008 8:42 am |
Industry News
New York Press Fires New Sex Columnist for Stealing from Dan Savagenew
Yesterday, the Press was proudly announcing its new sex column, "Lip Service" by Claudia Lonow. Today, editor David Blum says her first column will be her last, after it was revealed that some of the questions in the column were taken from Dan Savage's "Savage Love" columns. "It had been our understanding that the questions for her first column came from friends," Blum says. "She has told us she was unaware that using questions from Savage's column was a breach of journalism ethics. She has offered her resignation, and we've accepted it. We apologize to our readers, and to Dan Savage, for this error in judgment."
New York Press |
01-24-2008 5:59 pm |
Industry News
White House Attempting to Move FOIA Ombud to Justice Dept.new
The creation of an ombudsman to oversee disputes over the Freedom of Information Act was the centerpiece of the FOIA reform bill signed into law last month. Cox News reports that the Open Government Act placed the ombudsman at the National Archives because of criticism leveled at the Justice Department for failing to address chronic FOIA backlogs. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are speaking out against the administration's attempt to move the position to Justice. "Such a move is not only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but it is also contrary to the very purpose of this legislation -- to ensure the timely and fair resolution of American's FOIA requests," Leahy said in a floor speech on Wednesday.
Cox News Service via the Austin American-Statesman |
01-24-2008 1:29 pm |
Legal News
Tags: Editorial
After Brief Setback, Jury Selection in Bay Guardian/VVM Trial Begins
Yesterday, Judge Marla Miller denied Village Voice Media and SF Weekly's request to delay the predatory-pricing trial in order to further review some documents, and jury selection will get underway today at 8 am, according to reports in the Weekly and the Guardian. With jury selection expected to last two days, the judge has scheduled opening arguments for Monday.
SF Weekly | San Francisco Bay Guardian |
01-24-2008 8:41 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
